Power Generation Landscape

 

Motivation

The structure of energy supply in Europe is currently undergoing major changes, which is mainly characterized by the steady growth in regenerative electricity generation capacities. This applies in particular to the situation in Germany, as the politically determined exit from the use of nuclear energy and the subsidy mechanism of the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) promote the expansion of renewable electricity generation capacities. In addition to the advantages of climate-neutral electricity generation from these capacities, the resulting high share of total electricity generation also creates a multitude of technical, economic and social challenges. In response to these challenges, various tendencies in research are observable in the field of energy generation. On the one hand, increased coupled electricity and heat generation can be observed in smaller decentralized units. This is opposite to the current focus of electricity generation in large central power units. As a potential solution for the high volatility and low predictability of regenerative electricity generation, a large number of electricity storage technologies are currently in various stages of development. This includes the further development of already established technologies such as battery storage and the development of new storage technologies, e.g. different power-to-gas concepts. In order to meet these challenges and to continue the described development trends, RWTH Aachen has launched, among other things, the interdisciplinary project "Municipal Power Supply Systems of the Future" under the leadership of the IKDG.

 

Method

The aim of this research is to develop technical, economic and social solutions for future decentralized communal energy supply systems with a high proportion of regenerative electricity generation. One of the main focuses is the development of a simulation tool for analyzing the design and operation of this type of energy supply system, which is characterized by the integration of volatile regenerative generation capacities and available energy conversion and storage systems. Another focus is on the development of a demonstration system on "Campus Melaten" at RWTH Aachen University. This demonstration system is intended to validate and further develop the simulation tools. In addition, the experimental analysis of the interaction between real system components and their further development in a real development environment will be enabled.