DFG project – calculating flexibility in energy systems

For stable and safe operation, the electricity system requires flexibility, particularly in these times of renewable energies. A team from the universities in Passau and Freiburg are developing mathematical calculation methods to help them model that flexibility.

In the age of renewable energies, fluctuations in the power supply network are increasing: there is either too much power available, or too little. At the same time, power requirements also fluctuate. 'So for stable and safe operation, flexibility in the electricity system is essential', explains Professor Hermann de Meer, holder of the Chair of Computer Networks and Computer Communications at the University of Passau. 'At the same time, that flexibility needs to be optimised – in such a way that it can cater to all the requirements.'

In the DFG basic research project "Formal modelling of flexibility in multi-scale multi-modal energy systems", together with Professor Anke Weidlich of the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität in Freiburg, Professor de Meer is developing a formal description of characteristics of flexibilities in power supply networks, so as to make them accessible to IT systems which can coordinate their deployment. This formalised description is intended to facilitate mathematical operations with the aid of which required and available flexibility can be analysed on all temporal and spatial scales. The project aims to derive a kind of flexibility algebra with which flexibilities in networks can be calculated. 

The German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding the project for a period of three years in the context of the priority programme 1984: "Hybrid and multi-modal energy systems: system-theoretical methods for the transformation and operation of complex networks."