The European interconnected grid stretches from Portugal to Turkey - around 6,000 large power plants and hundreds of thousands of wind and photovoltaic systems feed in electricity. Germany is at the center of this system and is closely connected to the grids of its neighbors. Redundancies secure the supply, ensuring that the system continues to function even if individual power lines or power plants fail. However, the reliability of this electricity grid is based on a delicate balance: the electrical power being fed into the grid must exactly match the power being drawn from it. However, the more wind and solar power plants supply electricity and the fewer conventional power plants with rotating masses remain on the grid, the more vulnerable the entire structure becomes.
“The restructuring of the energy system is creating fundamental challenges with regard to grid stability,” says Dr.-Ing Ralf Petri, Managing Director of the VDE Energy Technology Society (VDE ETG). Frequency fluctuations, which used to be dampened by the inertia of conventional power plants, now have a more direct effect - and risk the synchronization of the interconnected grid. “The complex interplay of power electronics, long transmission paths and decentralized feed-in requires new technical answers,” demands Dr. Ralf Petri. The VDE ETG is involved in the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy's System Stability Roadmap alongside the VDE Grid Technology/Network Operation Forum (VDE FNN), government stakeholders, grid operators, associations, science and industry. This initiative, which was launched at the end of 2023, aims to introduce and implement all necessary measures by the end of 2035 to ensure that a grid with 100% renewable energy can be operated safely.
About the Energietechnische Gesellschaft im VDE (VDE ETG)
The Energietechnische Gesellschaft im VDE (VDE ETG) stands for the development of energy systems in Germany. It consolidates expertise ranging from generation, storage, transmission and distribution to the diverse fields of application of electrical energy and relevant cross-sectional technologies. Integrated into the interdisciplinary network of the VDE, the ETG is a technical-scientific association that is recognized and respected beyond the borders of Germany. The honorary experts create a common platform for the exchange of knowledge in science and industry, contribute to the acceleration of the energy transformation and the understanding of sustainable energy technology in society and point out fields of action for politics. The ETG connects people, generations, start-ups and established institutions, science, business and society with performance and energy.
More information at www.vde.com/etg
