As more renewable energy and electric vehicles are added to electricity grids, there is a growing need to ensure that the power being generated flows smoothly and efficiently across the system, especially for electricity use in households.
That is where the ProSeCo project comes in.
At present, most electricity travels through what are known as AC grids. However, with the increasing amount of renewable energy being connected, particularly from offshore wind farms, a more powerful system to share this clean energy is needed. The end result is a hybrid AC/DC grid.
Creating an energy twin
Professor Jens Haubrock at Hochschule Bielefeld – University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSBI) in Bielefeld, Germany, leads the ProSeCo project.
“This new energy management system (EMS) is based on a so-called probabilistic energy twin (PDT), and within the project we have developed software to help electricity distributors calculate electricity output more accurately,” Haubrock explains.
A probabilistic power twin is like a super-realistic computer version, also called a twin, of the real power system. This twin helps predict what could happen to the electricity grids if lots of people plug in their electric cars or use heating at the same time.
He adds that with the increasing share of renewable energy feeding into the grid, new transmission cables and other methods will be needed to meet the growing demand for electricity.
“But there are not enough people working on how all this energy will be distributed,” Haubrock says. “It’s a problem we have set out to solve.”
As well as estimating electricity output for households, Haubrock highlights the growing number of electric vehicles drawing power from the grid.
“With electric vehicles requiring more electricity and with heat pumps and cooling systems in households adding further demand, distributors need better tools to plan energy output,” he notes.
Being tested
The electricity management system’s digital energy twin is already being tested by Stadtwerke Bielefeld, the municipal utility company in Bielefeld. They are using it to monitor electricity outages in one area of the city.
“That is the most important element of the project at the moment,” Haubrock says.
He emphasises that being part of the Clean Energy Transition Partnership has been crucial for securing funding for the project.
“This partnership has also increased our contact with industry, and we’re seeing strong interest in our electricity management system,” he adds.
More collaboration ahead
Haubrock also points to collaboration with research groups at the University of Vienna, and participation in the ISAP Conference in Porto last year, as valuable opportunities to exchange ideas with other researchers in the field. The consortium consists of research institutions and industrial partners across Europe.
Looking ahead, the research group plans to submit a new funding proposal and is preparing to collaborate with Siemens.
“They are a major player in developing energy transmission systems, but we also want to involve more small and medium-sized companies,” he says.
Ultimately, the hope is that the testing of the digital energy twin will culminate in a physical product that operators of electricity grids can use.
“This will help electricity grid operators manage their output more efficiently in the future,” Haubrock concludes.
About the project
The project is led by Norwegian partner SINTEF, and the consortium also includes research partners from France and the US, as well as four industry partners. Together, they contribute complementary expertise that strengthens the project’s ability to address one of the most critical challenges in large-scale CCS deployment.
