This December 2020 report from DNV GL investigates the relationship between power sources for various industries as they move toward electricity and hydrogen as the primary fuel source. He analysis describes coupling between different economic sectors (e.g., industry, services, households and transport) as they transition towards the use of electricity and hydrogen as the dominant energy carriers. Traditionally, economic sectors have been tied to specific energy carriers and energy carriers are tied to specific uses. Electrification is a main enabler of the energy transition and a main aspect of sector coupling. Sectors that previously used various energy carriers will now compete for the same source: electricity. Sector coupling will lead to “market coupling”, meaning that prices of energy will depend on its use in different markets. Market coupling may well have a positive effect on the business case for renewable electricity generation and lead to promising new opportunities for industry.
Key words: natural gas, energy management, smart grid, DER (distributed energy resources)