Test Grids for the Integration of RES—A Contribution for the European Context

• Published in: Energies (Basel) Vol. 13; no. 20; p. 5431
• Main Authors: Traupmann, Anna, Kienberger, Thomas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 17.10.2020
• Subjects: Algorithms; Alternative energy sources; distributions grids; Electric currents; Energy industry; Energy resources; Load; Renewable resources; test networks; transmission grids; voltage levels; United States > US
• ISSN: 1996-1073; 1996-1073
• DOI: 10.3390/en13205431

A long-term sustainable energy transition can only be achieved by technological advancements and new approaches for efficiently integrating renewable energies into the overall energy system. Significantly increasing the share of renewable energy sources (RES) within the overall energy system requires appropriate network models of current transmission and distribution grids, which, as limiting factors of energy infrastructures, confine this share due to capacity constraints. However, especially regarding electrical network models, data (e.g., geographical data, load and generation profiles, etc.) is rarely available since it usually includes user-specific information and is, therefore, subject to data protection. Synthetically obtained electrical networks, on the other hand, may not be representative and may fail to replicate real grid structures due to the heterogeneous properties of currently operated networks. To account for this heterogeneity, this paper offers a contribution for the European electrical energy system and presents the development of four synthetic test networks at different voltage levels which are representative and include non-confidential time-series data. The test network development is based on an extensive literature research on a multitude of different network parameters for grids within the ENTSO-E (European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity) interconnected system in Europe. These parameters are then used to design the networks in NEPLAN®. Then, these networks are provided with load and generation profiles for enabling time-series calculations. To validate the representativeness of the test networks, a short-circuit analysis is conducted and the obtained results are compared to short-circuit parameters common for Austrian and German literature values as well as for value ranges for European ENTSO-E grids. The analysis shows that the presented test networks replicate European electrical network behavior accurately and can, therefore, be utilized for various application purposes to assess technological impacts on European ENTSO-E grids.