Department

Energy Systems Technology

The emulation centre for networked energy systems DLR_NESTEC is a central infrastructure of the department. Here, for example, individual components can be interconnected in two modular test fields. This allows power grid structures or tests of individual components to be realised very flexibly. Tests with a total output of up to 400 kVA and voltages of up to 1.5 kV are currently possible.
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The expansion of renewable energies means that our electricity supply is increasingly becoming decentralised and dependent on the weather. At the same time, digitalisation in the energy sector is also progressing further and further. In order to allow an overall system to be structured cost-effectively and robustly and to enable surplus electricity supplies to be used locally wherever possible, concepts need to be designed beyond the limits of individual energy sectors.

The synchronisation of electricity generation and consumption plays a crucial role in this. To achieve this, the energy system of the future needs to be structured flexibly. This can be implemented for instance through greater incorporation of energy storage systems and through sector integration, i.e. using energy from the electricity sector to provide thermal energy or mobility. New measures aimed at system stabilisation are also required in order to ensure that future energy systems with a very high proportion of renewable energies are sufficiently robust.

Against this background the Energy Systems Technology Department at the Institute of Networked Energy Systems concentrates on the interaction between system-relevant technologies within decentralised networked structures. At the low-voltage and medium-voltage level in particular we strive to achieve new architectures for the energy systems of the future. We recognise the need here for new technological approaches in terms of grid technologies, e.g. the integration of DC grids and new grid operation equipment, in order to ensure more efficient operations and save grid expansion costs.

At the same time we examine the extent to which energy systems can be structured more flexibly by synchronising fluctuations in production levels more effectively with consumption. Research activities include inegrating the electricity sector with the thermal energy and traffic sectors as well as with industrial processes.

Scientific publications of the department

Current scientific publications of the department Energy Systems Technology can be found in the electronic publication directory (elib).

Research groups in the department Energy Systems Technology

Research Group

Smart Energy Management

The Smart Energy Management research group develops methods and strategies to optimise the operation and design of future energy systems hand in hand.

Research Group

Power Grid Technologies

The Power Grid Technologies research group maps the complex interaction between controlling, controllable and non-controllable grid participants in our laboratories in order to understand and optimise its functioning at software and hardware level.

Research Group

Flexibilities and Ancillary Services

The Flexibilities and System Ancillary Services research group is investigating which tools, operational management strategies and additional infrastructure are required in order to operate the electricity grids in a stable, reliable and robust manner.

Current research projects involving the department Energy Systems Technology

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Contact

Dr Karsten von Maydell

Head of Division
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Institute of Networked Energy Systems
Energy Systems Technology