Ö-quadrat - Ökologische und ökonomische Konzepte

Project REASON

 

Renewable and Low-Carbon Energy Applications and System Optimisation for Naju Sports Park

. Naju Sports Park

 

Project Partners:

 

The transition towards sustainable energy systems requires the deployment of a wide range of renewable and low-carbon technologies. Taking into account the intermittent nature of renewable resources, the integration of energy storages and the coupling of energy sectors (electricity, heat and gas), a sustainable energy system demands comprehensive design and operation strategies in order to realise its full potential.

Project REASON aims to identify the synergies and trade-offs by integrating different renewable and low-carbon generation and storage technologies in an energy system. The project uses the Sports Park in the City of Naju, South Korea as a case study to investigate in detail the real-world operation of an integrated energy system.

Since 2016, major work has been carried out in Naju Sports Park with an aim to turn it into a demonstration site for a smart energy city platform. The Sports Park is currently connected to a range of generation and storage technologies including photovoltaics, solar thermal, gas-fired fuel-cell CHP, ground-source heat pump, air-source heat pump and waste water heat recovery alongside a battery system and a thermal storage unit. The system provides electricity, space heating, hot water and cooling to a group of buildings comprising sports facilities and athletes’ accommodation. High resolution high precision energy meters are connected to the system at a number of crucial nodes to monitor the operation and return information to an energy monitoring platform for real-time visualisation. The rich dataset collected in the Sports Park can provide an insight into the interaction of different technologies in practice. Furthermore, the site can offer opportunities to test various smart energy system optimisation strategies.

. Buildings and facilities inside Naju Sports Park

 

The objectives of the project are to:

  • Develop methods to analyse high resolution data collected onsite to extract useful information for steering the operation of the existing system and for guiding the design of new systems
  • Identify the synergies and trade-offs resulting from the integration of different renewable and low-carbon energy supply technologies
  • Demonstrate methods to optimize an integrated energy system based on different objectives, namely, minimum costs, minimum CO2 emissions and maximum renewable energy share
  • Extent the existing energy monitoring platform to allow advanced monitoring, optimizing and controlling of the system
  • Evaluate the demand response potential of power-to-heat applications in combination with battery and thermal storage

The project will seek to generalise the findings to a wider context and examine its implications on city-wide energy planning and smart city development.

Project REASON is a collaboration between Green ENS (an ICT specialist in South Korea) and a German consortium involving the Technical University of Munich, Fraunhofer Institute of Solar Energy Systems, fortiss and Büro Ö-Quadrat. The project is funded by the Gwangju Jeonnam Software Convergence Cluster (GJSCC), which is dedicated to create future growth of the Gwangju Jeonnam region through convergence of the energy industry with software and other high-value added industry.

. Project team at the kick-off meeting in Germany

 

Project Outline

The REASON project is divided into 4 work packages and each is led by a competent research partner. The structure of the project and the content of each work package is described as follows:

 

Work Package 1: Analysis of Existing Energy System

Leader: Dr. Sebastian Albert-Seifried, Büro Ö-Quadrat

The main goal of WP1 is to develop an in-depth understanding of the existing energy system in the Naju Sports Park. With support from Green ENS, WP1 will collect and collate relevant data in order to develop a complete overview of the existing energy system, which includes energy flow diagrams, a detailed list of the main technical components (e.g. rated capacity, efficiency, actual consumption, etc.) and the existing operation strategies. Additionally, WP1 will analyse the different datasets collected onsite to extract useful information to diagnose the existing operation and identify the synergies and trade-offs resulting from the integration of different energy supply technologies. Based on these analyses, initial operation strategies and optimization potentials will be outlined. The findings of WP1 will provide a sound basis for the work of other WPs.

 

Work Package 2: Optimisation of the Energy System

Leader: Prof. Thomas Hamacher, Technical University of Munich

Based on the information provided by WP1, WP2 will develop a model for optimising the operation of the existing energy system. The model will take into account the actual demand, the boundary conditions (e.g. air temperature and solar radiation) and the specifications of the supply and storage technologies to realistically simulate the energy system. It can be used to evaluate the demand response potential of power-to-heat applications in combination with battery and thermal storage. The model will be validated using measured data from the Sports Park. An optimisation algorithm will be developed and incorporated into the energy model in order to derive optimal operation strategies based on different objectives, namely, minimum costs, minimum CO2 emissions and maximum renewable energy share. The model and the optimisation algorithm will be an input to WP3.

 

Work Package 3: Software Implementation in the Energy Management System

Leader: Dr. Markus Duchon, fortiss

The aim of WP3 is to implement the optimisation algorithm developed by WP2 in the existing energy monitoring system of the Sports Park. WP3 will work closely with Green ENS to analyse the technical details of the existing energy monitoring system and derive methods to incorporate the optimisation algorithm. The goal is twofold: i) to demonstrate the optimal operation of the battery unit with real-time control and ii) to provide insightful visualisation of the theoretical optimal operation of the energy system alongside the actual operation via the energy monitoring dashboard developed by Green ENS for the purposes of comparison and learning. The new functionalities will be tested onsite and its operation will be verified.

 

Work Package 4: Implications and Generalisation of Results

Leader: Dr. Vicky Albert-Seifried, Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems

The integration of renewable and low-carbon supply technologies is essential to the transformation towards sustainable energy systems. The findings of the proposed research will not only reveal the optimal operation of the Naju Sports Park but can shed light into the effective design and operation of sustainable energy systems at the building/district level. WP4 will explore ways to transfer the results to a wider context and examine the implications on city-wide energy planning and smart city development.

 

Expected Impacts

The expected impacts of the REASON project include:

  • Improving the operation efficiency of the energy system at the Naju Sports Park that can lead to lower energy costs, lower CO2 emission or higher renewable energy share
  • Advancing the development of building energy management systems through the incorporation of optimisation functionality
  • Better understanding of the optimal integration of different energy technologies and their interaction with the demand and other boundary conditions in practice
  • Advancing knowledge in the demand response potential of power-to-heat applications
  • Establishing a close exchange between the Korean and German research partners that can foster innovation and further collaboration

 

If you would like to know more about the REASON project, please contact:

Dr. Vicky Albert-Seifried
Smart Cities Group
Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE
Heidenhofstr. 2, 79110 Freiburg, Germany
E-Mail

Dr. Sebastian Albert-Seifried
Büro Ö-quadrat
Turnseestr. 44
79102 Freiburg
Tel. 0761-70773279
E-Mail