Research project SynErgie

Synchronized and Energy-adaptive Production Technology for Flexible Alignment of Industrial Processes to a Fluctuating Energy Supply (SynErgie)

The project at a glance

  • Start date:
    01 Sep 2016
  • Duration in months:
    82
  • Funding:
    German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, 03SFK3A3-2)
  • Principal Investigator(s):
    Gilbert FRIDGEN

About

By 2050, all electricity in Germany should come from renewable sources. The problem is that wind and solar power do not provide a regular electricity supply, but rather fluctuate. Sometimes more electricity is available than is actually needed, sometimes less. Production processes in the industry have a high potential of shifting their energy consumption to the needs of the future electricity system (demand side flexibility). Therefore, the German Kopernikus project SynErgie aims at creating all technical and market conditions in accordance with legal and social aspects within the next ten years, in order to effectively synchronize the energy demand of German industry with the volatile energy supply. All major energy-intensive industry branches of Germany (aluminum, automotive, cement, chemistry, food, glass, plastics, machinery and equipment) are represented as well as electricity market participants and grid operators. The consortium is led by a board of researchers from various disciplines and advised by industry representatives. These work together with all the partners from industry, NGOs and scientists, e.g., from the fields of energy economics, operations research, computer science, law, and sociology. The project consists of six sub-projects to cover this topic from all different perspectives. Within this range, the FINATRAX chair positions its research especially on the interconnection of flexible industry processes to the electricity markets and optimizing the economic prospects of flexibility.

Organisation and Partners

  • Digital Financial Services and Cross-Organisational Digital Transformations Research Group (FINATRAX)
  • Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT)
  • External partners listed on the project website

Project team

Keywords

  • Energy flexibility
  • Demand response
  • ICT
  • Energy markets