The soon transformation of the energy system towards a climate-friendly energy production on the basis of renewable resources is a, in the meantime widely accepted, necessity. Also there is a consensus that it has to be a mixture of different technologies, to manage this challenge.

In the last years especially the installation of wind and photovoltaic power plants has been driven forward, which caused also problems in terms of power grid balance due to a highly fluctuating energy production. Moreover those energy production facilities are normally located a long way of the demand-centres, which makes it essential to raise transmission lines with a high capacity, energy storages or power-to-gas systems. The projection of transmission lines is time demanding and can’t catch up with the installation of wind and solar power capacity. Large energy storage systems and power-to-gas systems are still under development or in the stage of market entrance and therefore have only a little practical relevance.

Biomass based technologies for energy production, especially biogas as energy carrier, are applicable of a demand driven energy production. Existing biogas plants are, as well as wind power and photovoltaic plants, distributed in a peripheral way. Out of that biogas plants have the potential to work as a service provider for the power grid and to compensate a fluctuating energy production from other power production plants. As the change of occupancy towards the production of balancing energy can be done very quickly, there is the possibility to offer a rapid contribution for the power grid balance. Therefore this means also a support for a further installation of wind power and photovoltaic capacity.

The aim of the project is to evaluate the technical configuration and plant control technique which allows a market and system optimised operation of biogas plants for the demand orientated production of energy. A flexible operation of biogas plants which includes power generation as well as other components like the biomass feeding system, was not investigated yet. On the basis of data that has to be collected, a process simulation that allows to simulate different operational states will be created. The biogas and power generation of the plant should be regulated by market signals and prediction models for the demand of balancing energy. Therefore, a control concept for the plant is developed that allows an economic optimised operation under the given technical requirements. The project consortium assures the assignability of the results to other biogas plants and an economic optimised output of the direct sale of the produced power.

 

contact: david.woess@boku.ac.at