Further initiatives in the field of Smart Grids
Smart Microgrid Murau
One of Murau District's aims is to become self-sufficient in space heating and electricity by 2015. Since the District has plenty of woodland and gets a lot of sun, there is an increasing focus on erecting biomass cogeneration units and photovoltaic facilities.
With numerous local electricity generators in place, the District already covers 2/3 of its electricity consumption within its boundaries. However, this shift to more and more local generation creates increasing problems in the grid - which push costs up. That was the reason for launching the action group "Secure regional electricity supply", with the aim of setting up an intelligent grid for the District, capable of coping better with challenges resulting from local power generation.
The hope is also that the District will be able to cover peak electricity demand without imports, and that the best use can be made of synergies between different sources of energy. The district grid should also be developed in such a way that even if the national grid breaks down the power supply to essential facilities in the District is still ensured.
Publications
Involved within the project
Partners
- E-Werk Neumarkt
- E-Werk Schöder
- Mafred Zettlacher OHG
- Energieagentur Obersteiermark West
- Wallner & Schauer GmbH
- Siemens Austria
Smart Community Großschönau
The community of Großschönau has chosen electricity supply as its central concern, and actually started its efforts to become self-sufficient in electricity as long ago as the 1980's, aiming to keep the value added within the region; a variety of measures have been successfully implemented, particularly in connexion with energy efficiency and spreading awareness.
The most recent initiative is directed at setting up a smart grid for the community, to employ load management to even out discrepancies between rates of electricity generation and consumption throughout the region (e.g. by means of peak shaving), thus making it easier to tie in local generating capacity based on renewable sources of energy. This would also lead to cost savings for electricity consumers.
Involved within the project
- Sonnenplatz Großschönau GmbH
Partners
- Vienna University of Technology - Institute of Computer Technology
- Großschönau Tourism Association
- Danube University Krems