Factsheet: IRENE

Press Presse Press Presse
Smart Grid Division (IC Sector)
Corporate Technology
Nuremberg / Munich, Germany, June 21, 2012
Press backgrounder: Looking to the future – The smart grids of tomorrow
Why is Wildpoldsried the ideal test bay for Germany’s grids in the 2020’s?
•
Fifteen years ago, there were only a few hundred energy generators feeding power into Germany’s
grids. In the future, there will be millions, including solar, wind, and biomass systems, as well as
small combined heat and power plants in the cellar. What were formerly energy consumers will increasingly become producers as well, or “prosumers.”
•
Today’s grids are designed for centralized generation and unidirectional power flows from the power plant to the consumer. The steady expansion of renewable energy sources is being accompanied by a corresponding growth in distributed power generation. In many regions, the amount of
electricity currently being generated is still below the amount consumed and can thus be fed back
into the grid without any particular effects.
•
In the future, however, if more electricity is generated than is consumed, the additional electricity
will be returned to the upstream grid and the conventional direction of power flow will be reversed. The grid components are not designed for feeding power back into the network, and overloads could occur. One possible way to prevent this would be to expand the local grids and transformer stations. However, such expansions are expensive and consume valuable resources.
•
The “Integration of Regenerative Energy and Electric Mobility” project (IRENE) is testing an
alternative approach: Various components are intelligently controlled and the electricity and voltage are limited. The smart grid ensures stability in the power network while balancing consumption and generation. In the grid now being tested in the region surrounding Wildpoldsried near
Kempten in Allgäu, wind, solar, and biomass power plants are already generating more than three
times as much electrical energy as is being consumed. The conditions here already correspond
to the conditions expected in Germany in the 2020s, making Wildpoldsried the ideal test bay for
investigating future strategies for stable power grids.
Brief description of the project:
•
Siemens and the utility company Allgäuer Überlandwerk (AÜW) in the city of Kempten, Germany,
together with the RWTH university in Aachen and Kempten College, are testing a smart grid.
The joint project IRENE was launched in 2011 and will run for two years. IRENE costs around €6
1/3
Siemens AG
Corporate Communications and Government Affairs
Wittelsbacherplatz 2, 80333 Munich
Germany
Media Relations: Dietrich Biester
Telephone: +49 911 433-8617
E-mail: [email protected]
Siemens AG
Infrastructure & Cities Sector – Smart Grid Division
Humboldtstr. 59, 90459 Nuremberg
million. One third is being contributed by AÜW and Siemens, and the rest by Germany’s Ministry of
Economics and Technology. Many photovoltaic systems, wind turbines, and biogas plants – which
AÜW has meanwhile integrated into the distribution network – are to be operated as a smart grid.
•
This is made possible by a self-organizing energy automation system (So Easy) from Siemens.
So Easy is an autonomous software module that makes it easier to plan and coordinate energy distribution as well as to operate the grid more efficiently.
•
The project also includes expansion of a charging infrastructure for electric vehicles that can use
the electricity generated in an ecofriendly manner (for example, from photovoltaic systems).
•
In addition, there are numerous measurement sensors, variable network components, and a large
battery storage unit for buffering electricity.
Project benefits:
•
Consumers can save money by changing their consumption habits.
•
Generators will be able to market their power more effectively in the future.
•
Improved energy management balances out power generation and power consumption. With
the network software newly developed by Siemens and the measurement stations – which permit
transparency of power flows and voltages for the first time – it has been possible to significantly reduce the extent of grid expansion. Result: a potential reduction in grid fees and thus a griddependent reduction in the price of electricity.
Technologies used:
Measurement technology:
To understand all the processes in the grid, AÜW and Siemens installed some 200 measurement devices, including weather measurement data and webcams used to monitor cloud movements. The
measurement technology installed in this project anonymously collects data on the utilization of the distribution network. This data can then be used to control actuators in the grid in real time. Actuators include, for example, a variable transformer for the local grid or the battery storage units that will soon be
installed, as well as the inverters in photovoltaic systems. In this way, the rated voltage can be kept below the limit values and an overload of the distribution network can be prevented. One goal of the
project is to determine the optimal number and distribution of measurement devices in the distribution
network. Around three gigabytes of data are sent to AÜW headquarters in Kempten every day. Later
on, the number of measurement points will be reduced and limited to key points. Once these points are
identified, targeted measures can be taken to correct any problems.
Variable transformer for the local grid:
In order to implement targeted countermeasures, Siemens installed a variable transformer that offsets
voltage fluctuations – a device that is normal in high-voltage grids but was previously unknown in
2/3
Siemens AG
Corporate Communications and Government Affairs
Wittelsbacherplatz 2, 80333 Munich
Germany
Media Relations: Dietrich Biester
Telephone: +49 911 433-8617
E-mail: [email protected]
Siemens AG
Infrastructure & Cities Sector – Smart Grid Division
Humboldtstr. 59, 90459 Nuremberg
secondary-voltage local networks. Due to changes in operating conditions, the voltage in the network
can vary greatly – the extremes being “high load conditions with no decentralized feed-in” and “low load
conditions with maximally decentralized feed-in.” Whereas voltages are considerably higher when
there’s a higher feed-in, they are reduced in high load conditions. Traditional solutions to increased
distributed generation have included installing parallel cables, building additional local grid stations, and
controlling the reactive power. All three technologies are effective, but are expensive and inflexible over
the long term. In the case of variable transformers for the local grid, voltage values are measured at the
busbar in the transformer station and compared to the selected set point. If the two measured values do
not match, the transformer raises or lowers the voltage to the set point. The result: There are no voltage
increases and the voltage quality is the same throughout the grid.
So Easy software:
•
The “Self-Organizing Energy Automation System” (So Easy) from Siemens cleverly balances
supply and demand and keeps the grid stable. The distribution networks that bring electricity to
households have several times as many components as the main high-voltage transmission grid.
To ensure that things don’t get too complicated, engineers and computer scientists at Siemens
Corporate Technology (CT) have developed scalable hardware and software modules, so that even
as the smart grid expands, the costs associated with it will increase only moderately. All the components for collecting and transmitting data and remotely controlling facilities are plug-and-playenabled and thus can be installed in solar power inverters without any need for additional programming.
•
Personal Local Energy Agents — autonomous software modules — control the interaction between decentralized consumers and producers and the grid. Every “prosumer” has such an agent,
which can be used to reserve centralized services such as weather forecasts or system optimizations via a marketplace.
•
There’s also a Network Transport Agent that monitors grid status in real time, an Area Administrator that maintains network stability, and a Balance Master, which plans key adjustments hours
or days in advance on the basis of parameters such as expected changes in the weather. All of
these software agents are highly interconnected and automated. They control the actuators in a
way that ensures good voltage quality. A power exchange that will allow agents to negotiate electricity deliveries will also be set up before the project is completed.
Battery storage unit:
Siemens is integrating a battery storage unit that uses lithium ion technology into the project that is
scheduled to go into operation in Wildpoldsried at the end of September 2012. The storage unit was
designed for a 300-kilowatt output with a capacity of 138 kilowatt hours, based on the electrical output
of the photovoltaic plants and the loads in the region being studied. The storage system was designed
and the battery cells selected to provide an especially long service life of over 10 years in normal operation.
3/3
Siemens AG
Corporate Communications and Government Affairs
Wittelsbacherplatz 2, 80333 Munich
Germany
Media Relations: Dietrich Biester
Telephone: +49 911 433-8617
E-mail: [email protected]
Siemens AG
Infrastructure & Cities Sector – Smart Grid Division
Humboldtstr. 59, 90459 Nuremberg