CoNDyNet2

Collective Nonlinear Dynamics of Complex Power Grids

Project description

A reliable power supply is essential for the functioning of our modern society. In order to achieve the ambitious climate targets, new, often geographically heterogeneous and temporally fluctuating generators are being integrated into the grid as part of the energy transition. The complex interaction with other mechanisms such as trading, planned repairs, infrastructure outages, and so on therefore increases the risk of instabilities, fluctuation-driven overloads, and cascading outages. In addition, wind and solar plants are often connected to medium and low voltage grids for which not all grid data is always available. Further, grids lose synchronizing masses due to the energy transition and are increasingly dominated by inverters.

In the project, we will therefore work in detail on practical solutions to these challenges by integrating aspects of the nonlinear dynamics of grids. In particular, we will investigate the risks and effects of fluctuations, such as those caused by renewable generators and power trading in the grid. For this purpose, we analyze daily fluctuations as well as particularly dangerous extreme events using advanced stochastic theories and data-driven analysis. In order to prevent a collective failure of grids, we need first of all precise knowledge about the structure of the power grid, but also about its current state. To this end, we develop specific reconstruction methods to both determine the topology and estimate the network state. Finally, we implement these theoretical results in algorithms in a freely available software package.

Project data

Funding Body Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (Federal Ministry of Education and Research)
as part of the joint project CoNDyNet2
Funding 462,474.96 €
Duration 01/19 - 04/22
Contact Marc Timme, marc.timme@tu-dresden.de

Project partners

Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (Prof. Dr. Dr. hc. mult Jürgen Kurths, Network coordinator)
Forschungszentrum Jülich (Prof. Dr. Witthaut)
Jacobs University Bremen (Prof. Dr. Stefan Kettemann)
Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (Prof. Stefan Schramm)
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Dr. Tom Brown)
Technische Universität Clausthal (Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hans-Peter Beck)