Institute for Theoretical Information Technology

Optimization and Control in Smart Grids

Power grids are highly interactive and complex systems which, with the integration of renewable energy sources, become increasingly difficult to control with the integration of distributed renewable energy sources. In order to keep the future power grid stable a common communication infrastructure shall be installed which allows for reporting and even controlling components connected to the power grid. For the future power grid (amongst others) the following questions need to be addressed:

• When is a communication infrastructure needed to keep the power grid stable and secure?
• What should the communication infrastructure be capable of?
• What is the best choice for the infrastructure: Shall it be centralized, decentralized or a mixture of both?
• What are appropriate measures to evaluate the advantage of communication?
• How can this infrastructure be built up and used efficiently?

These and further questions will be addressed in the project SwarmGrid. TI is responsible for planning the underlying communication system.

Related research topics

• Integrated Simulation of Electricity Distribution Grids

Current projects

Sicherer Betrieb von Energienetzen durch Nutzerschwarmsystemdienstleistungen (SwarmGrid) (August 2015 - )
Joint research project with

• QSC AG, Cologne
• Rheinische NETZgesellschaft mbH (RNG), Cologne
• Institute for Automation of Complex Power Systems (ACS), RWTH Aachen
• Institut für Hochspannungstechnik (IFHT), RWTH Aachen
• Amprion GmbH, Dortmund (associated partner)

Supported by the BMBF
 

Contact

For further information contact Dr. Michael Reyer.