Since the beginning of this year, under Section 14a of the Energy Industry Act (EnWG), distribution system operators have been obligated to connect new controllable loads to the low-voltage grid, even if their uncontrolled operation is likely to cause grid overloads. Transitionally, until grid upgrades are implemented, grid operators should be able to curb these electrical loads, such as heat pumps, electric vehicles, and battery storage systems, to a certain extent in the event of an impending grid overload. Accordingly, the grid fees for these grid-controlled loads should be reduced.
This new legal situation presents significant technical, contractual, and planning challenges, particularly for small distribution system operators. Prior to the actual installation of specific control devices and their final control, an objectively verifiable grid status assessment must be carried out. Potential new loads must be adequately modeled according to their flexibility, as must the low-voltage and medium-voltage grids, their interactions with the higher-level grid, and the remaining loads and generators. Consequently, impending grid bottlenecks and the corresponding mitigating operating modes can be represented with high temporal and spatial resolution.
The primary focus of the LoMa project is on modeling the MV and LV grid areas of the cooperation partner Stadtwerke Husum GmbH (Husum Netz). Various zoom levels will be developed and used for this focus region, both to depict overall systemic effects in an abstract manner and to depict the specific local situation in detail.