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ENsource

ZAFH ENsource – Centre for Applied Science, Urban ENergy Systems and Resource Efficiency (2nd funding phase)

Project Management: Hochschule für Technik Stuttgart (Prof. Dr. habil. Ursula Eicker)
Funding period: 01.01.2019 - 31.12.2020
Promoter: Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts (MWK), European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)

The Research College ENsource (www.ensource.de) develops urban simulation, automation and optimisation tools with associated business models and tests them in practical case-studies of the industrial, commercial and municipal sector. To this end, eight research-intensive colleges, two universities, the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, and the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) cooperate together with municipalities and associated partners from industry.

Urban energy systems are highly complex structures which are characterised by a network of generators, consumers, transformers, storages and distributors. With the increasing decentralised energy generation, which appears to fluctuate more and more, there is a growing need for an intelligent networking of the stakeholders of urban energy systems. In order to integrate the highest possible share of renewable energy with maximum energy efficiency, intelligent communication and control systems are necessary. New technological approaches are striving for an innovative and efficient combination of electric and thermic networks and storages. In this respect, it is also useful to enable flexibility options on consumer side, the so-called Demand-Side-Management. This supposes an accurate knowledge of the structure and the time-related demands on the consumer side and has to be established by extensive process analyses and involvement of the consumers. Through research and demonstration in these fields, ENsource aims to provide sustainable and (resource) efficient solutions for urban energy systems and to dismantle implementation barriers.

 Ergebnisse_Zeitreihen_gestapelt Fruehjahr_Strom_basis_en

Picture: Result of the temporal high-resolution modelling for the case-study “Island Mainau”: coverage of the electricity demand over one week in Spring 2018 (above) and in a future scenario (below)

Ergebnisse_Zeitreihen_gestapelt Fruehjahr_Strom_en

In the course of ZAFH ENsource we focus on the followings issues:

  • Definition of interfaces between different simulation and optimisation tools and coupling these tools for the holistic modelling of urban districts
  • Analysis of resource expenditures coupled with energy system models
  • Improved mapping of Power-to-X technologies in the energy system model KomMod
  • Cooperation in the context of the case-study “Island Mainau” – biomass as an intelligent medium for the energy storage and supply (heat, electricity, fuel) in complex energy systems with highly fluctuating load profiles
  • Techno-economic analysis of Power-to-X process concepts on the basis of biomass for the production of synthetic and sustainable fuels in the context of the case-study “Island Mainau”
  • Production of catalysts from biomass through the process of hydrothermal carbonisation (HTC)