Abstract

MERGELINA, Pablo de  and  LEMUS-AGUILAR, Isaac. Current Innovation Sources Driving The Spanish Electric Power Sector. Ing. Investig. [online]. 2021, vol.41, n.3, e202.  Epub Aug 20, 2021. ISSN 0120-5609.  https://doi.org/10.15446/ing.investig.v41n3.85377.

Renewable energy is not simply the cornerstone of a transition, but an entire electric power revolution. However, which are the technologies with which power companies are going to redesign the electricity industry? Interviews were conducted with innovation managers of the biggest power companies in Spain to shed some light on the innovation sources upon which the electric power system of the future is based. The results revealed that renewable electricity represents a complete paradigm shift. Until now, the system's net electricity balance has been achieved by adjusting power generation to its demand. However, in a renewable system, electricity generation is limited by and depends on environmental resources, so it cannot be sufficiently controlled to meet the demand at all times. Therefore, it is the electricity consumption that must be adjusted to generation. It was concluded that there are currently nine innovation sources that are redesigning the industry: renewable energy, energy storage systems, electric vehicles, Industry 4.0, smart grids, blockchain, distributed and self-consumption generation, smart client, and demand side response. Moreover, it was found that system regulations established by governments, business sustainability plans, and open innovation by startups play key roles in the development of innovation.

Keywords : innovation; electric power; Spain; innovation sources.

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