Good news for photovoltaic owners. "Prices are falling like crazy"

Ryszard Hordyński, Strategy and Communication Director at Huawei Polska, emphasizes that energy storage facilities are becoming crucial for stabilizing the energy system in a situation where photovoltaics is playing an increasingly important role.

As evidence, he cites numerous photovoltaic shutdowns . It has become the norm that on sunny days the Polish energy system is unable to accept all the electricity generated by photovoltaics. In this way, we lose ever greater amounts of seemingly easily accessible energy.

- If we had an energy storage facility, we could easily store it and either use it when, for example, there is no sun, or use it when tariffs are more expensive, or simply at any time convenient for us - points out Ryszard Hordyński in a conversation on the occasion of the 17th European Economic Congress in Katowice .

"Warehouse prices are plummeting"

But is energy storage technology really ready for widespread and efficient use? According to Ryszard Hordyński, a great deal of progress has been made here , the effects of which should already be used.

- First of all, the technology, at least ours - lithium-phosphate storage devices are extremely safe, they do not burn - assures the Huawei Polska representative. - Secondly, storage device prices are falling rapidly . Some time ago I remember that it was a million euros per megawatt-hour. Today, these prices are several times lower. So just take and use.

Among practical large-scale applications, he cites the example of the Red Sea Project in Saudi Arabia.

- In total, there is an installation of 650 container warehouses with a capacity of 1.3 GWh - Hordyński recalls. - They are to power a city of 1 million, which is being built in Saudi Arabia.

As he adds, this completely new city will have no other sources of energy apart from photovoltaic installations and energy storage. However, for all this to work well, it is necessary to use appropriate digital tools.

- Without digitalization there will be no energy transformation - emphasizes Ryszard Hordyński.

Energy will benefit from 5G, 6G, cloud and data analysis

In his opinion, the energy sector will become increasingly dispersed in structure, which will be impossible to control otherwise than through advanced digital technologies.

- Digital technologies will collect information, analyze it, for example using artificial intelligence, and then make decisions - says Ryszard Hordyński. - It will be a bit like controlling street traffic.

In practice, such digital management of the energy system must consist of many layers.

- Every inverter, every energy storage, or every wind turbine control system already has its own system and generates some data. So there is a level of such devices. Then there will be a level of some higher layer, let's say a city, province, district or something else. And then there will probably be an even higher layer of the system, which will manage more globally - says the Huawei Polska representative.

- There will be a lot of digitalization at every level. What is key to that? Communication. Of course, wireless is best - he adds.

In his opinion, it will be necessary to build 5G or 6G networks and, on the other hand , invest in cloud computing and data analysis .

But how can we make such an energy transformation gain momentum in Poland? - We are begging for a program to provide some subsidies for photovoltaic installations, so that today's prosumers would buy, for example, an energy storage unit - concludes our interlocutor.