An innovative solution for dealing with strong performance peaks ‒ with electricity fed in from PV plants and wind farms ‒ was presented at the University of Darmstadt on 16th March. The research project Flex4Energy showed how bottlenecks in the distribution network can be avoided with an energy storage tank and a marketplace where electricity potential can be traded.

In a new development area in the town of Groß-Umstadt, near Frankfurt am Main, a district energy tank stored the performance peaks from nearby rooftop PV systems. In addition, a lithium-ion battery storage system, with 100kw performance and 100 kWh capacity, offered surplus electricity potential on a virtual marketplace. This could then be requested by regional grid operators in times of unexpected supply bottlenecks and allocated using a trading algorithm.

One of the conclusions drawn by the project partners of the University of Darmstadt, ENTEGA AG, Fraunhofer ISE, Fraunhofer IESE and the Ads-Tec GmbH – project management: StoREgio GmbH – was that the additional use slowed down the ageing process of the storage systems to a far greater extent than expected. For grid operators, a functioning regional system for trading with flexibilities could increase the security and quality of energy supply and potentially minimize investments in grid expansion.