Creating a carbon-free energy supply

Fraunhofer researchers are developing a complex IT ecosystem for the systematic transition to a new energy economy, which should help reduce greenhouse gas emission significantly.

 

System services ensure the power supply by maintaining the frequency, voltage and load within certain limit values, which accounts for around one-fifth of all CO₂ emissions in energy supply. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Optronics, System Technologies and Image Exploitation IOSB are developing a complex IT ecosystem to reduce CO₂ emissions. It not only enables monitoring of the current CO₂ emissions, but also management of flexibility options.

“It takes sophisticated IT systems to control the complex, dynamic interplay between supply systems based primarily on renewable energies as well as ensure reliable operation at all times. These IT systems can also be used to predict CO₂ emissions,” says Juliane Sauerbrey, scientific research assistant in the ZO.RRO joint project, the aim of which is to create a CO₂-free energy supply for the test region of Thüringen.

The system developed by Sauerbrey and her colleagues features a sensor system that provides consumption values for electricity and gas, for example, which can then be converted into the CO₂ equivalent and serve as an indication of current CO₂ emissions. There is also a database and a CO₂ monitoring tool that transmits the current carbon footprint to a supervision system and reveals potential for optimizing operations earlier on. Because the monitoring tool enables live monitoring, the largest emitters of CO₂ can be identified. “What makes our tool so unique is not only the live monitoring, but also consideration of sector coupling,” says Sauerbrey.

Researchers at Fraunhofer IOSB, Advanced System Technology AST Branch, have also developed software for the management of flexibility options. With this tool, existing flexibility can be used to shift gas, heat and electricity loads and thus minimize the carbon footprint and offer CO₂-free system services.