Project description
Reimagining the future of power grids
As the world transitions from fossil-based power plants to renewable energy sources, electrical grids face increasing challenges. Inverter-based renewables are pushing power systems to their limits, with severe blackouts already reported in developed countries. The traditional synchronous 50 Hz-frequency model, in place for over a century, is becoming a liability, signalling the need for a fundamental shift. With this in mind, the ERC-funded SAFEr Grid project proposes a new approach: an asynchronous balance of energy, decoupling sub-grids for independent operation. Inspired by the internet and telecom networks, this scalable, automated solution will enhance the stability, resilience, and efficiency of power systems, driving innovation across the energy sector and paving the way for energy independence in Europe.
Objective
Electrical power systems are experiencing significant challenges because of the substitution of fossil-based power plants with inverter-based renewable energy sources. This transition pushes power systems to the limits; first severe blackouts have already emerged in developed countries. Although applied for more than 100 years, the rigid coupling of the entire power system infrastructure to a global synchronous 50Hz-frequency is now turning into a liability, making a fundamental paradigm shift inevitable.
The ambitious goal of our project is the exploration, conceptualization, and evaluation of a radically new theory, architecture, and operational principle for power systems. The groundbreaking idea is to go beyond the synchronous balance of power and to replace it with an asynchronous balance of energy leveraging the established role-models from the Internet and telecommunications domain. The elimination of the global synchronicity requirement in power systems represents a quantum leap and is realized through the decoupling and asynchronous operation of independent subgrids. Our fully intrinsic, scalable, and gradually deployable approach is based on the store-and-forward balancing of energy. Networked control, the evolution of power electronics, and the availability of energy storage are the enabling technologies for this revolutionary approach.
SAFEr Grid will enable a fundamental breakthrough in the stable, resilient, efficient, scalable, and fully automated delivery of energy and will stimulate widespread innovation in the energy sector--comparable to the rise of the Internet economy.
The project is clearly a high-risk/high-gain endeavour that requires the expertise of multiple research disciplines. The four PIs constitute a perfect team and the synergy of their expertise will successfully address Europe's most pressing grand challenge in terms of sustainability goals: energy supply, energy infrastructure, and energy independence.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
- Power System Dynamics
- Modeling and Simulation of Energy Systems
- Power System Control
- Power Converters
- Power Electronics
- Smart Transformers
- Power Hardware in the Loop
- Environmental Change
- Societal Impact
- Communication Systems
- Cyber-physical Networking
- Infrastructural Internet of Things
- Energy Transition
- Open Innovation
- Ecosystem Emergence
- Ecosystem Governance
- Transformation
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC-SYG - HORIZON ERC Synergy Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2024-SyG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
52062 Aachen
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.