EU project LocalRES: how blackouts can be avoided

In this age of smart grids, there are small, networked units, though it must be said that they have become more susceptible to breakdowns. In the EU project LocalRES, a team from the University of Passau are testing insights from the DFG basic research project Schwarzstart.

The EU project LocalRES is developing new, digital tools to promote structural change in the energy system at various different levels. Involved in the project is a team under Professor Hermann de Meer, holder of the Chair of Computer Networks and Computer Communications at the University of Passau. The computer scientists are developing strategies for the avoidance of blackouts. 

They are testing the insights gained in the DFG basic research project Schwarzstart by analysing existing flexibility in small renewable energy communities and investigating how fail-safe performance can be improved. One option, for example, is to switch off consumers that are dispensable to help ensure the power supply for systems with higher priority in cases of power failure. The latter include hospitals, police facilities, and traffic light circuits. 

The technologies developed are being tested in four pilot studies in Spain, Italy, Finland and Austria. Two of the pilot locations are in rural surroundings, whilst the other two are islands, for which a stable, independent energy supply is of major importance. 

The project comprises 21 European partners from science and praxis headed by the Spanish CARTIF Technology Center. It is receiving funds from the EU framework programme for research and innovation Horizont 2020.