Integration of national and regional models for the future of electrical energy supply in Austria

In accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations as well as the European Green Deal of the European Union, the energy demand is to be covered primarily by regenerative energy sources in the future. In this context, electrification, i.e. the switch from other forms of energy to electrical energy, plays an important role. The generation and feeding of renewable electricity into the grids is therefore gaining in importance and is at the forefront of energy transition strategies. This development also increases the probability of widespread bottlenecks in the electricity supply and thus the need for strategies to prevent blackouts. The reliability of the electricity supply is assessed on the basis of simulation models of the electricity grid, which, however, have so far only been accessible to grid operators. Within the framework of the project, an open-source model for load flow analysis in the Austrian high-voltage and extra-high-voltage grid will be developed and applied both to the status quo and to various hazard and energy transition scenarios. In this way, future load flows can be simulated, taking into account new electrical applications such as e-mobility, as well as decentralised photovoltaic potentials. The results are analysed with regard to regionally different characteristics. For a selected case study region, the medium-voltage grid as well as the electricity consumption will be modelled in high spatial resolution and the registration of decentralised generation plants will be specified. On this basis, the load flow analysis is carried out again for the status quo and for the scenarios. Regionally and locally different phenomena are analysed. Finally, the potentials and limits of a broad application of the open source model for load flow analysis are shown.