Operating modes for energy intensive industry

At low battery prices, is the conversion from random electricity to 24-electricity always a win. The conversion from 24-electricity to 24×365 electricity comes at a price.

There is an investment, and it should run all year. This is the standard approach. Would a taxi operator cease operations in winter simply because electricity prices are higher in winter than in summer and consumption is slightly higher? Sure not! Exactly this question is a main question in energy-intensive industry. There is an investment, there are workers and there are different amounts of available energy and resulting energy prices. Look at the solar yield graph of Cairo, Egypt. Here it is completely predictable; we run the factory with 200 workers in June and with 100 workers in December. Look at Kampala, Uganda. Here it is completely unpredictable for more than some days weather forecast. At low battery prices, is the conversion from random electricity to 24-electricity always a win. The conversion from 24-electricity to 24×365 electricity comes at a price. This price is shown at the conversion ratio. In our examples, this conversion ratio is between 33.4% and 65.8%. No problem for everyday electricity use, like for car driving or heat pumps. But it is a huge problem when 9,000 kWh are required to produce 1 t of a product where the fossil energy-using competition is at €300/t on the market. 9,000 kWh can propel an electric car more than one time around Earth or produce 1 t of urea fertilizer. So we show for each energy-intensive industry 3 modes:

Constant all the year
Moderate changing of production for cost optimization
Running on 24-electricity, no conversion to 24×365

Remember, 2 centuries ago, steel production emerged only close to coal mines delivering hard coal. It was possible to heat a house with hard coal 1,000 km distant from a coal mine, but not to build a steel factory there.

Download: CORP paper PDF Slides PDF Video 189 MB

Abstract
	To meet the necessary cost optimization targets, we cannot hold the energy problem separate from all other problems: another major problem is housing.

Introduction
	Many imaginations about our future had been created in the past with completely different parameters. Unchecked conclusions from the past endanger our future with unbearable costs.

My personal experience with a profitability transition
	Birds can fly without knowing all the terms of aerodynamics. I reacted with my design change to an ongoing “profitability transition” without knowing the term at this time.

Energy transition
	The long way from random electricity from sun and wind towards 24×365 electricity. Overseen profitability transitions have to be considered as major accidents.

Solar yield and conversion to 24×365 electricity
	The wide range of solar yield becomes much wider after the conversion of gross yield to 24×365 electricity. 6 examples from our research of 50 locations.

The GEMINI principle: double usage of land
	No better solar power plant, no better housing possible on the same ground is the ultimate target of the GEMINI principle.

Off-grid fast charging settlements
	It can start small, somewhere in a village, with a single GEMINI house with a big PV carport and 100 kW DC charging.

Energy-intensive industry
	I once developed a scale for off-grid solar possibilities depending on photovoltaic size. But now is to make a big jump upwards on this scale: running, energy-intensive industry.

Agriculture: How many square meters does a human need for his food?
	Mankind started as hunters and gatherers. 12,000 years ago, 500,000 m² to 2,500,000 m² per human. With the agricultural revolution, the land use was reduced by 2 magnitudes.

Conclusion
	All parameters are in a constant state of change. We have to check all the parameters and predict the development for the predictable future.

References
	Roland Mösl: Energy Optimised Settlements – Enabler for Necessary Civilization Targets, Graz 2025