We need to make room for much larger amounts of wind and solar energy in the energy system without compromising security of supply. This is precisely the challenge that the EU-funded research and innovation project Co4RES has now set out to address together with 36 partners from across Europe.
The energy system is becoming increasingly complex as large volumes of renewable energy are connected to the grid. As a result, the ability to forecast both energy production and consumption far more accurately than today will become crucial in an energy system based on wind and solar power, where generation fluctuates throughout the day, across locations and seasons.
Over the next three years, seven pilot projects will bring together researchers, energy companies and system operators to develop technologies and methods and demonstrate solutions that make the energy system more flexible and better equipped to handle large amounts of renewable energy.
The project is coordinated by DTU Compute with Head of Section Razgar Ebrahimy as Lead:
"A flexible energy system is increasingly a digital system. To integrate large amounts of wind and solar power, we need real-time data, AI-based forecasting and digital platforms that allow grid operators, companies and consumers to share information and act together. In Co4RES, we want to move these digital solutions from theory to proven practice in real-world pilots, and present the results in a way that policymakers and industry can understand and act upon."
More accurate forecasts to unlock flexibility
DTU Compute plays a central role in two pilot projects.
The first pilot brings together partners from Denmark, Germany and Belgium to develop new methods for forecasting and coordination across all levels of the energy system. Among other objectives, the pilot aims to improve forecasts of wind power generation, solar energy production, electricity consumption and flexibility, while strengthening coordination between transmission system operators (TSOs) and distribution system operators (DSOs).
The pilot will demonstrate how real-time data, nowcasting (very short-term forecasting), flexibility forecasting and intelligent control mechanisms can be used to unlock flexibility at scale, enabling more efficient use of the electricity grids and the renewable electricity.
These are areas in which researchers at DTU Compute have extensive expertise and many years of experience, among them Professor Henrik Madsen:
"The power system operations are facing a need for changes of the tools used for operating the system; the tools used historically are no longer sufficient. Co4RES aims at delivering and demonstrating new tools for the future renewable energy driven power system. A core element of Co4RES is a spectrum of new tools for forecasting of renewable generation and load. which, besides considerably better forecasts, will form the basis for significant improvements of tools for coordination between system operators supporting an efficient operation of the future high-RES society."
Henrik Madsen points to the growing challenges associated with charging electric vehicles at night, when large numbers of consumers respond simultaneously to low electricity prices.
The project will develop methods to predict and manage such patterns far more effectively than is currently possible.
