Projects
Projects
Current Projects
Brief Description: The necessary transformation of energy systems towards net zero greenhouse gas emissions provides a plethora of new research challenges. New interconnections between different energy sectors, such as power, heat and mobility, increase the system’s complexity. In this context, the digitalisation towards cyber-physical energy systems (CPES) alleviates change, and equally affects technical, social, and societal topics, as well as the mode of research in the CPES research community.
Research efforts towards CPES heavily rely on modelling and (co-)simulation-based approaches. Tracking of models together with all data creates a complex software and data management challenge, which needs to be addressed in each research project.
To this end, nfdi4energy covers the whole research and transfer cycle of projects in energy system research ranging from (1) identifying relevant competences for a project; (2) defining relevant scenarios and experimental setup; (3) integrating models and data; coupling tools and laboratories; (4) extracting results, facilitating public consultation; to (5) identifying research challenges for follow-up activities.
For a detailed description of the DFG graduate school visit https://www.nfdi4energy.uol.de.
Brief Description:
The transformation of electricity markets associated with the transition towards high shares of renewable power generation results in the constant development of market mechanisms, increasing sector coupling, and creating new market platforms. Introducing a new market or changing the current market design does, however, affect all other markets and their participants because of their strong interrelation in not necessarily foreseeable ways, as the last changes in the German reserve markets demonstrated. This raises the need for tools and simulation models to investigate and understand such complex interplay of markets and predict possible adverse effects and misuse of market power.
With ASSUME a team of researchers aims to develop a highly modular and easy-to-use energy market simulation toolbox with integrated reinforcement learning methods. Different reinforcement learning algorithms in multi-agent simulations of electricity markets were already tested and have created promising results. This toolbox will enable an agile analysis of market designs and bidding strategies of new actors and emerging market dynamics in our fast changing energy system.
The open-source toolbox is currently under development and a first version is planned to be released at the end of 2023. Get in touch if you want to know more!
Brief Description: The design of future energy systems which can cope with fluctuating supply and flexible demand is an important societal concern. An essential aspect is the consumption of energy, particularly of complex systems such as factories or IT infrastructures. Important points are the flexibilization of energy consumption, so that the share of locally generated ‘green’ energy increases, robustness of energy provisioning, or the efficient design of new energy systems serving these purposes. To accomplish this, a core prerequisite is a structured collection, storage and analysis of energy status data. Energy status data is data that describes the provisioning of energy, its storage, transmission and consumption. This may be measurement data, metadata such as the extent of fatigue of batteries, or it may be other relevant data such as electricity rates. For a detailed description of the DFG graduate school vistit https://www.energystatusdata.kit.edu/index.php.
Brief Description: The design of future energy systems which can cope with fluctuating supply and flexible demand is an important societal concern. An essential aspect is the consumption of energy, particularly of complex systems such as factories or IT infrastructures. Important points are the flexibilization of energy consumption, so that the share of locally generated ‘green’ energy increases, robustness of energy provisioning, or the efficient design of new energy systems serving these purposes. To accomplish this, a core prerequisite is a structured collection, storage and analysis of energy status data. Energy status data is data that describes the provisioning of energy, its storage, transmission and consumption. This may be measurement data, metadata such as the extent of fatigue of batteries, or it may be other relevant data such as electricity rates. For a detailed description of the DFG graduate school vistit https://www.energystatusdata.kit.edu/index.php.
Completed Projects
Contact: Sarah Henni
Partner: IAI, IISM, IMI, Institut für Ubiquitäre Mobilitätssysteme (IUMS), FZI
Project Runtime: 2019-2021
Brief Description: The energy transition brings a shift from consumption-oriented generation to generation-oriented consumption. In this process, citizens themselves are taking on the role of energy producers. A sound understanding of the complex interrelationships in the energy system of the future is therefore necessary not only for decision-makers, but also for the general public.
The central vision of the project is the interactive involvement of citizens in the transformation of the energy system by creating an intuitive understanding of the complex interrelationships in the energy system of the future. For this reason, augmented reality or virtual reality will be used to provide an intuitive insight into the energy transition. A playful and realistic interaction, which goes beyond a mere visualization, enables even energy system laymen a vivid access to interrelationships of energy system components with each other or with the environment as well as the associated effects, which thus complements the existing energy atlas of the Ministry of the Environment BW with another component.
Accordingly, the project will develop results on different levels – from the federal state of Baden-Württemberg to properties and buildings to devices. These will be made available as 2D representations, AR and VR applications and in the form of dynamic data through various media and end devices. To ensure a user-oriented design of scenarios and selection of technologies, stakeholders will be involved in the form of analyses and studies. On the one hand, practical examples for citizens and planning support for decision-makers will be pushed. Sustainability is ensured by long-term energy atlas integration. On the other hand, the results will be presented at a citizen-oriented event, which will be planned and implemented jointly by all partners, and can be experienced interactively by citizens. The resulting demonstrators will then be integrated into existing laboratories of the project partners. Beyond the project duration, they will be accessible to the public through existing transfer events. In addition, the involvement of third parties such as EnBW is intended to ensure further exploitation.
Project Lead: Bent Richter
Partner: EnergieSüdwest AG, Selfbits GmbH
Project Runtime: 2017-2020
In the course of the energy transition, renewable energy generation in Germany is being expanded more and more. By 2035, at least 60% of electricity consumption is to be generated by renewable generation plants. However, these are difficult to control and place a greater burden on the grids than conventional plants. Simply replacing them would cause massive and costly grid expansion. An alternative to this is the establishment of a decentralized power supply in which consumption and generation are close together. Generators such as photovoltaic systems on rooftops, wind turbines or combined heat and power plants are connected directly to the distribution grid. In recent years, this decentralized expansion has been accelerated both technologically (e.g. advances in PV technology) and politically (climate targets set by the German government). As a result, 1.5 million PV systems and 25000 wind turbines operated by German citizens are now involved in power generation. However, unlike operators of large power plants, the owners of these small plants are not allowed to actively participate in the energy market. To date, this market has been geared towards wholesale trading on a national and international level. There is therefore no practical knowledge of whether the market mechanisms tested would also work for smaller regional and local energy markets.
This is exactly where we step in:
- LAMP is a pilot and research project of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in cooperation with the energy supplier Energie Südwest AG and the software developer Selfbits GmbH.
- We provide 20 households with a trading platform. On this, locally generated green electricity can be traded among each other.
- Each participant receives access to their electricity consumption and generation data via an app. These are recorded via special blockchain-enabled smart meters.
- Through the app, households can specify their asking prices for locally generated energy from renewable sources. Trading on the local trading platform proceeds via automated agents.
- We study the resulting market prices for locally generated electricity from renewable sources, the market mechanism, and participants’ acceptance of local energy markets.
LAMP is the first implementation of a local energy market in Germany. The project advances the decentralization of energy markets in the course of Germany’s energy transition.
Brief Description: The main objective of the subtopic “Networks and Storage Integration” is to provide the necessary technologies for dependable operation of future energy systems. This requires not only the integration of technologies across different types of traditionally separately operated energy networks, but also the combined effort of several disciplines in order to deal appropriately with highly decentralized and volatile power generation from renewable sources.
Within the topic Superconductivity, Networks and System Integration we model the Smart Grid as a techno-economic system. Through analytical, game-theoretical, and simulation-based evaluation approaches, we are building a detailed understanding of the trade-offs of strategic decisions regarding efficiency, sustainability, security of supply, but also societal acceptance.
Together with the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology (ICT), in the project StiL we are investigating storage requirements at distribution grid level in Baden-Württemberg up to 2050, assuming that at least 80% renewable generation is achieved. The project focuses primarily on the interaction and combination of lithium-ion and redox-flow battery technologies within a comprehensive energy system analysis. Data from the Fraunhofer-ICT onsite storage facilities is used to accurately model the storage technologies. In addition, the goal of the project is to investigate the impact of centralized vs. decentralized planning of a renewable supply on the spatial distribution of wind, solar and storage capacities.
Contact: Christof Weinhardt, Saskia Bluhm, Armin Golla
Partner: Berg GmbH, EnergieSüdwest AG, Vivavis AG, IAI, IISM, Stadtwerke Ettlingen GmbH, Selfbits GmbH
Project Runtime: 2020 – 2023
Brief Description:
In the research project Smart Microgrids as a Services we aim to develop a system that allows local consumers to trade electricity and heat with each other in order to achieve the greatest possible efficiency in the local energy system. To this end, virtual energy agents will be developed that will take over the purchase of energy for consumers and provide recommendations for investing in efficiency-enhancing equipment. Customers can use a mobile application to map their systems and control them according to their preferences.
The developed methods will be tested in real laboratories, with end consumers and on a research campus. As a result of the project, a construction kit is available that makes it possible to sell smart microgrids as a holistic solution nationally and internationally in a market that is estimated to be worth 39 billion dollars by 2023 [1].
This research and development project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under the research program “Innovations for the Production, Service and Work of Tomorrow” and supervised by the Project Management Agency Karlsruhe (PTKA).
For a detailed description visit https://smaas.iism.kit.edu/.
Brief Description: The aim of the iZeus (Intelligent Zero Emission Urban Systems) research project is to efficiently integrate mobile electric storage systems in vehicles into the existing energy system by designing innovative information and communication technologies and implementing them in coherent overall concepts. To this end, a wide variety of usage scenarios are being investigated with regard to mobility behavior. These investigations are to be carried out by means of simulations and in particular in an extensive fleet test.
Central research topics are:
Value-added services for a test e-vehicle fleet, in private as well as in commercial traffic. These include, for example, services such as charging management based on economic or network-oriented aspects, energy-efficient route planning or a connection to other modes of transport within the framework of multimodal mobility management. Deeper connection of transport and energy systems by means of the operational linking of smart grid and smart traffic concepts.
The integration of (e.g. regional) renewable energy sources into the energy system. The main focus is on the coordination of charging, which should not only be based on economic criteria, but should also aim to achieve the highest possible share of electricity from renewable sources for charging e-vehicles. Different mechanisms (technical approaches, economic incentives) are to be used for implementation.
The further development of the legal framework for the secure and data-protection-compliant implementation of the mechanisms and procedures developed in the project.
The research and demonstration laboratory set up as part of MeRegioMobil will continue to be a key component in iZeus for investigating new concepts. In particular, procedures for the technical design and evaluation of feeding energy back into the interconnected grid will be developed, verified and tested here. In addition to the technical aspects, all aspects that may be of importance to people in an intelligently designed energy future can be experienced and evaluated for their acceptance in this habitable “smart home”. The consortium leader of the project is EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG, which is supported by KIT staff from the institutes AIFB , IIP , IISM , ITM , ZAR , DSN , ETI , IEH and ITI.
MeRegio
Contact: Alexander Schuller
Brief Description: As part of the Minimum Emission Region Project (MEREGIO), a model region is to be created within the next four years in which both energy suppliers and end consumers will be equipped with intelligent information and communications technology that will enable them to organize both energy generation and energy consumption as efficiently as possible. Variable energy pricing will encourage participants in the region to use the valuable resource of energy as carefully as possible. In addition, a certification program is being developed within the framework of the project, with the help of which a region can have its efficiency in the handling of energy – similar to today’s household appliances – certified with publicity effect. The consortium leader of this project is EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG. The University of Karlsruhe supports the MEREGIO project with staff from AIFB, IIP, IISM, ITM and ZAR.
To this end, the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology is providing a total of almost 10 million euros in funding for the MEREGIO project, which will be used to achieve greater economic efficiency, security of supply, and climate and environmental compatibility in power supply with the help of modern information and communication technologies (ICT).
Brief Description: Self-organization and spontaneity in liberalized and harmonized markets
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