Helmholtz Young Investigators Group "Efficiency, Emergence and Economics of future supply networks"
Coordinator
Dirk Witthaut
Grant period
1.8.2014 – 31.7.2019
Funding body
Helmholtz Association
Identifier
G:(HGF)VH-NG-1025_20112014
Note: The development of a sustainable energy supply poses an enormous challenge for the operation of the electrical power grid and other supply networks. Billions of euro have to be spent on new transmission lines and storage infrastructures. But still extreme loads are becoming more frequent and novel systemic risks emerge. To face these challenges, we need a better understanding of the dynamics and stability of complex networks on all scales. In this project we will study the emergent dynamics, the efficiency and economics of power grids and general supply networks. A main goal of this project is to unify the model-driven approach of statistical physics and the real-world driven simulations of engineering science. We will combine analytic methods, advanced simulations and the analysis of real-world systems to make the results of network science applicable in network engineering. The construction of efficient supply networks is a complex task: A maximum of security must be realized with a minimum of resources. In this project we want to understand how the structure of a network determines its function and stability. This theoretical understanding shall be applied to the design of efficient network structures beyond purely numerical optimization methods. We want to develop strategies for optimal grid extensions, identify critical infrastructures and understand the effects of strong fluctuations of supply and demand. A major insight of statistical physics is that new phenomena emerge when many components interact in a complex system, the whole is more than the sum of its parts. Such emergent effects may bear new systemic risks for the secure operation of future supply networks. We will analyze threats to network operation due to collective dynamical instabilities, cascading failures, and extreme events and develop effective counter-strategies. This work will be based on realistic power grid models and real-world network data, and will make use of advanced tools from statistical physics and nonlinear dynamics. Economic aspects will become decisive in future power grids: In the most far reaching concepts for smart power grids, the smart meters adapt the demand of every household on the basis of market prizes in real-time. We will explore how the interaction of markets and transmission networks affects the function and stability of complex supply networks. Based on a detailed understanding of elementary model systems we will analyze scenarios for the development of future energy systems.
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