Essen/Wanderath - The electric mobility in Germany is accelerating: More and more people are changing over to climate-friendly electric vehicles. According to the latest plans of the German government, ten million vehicles on German roads will be electrically powered by 2030. This means a fundamental change for the entire system: for private individuals, companies, network operators and energy suppliers.

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Professionals must ask themselves how they can integrate the increasing electrification of transport into their operations - be it in their own vehicle fleets or in the infrastructure offered to customers. An important component is the development of charging infrastructure. The increasing number of charging stations leads to a rising demand for electrical power in the building. However, the available connected load is often not sufficient. In addition, there is the volatile energy supply from renewable energy sources. This interaction often makes expensive network expansion necessary.

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Since April, the energy company innogy and the start-up gridX have been testing a new, intelligent form of energy management at the Wanderath Hotel and Congress Centre, which makes this grid expansion redundant. Judith Lehnigk-Emden, district representative of the Mayen-Koblenz district, Andreas Booke, co-founder of gridX GmbH, Dr. Armin Gaul, head of the "Coordination of Technical Product Development" department at innogy SE and Thomas Sztrajt, head of the Wanderath Hotel and Congress Centre in Baar, presented today how the technology works.

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"In 2016, we developed a comprehensive climate protection concept in theMayen-Koblenz district. Among other things, this includes the reduction of CO² emissions in the district. In order to achieve this goal, the integration of renewable energies and electric mobility is indispensable. With the project presented today, we can jointly make a significant contribution to this," Judith Lehnigk-Emden is pleased to report. The integrated gridBox serves as an intelligent energy manager that optimizes the use of self-generated electricity. As part of the Smart Charging project, it monitors the energy flow in the house fully automatically and maximizes the degree of self-sufficiency. In times of high solar radiation, the building can therefore cover a large part of its electricity requirements from its own solar system. The developed solution offers innovative possibilities for the integration of electric cars and charging stations. The associated gridX algorithms create a dynamic energy management and thus ensure smooth hotel operation including the charging facilities and generation plants.

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"For gridX, Wanderath is a great project to show what dynamic load management can look like in practice. The cooperation with innogy, Westnetz and the conference hotel in Wanderath is very valuable for us, because synergies are created and competences are expanded. Through Smart Charging in Wanderath we have managed to build more charging points and at the same time to relieve the network. We want to make this cost saving available to other companies too in the future," says Andreas Booke, Founder and Managing Director at gridX.

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Dr. Armin Gaul explained the technology of the integrated system solution in Wanderath: "We used a large number of modern components on the premises of the Wanderath hotel and congress centre. The special thing about it: together with gridX, we have networked all the technologies with each other. In this way we can increase the hotel's degree of self-sufficiency and make a contribution to the energy revolution in the region with a new charging infrastructure and climate-neutral generation."

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"I am delighted that we can now play a pioneering role in energy efficiency as a hotel and congress center. In recent months, we have noticed an increasing demand from our guests for charging infrastructure. With a total of 17 charging points, we now offer a comprehensive range of e-mobility services. And the electricity is also generated by the photovoltaic system on the hotel roof," says Thomas Sztrajt.

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The Wanderath Hotel and Congress Centre now offers a wide range of efficient technologies. These include:

• A photovoltaic system with an output of 20 KWp on the roof of the company building generates electricity from sunlight. Solar collectors capture the energy and convert it into electricity.
• Wanderath focuses on electric mobility. As part of the project, the hotel has therefore set up 15 charging points on the site, which are operated using electricity produced by the hotel itself. A total of 17 charging points are now available to visitors.
• Smart Poles are intelligent street lights with various functions. It not only provides light in the evening hours on the hotel grounds, but also charges electric cars. At the same time, it provides W-LAN for the hotel's guests.
• innogy and gridX have networked the components using the gridBox by gridX. It enables efficient and dynamic charge management.

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The gridX solution was included in innogy SE's product portfolio under the name "Smart Connect" and customers from the parking and logistics sectors are already benefiting from its integration. Together with innogy and gridX, they can thus improve their energy efficiency and maximize their degree of self-sufficiency. Energy costs are reduced and expensive network expansion is avoided.

About gridX

gridX is Europe's leading smart energy company based in Aachen and Munich. With its modular EMS XENON, gridX enables manufacturer-independent optimization and management of distributed energy resources. With XENON, partners can build, scale and adapt energy management solutions faster and more efficiently than ever before, always meeting evolving market demands. E-mobility partners can install more and higher power charge points at sites without the need for costly grid extensions. Partners in home energy management minimize costs and complexity by offering end customers holistic smart energy management built for the future.