Microgrid Project in Vienna: Small Grid, Major Impact Contact online >>
Microgrid Project in Vienna: Small Grid, Major Impact
In Association with Siemens Smart Infrastructure
Emerging electrification requirements such as e-mobility will place greater demands on the grid. As electric vehicles (EVs) become more commonplace, drivers will be charging their cars at home, at work, at shopping centres and gas stations – everywhere they go.
At the same time, maintaining resilience will be a growing challenge. Renewable energy sources are becoming a bigger part of the energy matrix, but fluctuations in availability need to be balanced out by other sources, or through more efficient battery storage systems.
"Energy transition is picking up speed and there is a bigger intake of renewables, so businesses, campuses and local communities can see fluctuating power supply," says Robert Klaffus, CEO of digital grid at Siemens. "Prosumers, who both produce and consume energy locally and can feed power back into the grid, are increasing in number, and that is one reason why grids are becoming more complex.
"In developed economies, there are many energy efficiency initiatives under way to reduce overall energy consumption, but the growth of e-mobility, as well as electrical heating and cooling, will lead to a significant increase in electrical demand. Meanwhile, in developing economies, power consumption could rise in double-digit rates each year. For remote communities, islands, or for specific industrial plants, it is important to incorporate local sources of renewable power generation and that is where the microgrid comes in."
Microgrids reflect the growing trend of communities, companies and utilities working together to build resilient, flexible power systems that balance local power consumption, generation and storage. Able to operate as part of the traditional grid, independently, or both, they revolutionise the way energy resources are managed.
"Anywhere power supply can be unreliable – in remote mining operations, island communities, industrial locations, or places vulnerable to adverse weather events. Local renewable generation and storage can bring down carbon emissions, increase reliability and reduce costs," says Klaffus.
Small wind turbines and photovoltaic (PV) generation installations are already feasible technologies for local grids, and as the costs of PV and battery storage come down, they will play a larger role in the overall energy mix, even if a traditional grid connection is maintained as back-up.
"We will see a lot more demand for microgrids because, with the technology that we have available, they are the best way to combine the benefits of multi-source generation – efficiency, reliability and lower carbon emissions," says Klaffus.
Key to their success is the ability to balance local inputs, power from the national grid, and local consumption. As the matrix of power sources expands, the demand from EVs and other electrified systems grows, and we progress along the journey of energy transition, managing that complexity efficiently will be of paramount importance.
To steer that process, Siemens has developed its microgrid controller. Based on the open SICAM platform, a small, ruggedised piece of hardware – compact and ideal for harsh conditions – that optimises supply and demand within a local microgrid. This 20cm cube is the brain to run the microgrid.
"It does everything you need to operate a microgrid," says Klaffus. "It can operate seamlessly between the different in-feeds – storage, local generation and the grid connection – according to the parameters specified by the operator to suit local needs. It can monitor the state of battery charge, it can perform peak shaving to level outpeaksin electricity use by power consumers, provide blackout warnings and much more.
"For instance, if a lot of EVs are charging, or heating, ventilation and cooling systems are running at the same time, it can cause a problem if local PV generation is not sufficient," he adds. "The microgrid controller balances out that demand with generation from other sources, or from stored power."
The technology Klaffus describes is already operational at several locations, including the Siemens campus in Vienna, which runs its own microgrid and has to support a growing number of EV charging stations.
"It is a typical campus application," the CEO explains. "It is a large building with high power consumption at certain times of day and a lot of e-mobility. We had to figure out how to optimise local generation capacity potential, in this case PV, and storage under all circumstances, including a lot of EVs charging on cloudy days or in the evening. It is a very realistic application of the technology."
At the campus, the smart system optimises the management of both energy use and heating. Geothermal energy is also used to heat the building, and the building complex contains a heating and cooling storage system, with heat exchangers in the building services unit enabling up to 75% of the heat to be recovered from the energy in exhaust air. That works alongside 1,600m²of PV capacity.
At the heart of the campus project, completed in late 2020, lies the microgrid controller, orchestrating all connected assets to optimise the power supply to take account of peak loads and grid capacity utilisation.
"It already works well, and we are continuously improving every time we operate the system," he adds. "For instance, we are working hard on forecasting weather conditions in order to plan the performance of the microgrid, and we are gathering more and more data to help manage peak shaving and ensure grid stability."
The move to a microgrid represents a big change – not only in terms of technology but also in mindset – for many businesses and communities. As we move further down the road of energy transition, and as regulations demand more reductions in carbon emissions, that change ultimately becomes a necessity. The technological infrastructure, however, has already been tried, tested and proved.
View all newsletters from across the GlobalData Media network.
Nokia and A1 have joined forces to provide a private wireless network for Siemens'' microgrid, which is deployed at its Austrian headquarters in Vienna. The A1 campus solution demonstrates the advantages of using a private wireless solution to operate critical applications such as enterprise or utility microgrids, and how they can be efficiently implemented with secure, reliable, and fast connectivity.
Renewable energy sources, storage and microgrids are being adopted by industries worldwide to help enterprises minimize their environmental footprint and reach their sustainability objectives. Smartly managed renewables within a microgrid are making an impact on many industrial applications by offering energy cost savings and supplying security to industrial campuses.
Nokia is providing the industrial-grade private wireless network, while A1 is providing spectrum along with hosting and management of the newly deployed campus network. The private wireless network is connecting the microgrid assets on the Siemens campus, enabling secure communication between the microgrid controllers and the metering or charging points at guaranteed data rates and with low latency.
The Siemens Vienna campus microgrid project includes solar generation, electric vehicle (EV) charging, building management and battery storage. Initially, Siemens has implemented 320kW of solar generation and 500kWh battery storage, all to support around 50 EV charging stations.
"One of the challenges of the future is a reliable and at the same time clean supply, transmission and use of energy. Microgrids can significantly contribute to this. Our campus project, in combination with the infrastructure of an existing industrial plant, is the first of its kind – and offers many opportunities for innovative research and concrete new solutions," Wolfgang Hesoun, CEO Siemens Austria says.
Despite their size, microgrids are complex systems with many elements which need reliable connectivity because they integrate distributed energy sources such as solar cells and battery storage. Voltage levels across the grid are in a constant state of flux with load balancing and optimization between different sources and loads requiring direct control. With private wireless, the microgrid controller easily connects to all assets to manage the grid, ensuring optimal load balancing between energy demand and availability of local distributed energy resources.
Avoiding the need to deploy cabling to connect sensors and other devices associated with managing the microgrid results in speeding up its deployment and enables an easier expansion. A1 network slicing, together with edge cloud processing, can achieve the reliable low latency needed for automated microgrid control responses to manage instantaneous load fluctuations. This infrastructure can be used for additional industrial use cases where wireless connectivity and high reliability are critical.
"Network slicing in A1''s mobile networks allows organizations to operate private wireless networks which not only offer the best possible security, but also enable completely new applications thanks to lowest possible latency and high reliability. By using this private campus network as the foundation of the Siemens microgrid, we are demonstrating how 5G technologies enable the optimal control of energy facilities," Marcus Grausam, CEO A1 Austria, underlines.
"Managing microgrids is another example where both utilities and enterprises, such as Siemens, can benefit from the reliable wireless connectivity provided by private wireless networks. Nokia brings its experience of supporting more than 200 utility customers in mission-critical networking to this microgrid project. Our private wireless LTE/4.9G solutions contain many of the capabilities required for today''s Industry 4.0 applications, as the Siemens microgrid deployment demonstrates. And additional capabilities for future industrial use cases will follow with 5G," Peter Wukowits, Head of Nokia Austria, mentions.
During a three-year contract, started earlier in 2020, Nokia is providing its industrial-grade private wireless technology and services for all existing and new A1 Austria LTE and 5G enterprise campus network deployments.
As part of the deal, Nokia will provide operational support and care for all existing campus networks, ensuring adherence to even the most challenging service level agreements (SLAs) and quality of services (QoS) requirements. With the support of Nokia, A1 Austria will accelerate the digital transformation of its enterprise customers. A1 and Nokia have already successfully deployed several private wireless campus networks in Austria, including installations at Magna Steyr, Vienna Airport and 5G Playground Carinthia.
About Vienna microgrid benefits
As the photovoltaic (PV) industry continues to evolve, advancements in Vienna microgrid benefits have become critical to optimizing the utilization of renewable energy sources. From innovative battery technologies to intelligent energy management systems, these solutions are transforming the way we store and distribute solar-generated electricity.
When you're looking for the latest and most efficient Vienna microgrid benefits for your PV project, our website offers a comprehensive selection of cutting-edge products designed to meet your specific requirements. Whether you're a renewable energy developer, utility company, or commercial enterprise looking to reduce your carbon footprint, we have the solutions to help you harness the full potential of solar energy.
By interacting with our online customer service, you'll gain a deep understanding of the various Vienna microgrid benefits featured in our extensive catalog, such as high-efficiency storage batteries and intelligent energy management systems, and how they work together to provide a stable and reliable power supply for your PV projects.
