Neighborhood model shows potential for stable grids

13.11.2025

Source: E & M powernews

Digital control stabilizes power grids and reduces emissions in the neighbourhood. The analysis comes from the Future Energy Lab at the ZDIN and the OFFIS Institute in Oldenburg.

The Future Energy Lab is a research association based at the Center for Digital Innovation Lower Saxony (ZDIN) and works closely with the OFFIS Institute for Information Technology. Together, the institutions are investigating digital control systems for energy systems.

Digital control of generation, storage and consumption is becoming increasingly important in the energy system, as the researchers emphasize. The Future Energy Lab recently completed several years of research and has now presented its key findings. The Future Lab analyzed how simulations and networked control systems can relieve the strain on grids while making energy consumption more efficient. The researchers looked in particular at decentralized generators, storage systems and new consumption loads such as heat pumps or electromobility.

According to the Oldenburg-based ZDIN, they developed digital models in the future lab that can be used to realistically simulate energy components such as PV systems, battery storage or buildings. These models form the basis for operational schedules that determine when individual systems provide or absorb energy. The researchers considered the flexibility of each building separately and examined how operation can be optimally adapted to the grid.

Optimized flexibility for stable grids

A multi-agent system networked all decentralized energy components in the simulations. Each component had a software agent that took information from other systems into account and adapted its own operation accordingly. In addition, an energy management system coordinated generation, storage and consumption so as not to overload transformers and lines.

According to Dr.-Ing. Fernando Penaherrera from Offis - Institute for Information Technology, the completed analysis shows that optimized schedules can reduce the state of charge of storage systems. This makes it possible to maintain less storage capacity in the future. At the same time, the parallel power consumption of buffer storage systems is reduced, which prevents overloads in the low-voltage grid. This operates at 230 V and, according to the researchers, may only deviate up or down by a maximum of five percent.

The combination of optimized flexibility and central energy management also reduced the number of critical grid situations. This is particularly relevant in phases of high simultaneous load, such as when many electric vehicles are charging at the same time. Here, the digital control system stabilizes the system.

Neighborhood analyses for Braunschweig

For the "Am Ölper Berge" residential district in Braunschweig, the researchers investigated how the increasing use of decentralized technologies affects energy demand and CO2 emissions. The neighborhood comprises 49 residential buildings that currently receive electricity and heat from the local energy supply company.

The simulations showed clear effects: Improved insulation, the use of more efficient heat pumps, a low-temperature district heating network and a growing number of photovoltaic systems reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 75 percent, according to the center. At the same time, the overall energy requirements of the district are being reduced. However, an intelligent energy management system is necessary for a permanently stable power grid.

A thermal model, which takes into account parameters such as wall surfaces, insulation thicknesses and window proportions, maps the buildings' heating requirements down to the hour. This depth of data helps to accurately predict peak loads and plan suitable balancing strategies.

Information and communication technology as a risk factor

The researchers also simulated the consequences of disruptions in digital communication. Delays in the transmission of information or in the calculation of optimization measures have a cascading effect. In extreme cases, according to the analysis, the grid remains unstable for up to six seconds before the energy management system can intervene.

The Center for Digital Innovations Lower Saxony concludes that technical mechanisms must be developed to reduce these latencies. This is the only way to ensure the long-term security of digitally controlled energy systems.

Author: Davina Spohn