“Designetz” – What are the Tools Needed for Energy Transition?

“Designetz” is the name of the project slated to run for four years, which is sponsored by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy within the framework of the SINTEG program, the so-called “Schaufenster intelligente Energie” - digital agenda for energy transition. In total, funds of 30 million euros are being made available for “Designetz.”

 

46 partners in research and development, energy economy, and industry want to develop an efficient, secure, and flexible overall system from various individual solutions for power production and supply. With innogy SE serving as the project manager of Designetz, the federal states of NRW, Rheinland-Palatinate, and Saarland will be used as example regions. This model region will depict what will later be applied throughout Germany. It is shaped not only by heavy industry but also by congested urban areas and larger rural areas and will serve as blueprint for Germany.

The Institute of Power Systems and Power Economics, IAEW, at RWTH, where Professor Dr.-Ing. Albert Moser is chair, will assume the direction of the scientific component of the work package. Their aim is to model and simulate the energy system of 2035. German nuclear power plants and the majority of coal power stations are shut down. Solar and wind energy and biofuels are the primary sources of energy. Roughly every other German household produces its own energy and partially feeds this into the grid. What happens, for example, when there is no wind for two weeks and a portion of energy production falls out? Can other energy generating plants cover the missing need for energy? What consideration needs to be given to flexibility, for example storage, in a total system and how can it be implemented? What needs to be adapted in the market? What even makes the most economic sense? The Aachen researchers hope their investigations will answer these questions.

Scenarios depicting the future development of the energy system will serve as the springboard for these simulations. In order to investigate these future scenarios, simulation environments will be developed for European power markets and to illustrate local restrictions due to grid bottlenecks.

"The project distinguishes itself through the collaboration between research and industry and the direct feedback from practical experience back into theory," says Jens Sprey from the IAEW. "Ultimately the point is to take future flexibility and implement it in a way that is optimal for the market, grid, and system. The goal is to derive recommendations for action using market and grid operation simulations in order to join together single solutions to form a total, efficient energy system."

IAEW at RWTH has many years of experience and expertise in the fields of grid planning and operation, market and system analysis, and system stability and supply security. The institute is also already working on a pre-project with innogy SE, which focuses on use flexibility in a distribution grid that also benefits the grid.

Source: Press and Public Relations