FIRST "ENERGY INNOVATION SUMMIT - POWER GRID OPTIMIZATION" - HOSTED BY GUROBI OPTIMIZATION AND FGHOptimization and FGH

More than 80 practitioners, researchers and developers met in Frankfurt from June 19 to 20 to exchange ideas and concepts about Power Grid Optimization to ensure energy transition all over Europe. The focus lied on innovation in action, innovative approaches currently in development and research needs that are still open from today’s view.

Dr. Christoph Maurer (Managing Director, Consentec GmbH) led through the first day and gave an overview of the challenges in grid optimization. Keynote speaker from the FGH network like Michael Jesberger (CTO, TransnetBW GmbH) and Dr. Dirk Biermann (Managing Director Markets and Systems Operations (CMO), 50Hertz Transmission GmbH) contributed highly interesting presentations on security of supply and energy transition and how digitization makes its way into processes and structures of Transmission System operators (TSO) today. Experts from European TSO´s like Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne S.A. from Poland, National Grid from the United Kingdom, Austrian Power Grid AG, Swissgrid AG, Réseau de Transport d'Électricité from France and Amprion GmbH, TransnetBW GmbH and 50Hertz Transmission GmbH from Germany as well as Accenture´s specialist for quantum computing exchange information and insights into methods, tools and application to make the energy transition a reality. Our colleague Dr. Simon Krahl presented the research project #InnOpTEM on Topology Optimization together with all project members.

"On the one hand, you will get all the information from the point of users in TSO companies all over Europe. On the other hand, you will see the latest developments in hardware, methods and tools from a developer's perspective”, summarized our CEO Dr. Andreas Olbrich, who moderated the 2nd Summit Day.

It was a great pleasure for us to be a part of this successful event – as a long-term partner of Gurobi.

CERTIFICATION OF OUR INFORMATION SECURITY SYSTEM (ISO/IEC 27001:2017)

02/07/2023 – We have achieved certification for our information security system in accordance with the recognized ISO/IEC 27001:2017 standard! This certification confirms our comprehensive protection of the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information within our company. Additionally, our regular monitoring and review of measures ensure that we can effectively address the constantly evolving challenges of information security.

CONGRATS TO THE RECIPIENTS OF DR. KARL-HEINZ WECK-PREIS!

10/26/2022 – We are pleased to announce the recipients of the Dr. Karl-Heinz Weck-Prize. Congratulations to  Wendelin Angermann of TU Graz and Jonas Dilchert of RWTH Aachen for their exceptional work! The award recognizes outstanding Bachelor's degree research in the field of energy technology.

The Dr. Karl-Heinz Weck-Prize, which includes a prize of 1,000 Euros, is designed to support and encourage students who are dedicated to advancing the field of energy technology. We are proud to have the opportunity to support such promising and talented individuals who will be the driving force behind innovation in the energy industry in the future.

FGH TURNS 100!

11/20/2021 – We are thrilled to announce that the FGH has recently celebrated its 100th anniversary. Founded a century ago, the FGH has played a vital role in shaping the energy industry, advancing research, and developing new technologies. We are proud to be part of such a long-standing and successful organization that has helped shape the future of the energy sector. As we look forward to the next century, we remain committed to driving innovation, supporting research, and helping to address the challenges facing the energy industry today.

EU COMMISSION PUBLISHES FGH STUDY ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF RFG NC

On behalf of the Directorate General for Energy – DG Energy – FGH has investigated how 35 countries implement the European Network Code of Requirements for Generators in their own national codes

03/15/2021 – At the end of 2019, FGH received a tender from the EU Commission for a comprehensive study on the implementation of RfG NC. For one year, FGH-experts from the office in Aachen examined how individual countries have implemented the aforementioned framework and determined a level of convergence for the technical requirements.

Some technical requirements for grid connection of Power Generation Modules (PGMs) according to RfG NC were realised somewhat differently in each country. These diverging national implementations stem from the fact that the RfG NC gives grid operators and national regulatory authorities design freedoms for so-called non-exhaustive grid connection requirements. One of these freedoms is the categorisation of PGMs as type A to D. As an example, a PGM may already be considered type B in one country, but still count as type A in another. 

Additionally, the RfG NC formulates provisions for conformity testing and simulations in operational verification processes rather vaguely. Furthermore, some countries have already established concrete verification provisions, while others are working out verification processes and some have not implemented any procedures yet. Together this leads to a relatively broad spectrum of national implementation procedures today. 

FGH CERTIFIES LARGEST SOLAR PARK IN GERMANY

One of three certified large-scale projects of the ENBW

12/01/2020 – By the end of the year 2020, Germany's largest solar park in Werneuchen is to be fully connected to the grid, which FGH certifies according to the new application rule VDE-AR-N 4120. The park has already fed the first kilowatt hour into the grid at the end of November 2020.
The project is being implemented without a feed-in tariff under the Renewable Energy Sources Act due to its size and the area it covers. Outside Berlin - in Weesow-Willmersdorf in Brandenburg - 164 hectares are available for this purpose. Since mid-March, Energie Baden-Württemberg (EnBW) has been building 465,000 photovoltaic modules with a total output of 187 megawatts. The southern German energy supplier is growing the park step by step in various construction phases.

FGH JUNIOR STAFF RECEIVES PUBLICATION AWARD AT ENNINNOV 2020

03/19/2020 – TU Graz has awarded FGH student Niklas Erle one of ten "Young Author Awards". The 27-year-old accepted the award for his publication "DEVELOPMENT OF A PROBABILISTIC NETWORK USE MODEL FOR THE EVALUATION OF NETWORK EXPANSION AND REINFORCEMENT PROJECTS" at the 16th Symposium on Energy Innovation.

FGH ANALYZES IMPACT OF E-MOBILITY ON GREEK DISTRIBUTION NETWORK

COOPERATION WITH GIZ CONTINUES

01/14/2020 – E-mobility is moving the world - and so is the FGH. From mid-May to the end of October 2019, it studied scenarios of different penetration rates of charging stations and electric vehicles into the Greek distribution network. The client was the GIZ (German Society for International Cooperation). In the process, the engineers derived suitable technical requirements, taking into account innovative approaches such as smart charging. Here, they drew on relevant expertise: FGH had already developed the meta-study "Research Overview - Grid Integration of Electromobility" on behalf of VDE | FNN and BDEW.

ENSURE ENTERS SECOND PROJECT PHASE

Research into new energy network structures for the energy transition

02/01/2020 – Phase II of the Copernicus project ENSURE started on February 1, 2020. The project takes a holistic approach to researching new energy grid structures for the energy transition. The focus is on clarifying how centralized and decentralized energy supply elements must be designed in the overall system. The feasibility of selected research results is realized in a grid technology demonstration, i.e. the practical implementation of the developed systemic concepts and the testing of new technologies take place.

GRID CONNECTION RULES IN EUROPE: FGH INVESTIGATES RFG-COMPLIANT IMPLEMENTATION

01/29/2020 – The European Commission, Directorate General for Energy, has commissioned FGH to conduct a study. The topic: the implementation of RfG-compliant grid connection rules in Europe. Most member states have already published a final grid code. However, the implementation depends on various factors: e.g. the existing grid infrastructure, the share of distributed generation as well as renewable energy sources or the previous grid codes in the country.

FGH CERTIFICATION BODY TURNS 15

09/09/2019 – In 2004, about 16,500 wind turbines provided an installed capacity of about 16.5 GW of electricity on the German mainland. Photovoltaic systems contributed 1.1 GW to the electricity mix.

Renewable energies were in their infancy and the certification body, as part of the FGH e.V., was still a kind of research project - initiated by grid operators and manufacturers of wind turbines to provide qualified, valid and independent verification for the then newly developed grid connection guidelines in Germany. After the first system-theoretical analyses and practical measurements in the mid-nineties, the FGH thus accompanied the development of renewable energies from the very beginning.

FGH PREPARES COMPLIANCE REPORTS FOR IRISH WIND FARMS

Five of eight projects in Ireland and two projects in Northern Ireland already completed

08/23/2019 – FGH goes Ireland: FGH has already been preparing compliance reports for wind farms on the Emerald Isle since 2017 on behalf of several manufacturers. According to the grid connection rule EirGrid Grid Code 6.0, wind turbines must thus prove that they meet the technical requirements within the scope of measurement campaigns. The manufacturers have commissioned FGH's Innovation & Consulting division to prepare the compliance reports for their projected wind farms. FGH has already completed five of eight projects in Ireland and two projects in Northern Ireland. The total capacity of the farms is 221.6 MW.