Motivation

For the past decades, ancillary services for the reliable operation of the power grid were provided mainly by synchronous generators of conventional large-scale power plants. Ancillary services include frequency stability, voltage stability, operational management and the re-establishment of power generation. In future, these ancillary services must be provided by a multitude of decentralised producers on the basis of renewable energies and loads in the distribution grids in terms of a cross-sectoral Energiewende. This increases the requirements with regard to grid operations management and management of ancillary services across different voltage levels. This also leads to increased requirements regarding the scope and resilience of the digital transformation of the energy system, as well as to new demands concerning the economic and legal framework conditions of future electricity supply systems.

 

 

Image 1: Future challenges when providing ancillary services © elenia Institute for High Voltage Technology and Power Systems of the TU Braunschweig

Objectives of the project

The EFZN lead project “SiNED – Systemdienstleistungen für sichere Stromnetze in Zeiten fortschreitender Energiewende und digitaler Transformation“ (Ancillary Services for Reliable Power Grids in Times of Progressive German Energiewende and Digital Transformation) has as its objective to further develop the existing ancillary services to cater for future power grids and to adapt these to new requirements and opportunities presented by digitalisation and the progressing Energiewende.

Solutions for the reliable operation of future power grids – with consideration of the particular situation in Lower Saxony – are developed and investigated. Particularly for the windy regions of Lower Saxony it is of importance to find improved solutions for ancillary services that can deal with fluctuating feed-ins and the management of bottlenecks by storing electricity and additional loads that can be switched on.

 

Image 2: Overriding project objective and partial objectives. © EFZN

 

In summary, in order to find answers to the central common research question of SiNED, the following guiding questions are defined for the alliance project:

1. How can the changed demand regarding ancillary services that are to be increasingly delivered by renewable energy systems be covered up until 2050?

2. How can the demand for ancillary services be covered by the flexible provision of decentralised grid users and how can this challenge of inverter-dominated distribution grids be solved?

3. How can the flexibility of providing ancillary services in distribution grids with consideration of resilience be explored in terms of information technology?

4. What economic optimisation potential is possible when providing ancillary services, what statutory (data protection) restrictions must be observed and what adaptations of the statutory framework are required?

Structure of the project

The joint project comprises a total of nine integrated, interlinked partial projects that are structured according to three areas of competence.

 

Image 3: Structure of the project. © EFZN

Project data

Spokesperson

Professor Dr.-Ing. Bernd Engel

TU Braunschweig, elenia Institute for High Voltage Technology and Power Systems

Project coordinator

Cornelius Biedermann

TU Braunschweig, elenia Institute for High Voltage Technology and Power Systems

Phone: 0531 391 7788

e-mail: cornelius.biedermanntu-braunschweigde

 

Project partners

TU Braunschweig – elenia Institute for High Voltage Technology and Power Systems

Professor Dr.-Ing. Bernd Engel and

Professor Dr.-Ing. Michael Kurrat

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German Aerospace Centre (DLR)– Institute of Networked Energy Systems Oldenburg

Professor Dr. Carsten Agert

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OFFIS e.V. – Institute for Informatics Oldenburg

Professor Dr. Sebastian Lehnhoff

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Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg – Department of Computing Science, Digitalized Energy Systems Group

Professorin Dr.-Ing. Astrid Nieße

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Leibniz University Hannover – Institute of Electric Power Systems, Electric Power Engineering Section

Professor Dr.-Ing. habil. Lutz Hofmann

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Leibniz University Hannover – Institute of Information Systems Research

Professor Dr. Michael H. Breitner

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Clausthal University of Technology – Institute of German and International Mining and Energy Law

Professor Dr. jur. Hartmut Weyer

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Duration

01.11.2019 - 31.10.2024

Funding authority

Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur – Zusätzliche Förderung von Wissenschaft und Technik in Forschung und Lehre aus Mitteln des Niedersächsischen Vorab

Competence area “Electrical Energy Engineering”

Partial Project 1.1: The overall stabilisation through the coordinated provision of ancillary services at the level of the distribution grid

Responsible employee: Neelotpal Majumdar, Leibniz University Hannover, Institute of Electric Power Systems, Electric Power Engineering Section - Find out more >

Partial Project 1.2: Control technology for new flexibility options and ancillary services

Responsible employee: Vanessa Beutel, German Aerospace Centre (DLR), Institute of Networked Energy Systems (DLR-VE) Oldenburg - Find out more >

Partial Project 1.3: Ancillary services of the grid-related prosumer

Responsible employee: Carsten Wegkamp, TU Braunschweig, elenia Institute for High Voltage Technology and Power Systems - Find out more >

Partial Project 1.4: Methods of configuring and coordinating protective systems in grids

Responsible employee: Marc René Lotz, TU Braunschweig, elenia Institute for High Voltage Technology and Power Systems / Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences - Find out more >

Competence area “Digital Transformation / Information and Communication Technology (ICT)”

Partial Project 2.1: IT platforms/services for the provision of decentralised ancillary services

Responsible employee: Payam Teimourzadeh Baboli, OFFIS e.V. - Institute for Informatics Oldenburg - Find out more >

Partial Project 2.2: Data/transaction/service concepts of decentralised ancillary services

Responsible employee: Paul Hendrik Tiemann, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Department of Computing Science, Digitalized Energy Systems Group - Find out more >

Partial Project 2.3: Forecasts, possible attacks on ICT infrastructure

Responsible employee: Jana Gerlach, Leibniz University Hannover, Institute of Information Systems Research - Find out more >

Competence area “Questions of economics and energy law”

Partial Project 3.1: Economic feasibility/ financing feasibility, acceptance, business model

Responsible employee: Jana Gerlach, Leibniz University Hannover, Institute of Information Systems Research - Find out more >

Partial Project 3.2: Statutory framework conditions for anchillary services EU GDPR

Responsible employee: Sebastian Buchholz, Clausthal University of Technology, Institute of German and International Mining and Energy Law - Find out more >