Synchronized and energy-adaptive production technology for flexible alignment of industrial processes to a fluctuating energy supply (SynErgie)

Structure of the SynErgie project with six subprojects and accompanying activities

Project Description:

By 2050, all electricity in Germany should come from renewable sources. The problem is that wind and solar power do not provide a regular electricity supply, but rather fluctuate. Sometimes more electricity is available than is actually needed, sometimes less.

Production processes in the industry have a high potential of shifting their energy consumption to the needs of the future electricity system (demand side flexibility).

Therefore, the German Kopernikus project SynErgie aims at creating all technical and market conditions in accordance with legal and social aspects within the next ten years, in order to effectively synchronize the energy demand of German industry with the volatile energy supply. 

All major energy-intensive industry branches of Germany (aluminum, automotive, cement, chemistry, food, glass, plastics, machinery and equipment) are represented as well as electricity market participants and grid operators. The consortium is led by a board of researchers from various disciplines and advised by industry representatives. These work together with all the partners from industry, NGOs and scientists, e.g., from the fields of energy economics, operations research, computer science, law, and sociology. The project consists of six sub-projects to cover this topic from all different perspectives (see illustration). Within this range, the FINATRAX chair positions its research especially on the interconnection of flexible industry processes to the electricity markets and optimizing the economic prospects of flexibility. Exemplary research questions and activities of FINATRAX in this project are:

• How can incentives for flexibility given the current and future energy system be increased?
• Which obstacles for industrial flexibility exist and how can they be solved?
• Simulation of different market design decisions like pricing mechanims and zone allocation
• Development of a platform for the easy access of flexibility and energy-related services to the relevant markets for flexibility
• Implementing the platform with market and coordination mechanisms for a prototype local flexibility market (currently only in the model region Augsburg)