The control centre at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, equipped with a 5 by 1.5 metre projection screen, can accurately depict the European power grid in real time. It can identify and localise disturbances and accidents within seconds, as well as control demand and different injections from renewable energy sources. One particularity of the control centre is an interface to the Matlab simulation software that makes it possible to control the centre remotely. This makes it possible to immediately and precisely intervene in a disturbed or non-optimal energy supply. The large system is also used for the practical training of the university’s students.
On 8 October 2019, at 2 pm, the control centre will be ceremoniously opened as one of the 20 visitor sites in the scope of the WindNODE research project. Interested parties will be able to learn about the research progress and the challenges of the digitisation of the energy transition. They will also have the chance to try and keep a transmission system stable and safely operate it themselves, with the guidance of a scientific employee. Visits are possible on working days after telephone reservation.
After a warm welcome by the rector of the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, Prof. Dr.-Ing Jens Strackeljan, as well as the Secretary of State from the Ministry of Economy, Science and Digitalisation of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Dr. Jürgen Ude, the project leader of WindNODE, Markus Graebig, will hand the “Visitor Site” plaque over to the faculty.
By 2.40 pm, Prof. Martin Wolter will briefly present the control centre to the public.
As of 3 pm, a small reception offers the possibility for interviews and additional photo opportunities.
Background information
Transmission grids, which serve to supply entire countries with electricity, are centrally coordinated by network control centres in several different locations. They control the power flow during regular operation, but also have to immediately recognise disturbances and initiate corresponding counter-measures. The increasing feed-in of large volumes of wind and solar power by many little producers makes the processes in the grid much more complex and dynamic, and their control all the more difficult. Added to this, says Prof. Martin Wolter of the Institute for Electric Energy Systems of the University of Magdeburg, is the fact that wind power is mainly generated and has to be fed into the grid in the north of Germany, while many large conurbations with a high consumption of electricity are located in the south. This means that electrical energy has to be transported across vast distances. “In Saxony-Anhalt, we have an overproduction of wind power that continues to increase. The wind exports moreover interfere with cross-border European energy flows. This creates more congestion on the grid, which can only be remedied by costly generation management,” according to the grid expert. “The shift personnel is facing greater and greater difficulties in managing the increasing fragmentation and dynamic in the grid. That is why we are developing and testing effective and optimum network control systems. This will ultimately lower the cost for the state’s electricity customers.”
The network control centre at the University of Magdeburg was co-funded by the state of Saxony-Anhalt and the German Research Foundation (DFG). You can learn more about the research project at www.lena.ovgu.de.
Here you can find the control centre as a WindNODE visitor centre.
