REal - The laboratory for Integrated Regional Renewable Energy Systems

In order to achieve the goal of a clean and supply-secure energy transition, increasing emphasis is being placed on renewable and decentralized energy. Municipal energy grids or regional and sector-coupled energy systems (electricity, heating, cooling, transport) show a high potential for an efficient use of all individual technologies, including volatile energy generation from renewable resources, with CO2 savings of up to 100%. Furthermore, the decentralized generation units allow to minimize the dependence on politically unstable regions and thus contribute to the reduction of inflation. To realize this transformation in an economic, ecological and social way, two approaches have to be addressed in parallel. Energy consumption (electricity, heat, fuels) must be reduced as much as possible by pursuing different priorities. These are renovation and modernization of buildings, electrification of the mobility sector and optimization of industrial, commercial or agricultural processes (efficiency). The second approach tries to cover the remaining energy consumption of a region with an optimal and renewable technology mix and a sector-coupled, holistic operation (transition).

The project real laboratory for integrated regional renewable energy systems (REaL) dealt with the creation of a regionally typical holistic concept for the practical implementation of 100% renewable energy through decentralized generation and the use of flexibilities. The approach aims to be scalable and user-friendly for sector-coupled, local energy community systems (LEC), involving necessary aspects from planning to implementation and operation, reducing energy costs and accelerating Austria-wide implementation of renewable energy sources. For the development of the holistic concept, the project involved regional stakeholders, data analysis and literature research to develop a holistic concept.

The results of this led to the regional objectives. These were addressed with different concepts, e.g. for the planning and operation of renewable energy communities, their financing and scalability, and resulting regionally typical solutions, from which the overall concept for a real laboratory for integrated regional renewable energy systems could be derived.

The result of the concept is presented in this report and bases on four elements:

• Partially automated data acquisition and a real-lab platform for optimized energy and retrofit planning for households, businesses, and distributed energy systems.
• Digitization of energy technologies and the further development of a holistic controller for decentralized energy systems
• Integration of the agriculture and forestry sectors into energy transformations through community-based, collaborative agri-PV and wind systems
• Population integration and establishment of an economically-oriented real laboratory.

Finally, the concept developed for the defined model region serve as a basis for the development of a real laboratory by BEST GmbH for the standardization of optimal planning, implementation and operation procedures for an Austrian-wide application.

Project management

BEST – Bioenergy and Sustainable Technologies GmbH

Project or cooperation partners

• Energie Zukunft Niederösterreich GmbH
• Klima- und Energiemodellregion Südliches Waldviertel
• Gemeinde Wieselburg-Land

Supporting Partners

• Klima- und Energie Modellregion Amstetten Nord
• Klima- und Energie Modellregion Amstetten Süd
• eNu Die Energie- & Umweltagentur des Landes NÖ

BEST – Bioenergy and Sustainable Technologies GmbH
Stefan Aigenbauer
Gewerbepark Haag 3
A-3250 Wieselburg-Land
Tel.: +43 (5) 02378-9447
E-mail: stefan.aigenbauer@best-research.eu
Web: www.best-research.eu