Program
System Adequacy 2030+
This research area will be dedicated to analysing and safeguarding the power balance during and after the energy transition. In particular, the connections between long-term planning in the generation park and in the transport network, especially in connection with continental market coupling, will be worked out.
The first step will be to examine the current methods of probabilistic power balance methodically and improve them structurally - especially with a view to an energy system that will be fed exclusively by renewable generation in the long term. The relationships between generation adequacy and transmission adequacy and propose substantial methodological improvements will be examined for merging both concepts on all time scales between long-term planning and day-ahead. Finally, procedural steps for securing the power balance will be theoretically developed and tested for their practical suitability using detailed simulation models of the electrical energy system.
System Adequacy 2030+
Generation fleet
Coordinated long-term infrastructure planning and network expansion
Market coupling in Europe
System Operations 2030+
The focus of this research area will be on the development of system operations in the course of the energy transition. It will be dealed with the necessary increasing interaction between neighboring energy markets (market coupling) in all operational processes from long-term contracts to frequency-based system services, the increasing volatility of the most important electrical system variables and the resulting sharp increase in the complexity of system management processes. It will be worked on solutions in an interdisciplinary manner and they will be tested in given network and operational situations in conjunction with detailed network and system models. The work will also explicitly include the design of alternative scenarios for overall processes and the analysis of partial process automation.
System Management 2030+
Complexity management and automation
European operating processes
TSO-DSO cooperation in (re-)dispatch and system services
System Design 2030+
In this research area, the desired characteristics of market participants are to be defined and tested based on the state of the art technology forecast for the period after 2030. Quantitative analyses of the so-called flexibility (consumers' reaction to energy supply and wholesale prices) are to be supplemented by conceptual studies of the underlying necessary processes and tested on detailed system models. The reference to the physics of the power grid is explicitly maintained (no "copper plate approach"). In particular, it will be worked on the following aspects:
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Consistent design of (cross-border) market, subsidy and operational processes for the efficient integration of increasing shares of renewable generation (especially directmarketing and balancing, shorter gate closure times, virtual capacities in short-term markets, links to grid security processes, etc.)
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Market design for flexibility (long-term investment incentives; system- and grid- supporting use of distributed flexibility)
One focus will be on the positive or negative contribution of so-called energy communities or their future development to the predictability, resilience and security of the overall system.
System Design 2030+
Market design for flexibility
Consistent design of operational processes
Further development of energy communities
System Services 2030+
In this research area, the future characteristics of ancillary services (frequency-based and non-frequency-based) after completion of the energy transition be dealt with. Simulation models will be used to investigate how the quantity and characteristics of the most important ancillary services will develop in the course of the energy transition. The candidate will review historical and globally used concepts and processes for providing ancillary services for their suitability, particularly for the completed energy transitionIn particular, the candidate will present and theoretically justify proposals for simplifying, streamlining and integrating existing concepts for ancillary services, develop these conceptually and procedurally and test them for their practical suitability using detailed simulation models of the electrical energy system.
System Services 2030+
Frequency control, control power and energy, voltage control
Integration into future system management processes
Resilience of the Electrical Energy System 2030+
The candidate will conceptually and quantitatively analyse the overall system behavior in the event of major disruptions and unplanned influences on operations. To do this, the candidate will examine common concepts of system resilience for their suitability for the electrical energy system and include the developments towards a 100% renewable grid in his considerations. The candidate will use detailed simulation models to examine the influences of various electrical, process and energy management parameters on overall resilience and base the approach on similar concepts in other large technical systems. The candidate's scientifically derived recommendations for adapting and further developing system resilience include recommendations for long-term control mechanisms for a consistently secure 100% renewables based electricity supply.
Resilience of the electrical energy system 2030+
Network behavior during disturbances
Effectiveness of Grid Codes
Network and supply reconstruction
Power Electronics in System Operations 2030+
The candidate will analyse the overall effects of the increasing penetration of power electronics into the electrical energy system and the associated effects on the electrical system behavior under fault conditions. In particular, the candidate will use detailed grid models to research how the contribution of power electronically connected generators to short-circuit and earth fault currents will develop in the future and to what extent this will affect operational management. The candidate will analyze the level and shape of the expected short-circuit currents and relate them to the behavior of the network protection devices in detailed network models. From the results, the candidate will derive strategies for the future improvement of the fault-clearing behavior and black start capabilities of large-scale power electronically connected generators and show ways in which this can be achieved for the 100% renewable energy systems of the future.
Power electronics in system operation 2030+
Change in short-circuit currents
Influence on network protection
Proactive use of power electronics
The research areas for energy systems and energy economics at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien), the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT) and the Austrian Power Grid (APG) have started a PhD class on the topic of security of supply 2030+ in February 2025. In this program, 6 PhD candidates will work together for 4 years on solutions for a secure electricity supply after the energy transition has been completed. Building on the current situation of the electricity grid, various aspects of security of supply are considered as a whole, potential problems are analyzed from an overall system perspective and solutions are developed. The quantitative analyses pay particular attention to the European and Austrian situation.