The strategic objectives of COMET are: developing new expertise by initiating and supporting long-term research co-operations between science and industry in top-level research, and extablishing and securing the technological leadership of companies. By advancing and bundling exting strengths and by integrating international research expertise Austria is to be strengthened as a research location for the long term.

The competence center BEST - Bioenergy and Sustainable Technologies GmbH is funded by BMK, BMAW and the federal states Vienna, Lower Austria und Styria within the scope of COMET - Competence Centers for Excellent Technologies. The program COMET is managed by the FFG. 

As a link between academic research and industrial technology development, our vision is to develop and demonstrate sustainable and circular biorefinery processes and technologies for producing green gases, green liquid fuels, and green products, all of which will support the transition to a climate-neutral, zero-fossil-carbon economy. Consequently, the resource basis will be extended to include organic residues, wastes, and carbon dioxide. Conversion technologies will be enhanced or redesigned to ensure their efficient and economical operation, and to allow the value cycles based on new feedstocks to be integrated into the system. By using our excellent experimental facilities, ranging from lab to pilot and demonstration scale plants, our goal is to conduct applied research of the highest scientific quality.

We apply advanced digital methods for technology development, and for the basic automation, optimization, and monitoring of the operation of individual technologies and entire plants. With the help of holistic and technology-neutral planning tools, we ensure that biorefineries and energy supply technologies are optimally integrated into a sustainable, renewable energy system.

Smart control of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in microgrids by utilizing renewable energy technologies.

At the Technology and Research Center Wieselburg-Land, the first charging stations for electric vehicles were put into operation as part of a research project, drawing energy from the research laboratory “Microgrid Lab 100 % decentralized and renewable energy supply“ and the local energy grid.

As early as 2019, one of the first Austrian energy communities was established based on demand as part of the "Microgrid Lab" research project funded by the state of Lower Austria. The COMET partner Netz NÖ supported the project with know-how and inkind services. Since 2020, the nearby fire station has been supplied with biogenic local heat from the TFZ, which in return receives renewable electricity via a photovoltaic system and battery storage. Other technologies such as heat pumps, absorption chillers and thermal storage are also integrated in the testbed.

In order to research the optimal operation of charging infrastructure in combination with photovoltaic systems and battery storage systems in local energy grids, the COMET competence center BEST - Bioenergy and Sustainable Technologies GmbH and the company Wien Energie GmbH have jointly integrated three charging stations at the Microgrid Research Laboratory and tested and developed the supervisory control system in the COMET projects "OptControl" and "OptInvest".

As a result, electricity as well as heat or cold from

renewable energies can be optimally used on site, which reduces costs, avoids CO2 emissions and supports the power grid.

After the integration of the charging infrastructure, the monitoring and control of the charging stations was implemented in real-time operation. On this basis, strategies for load management could be tested and developed in terms of avoiding peak loads and optimal energy management strategies to maximize the share of renewable energy when charging the e-cars.

For the 600 recorded charging cycles in the course of the project, the charging efficiency was also determined for charging with direct or alternating current, eight different electric vehicle models, and the related effect of ambient conditions such as solar radiation and outside temperature (-5 to 35°C).

Impact and effects
The expansion of the microgrid research laboratory with charging infrastructure enabled research on the optimal interaction of the charging points with the PV system as well as the battery storage, and thus the coupling of the energy generation sector with the mobility sector. In future research projects, the developed control strategies and findings can be further upscaled and verified in order to contribute to the energy transition. Research on other innovative technologies and energy carriers, such as hydrogen storage and utilization, will be pursued in the next step.

Partner

• Wien Energie GmbH, Austria
• Netz Niederösterreich, Austria

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