Integrated Models and Strategies
The Integrated Models and Strategies department develops applications for the holistic and optimal design and transformation of energy systems. The systems range in scope from individual buildings or districts, to municipalities, to national-level and take into account the entire supply chain, from generation to demand. Their bottom-up modeling is complex, and for this reason various methods for model coupling, systematic complexity reduction, and the integration of mainframe computers are being developed. Furthermore, the decision-making process with respect to investments in, and regulation of, the energy system is supported by new visualization techniques and graphical user interfaces.
Research Groups
Complex Energy System Models and Data Structures
Energy system analysis models are complex and require an extensive hardware and software infrastructure, which will be developed, maintained and integrated in the newly-established Complex Energy System Models and Data Structures group. Hardware and software requirements are defined and sustainable processes and software architectures developed, designed and implemented to enable efficient use and collaborative development among the model developers of the various teams. Furthermore, artificial intelligence-based techniques will be implemented to increase the accuracy of the power system models. Selected models developed at the institute will be deployed as applications in the working group and provided with graphical user interfaces to potentially interested parties.
Regional Energy Systems
The newly-established Regional Energy Systems group is concerned with the analysis and evaluation of transformation pathways for regional energy systems. The system levels considered range from individual consumers (buildings, industrial sites) and neighborhoods, to cities and districts. The analyses focus on the computer-aided simulation and optimization of energy systems. This is based on the bottom-up modeling of energy demands for the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors, as well as the determination of building-specific and regional potentials for the use of renewable sources and energy efficiency. The team’s research focuses on analyses of the role of hydrogen in regional and energy self-sufficient supply systems, and on the decarbonization of industrial processes.
Integrated Transformation Strategies
In order to achieve the goal of a greenhouse gas-neutral energy supply by 2050, the Integrated Transformation Strategies team develops scientifically-sound, holistic transformation strategies that provide a solid decision-making basis for actors from the political and industrial spheres. For this purpose, optimization models are developed that enable the techno-economic analysis of the complex energy supply system and allow future projections (e.g., of energy and greenhouse gas reduction scenarios) to be made. The analyses focus in particular on a holistic view of the national supply system, as well as the impacts on resource requirements. In addition, to aid the formulation of national greenhouse gas mitigation strategies, they also include the evaluation of individual technologies, recycling strategies, and subsystems in the context of the overall national energy system.
Energy system analysis models are complex and require an extensive hardware and software infrastructure, which will be developed, maintained and integrated in the newly-established Complex Energy System Models and Data Structures group. Hardware and software requirements are defined and sustainable processes and software architectures developed, designed and implemented to enable efficient use and collaborative development among the model developers of the various teams. Furthermore, artificial intelligence-based techniques will be implemented to increase the accuracy of the power system models. Selected models developed at the institute will be deployed as applications in the working group and provided with graphical user interfaces to potentially interested parties.
Department Leader
- Institute of Energy and Climate Research (IEK)
- Techno-economic Systems Analysis (IEK-3)
