The Smart Grid model region Salzburg (SGMS) is the first area in Austria where innovative technologies and solutions from various fields of Smart Grid implementation are systematically brought together. In order to make use of potential synergies and to ensure the secure operation of the network, it is necessary to embed the specific pilot applications (e.g. integrating renewable energy into distribution networks, building integration, households and electric vehicles, also making loads more flexible in business and industry) in a comprehensive system. At the same time market and grid requirements have to be coordinated.

So far partial solutions have been considered independent from each other, and the requirement of system interoperability has not been taken into sufficient account, which is why, for example, in the field of ICT various protocols and interfaces compete with each other. This is where the INTEGRA project steps in, conducted by Salzburg AG in collaboration with Siemens AG Österreich, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, the Vienna University of Technology and the German OFFIS – Institute for Information Technology.

On the basis of the results so far from the Smart Grid model region Salzburg an internationally standardized Smart Grid reference architecture is to be developed, making it possible to bring local intelligent distribution networks and transregional virtual power plants in line with demands from European energy markets, while satisfying security and privacy guidelines at the same time. To justify the claim to international status, the project is being conducted in cooperation with the German partner project In2VPP. www.in2vpp.de

The focus is on how to organize secure and stable operation of the electricity system while Smart Grid services influencing and depending on each other are part of the equation. Aided by known tools from other areas, such as Model Driven Architecture (MDA), a comprehensive picture of the existing partial Smart Grid solutions is systematically assembled in the course of the project and investigated with respect to the entire energy system. In order to bridge “missing links”, i.e. gaps in the transfer of data within the Smart Grid regarding the requirements of the market, customers and the network, a so-called ”Flexibility Operator” (i.e. a configurable data distribution platform with integrated business logic) is to be developed and tested in the model region Salzburg. Aided by modular tools, such as interfaces and software modules, individual systems are to be made interoperable.

Smart Grid model region Salzburg

The Smart Grid model region Salzburg (SGMS) encompasses a total of 23 projects largely funded by the Austrian Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology and the Climate and Energy Fund. Pioneering solutions for active distribution network operation are implemented and evaluated in the course of demonstration projects (currently in the medium-voltage grid in Lungau, in the Smart Grid model community Köstendorf and in the residential scheme Rosa Zukunft in Salzburg Taxham) in actual grid sectors. Apart from technological development, there is special emphasis on analysing customer behaviour and acceptance. The aim is to implement “Smart Infrastructure Salzburg”, an intelligently acting energy system which matches electricity generation and consumption, taking into account regional differences, thus making a high share of volatile renewable energy input viable and avoiding grid congestions. Smart Grid technologies are utilized for intelligent network control as well as exercising control over flexible loads and storage facilities in industry, buildings and electric vehicles.  www.smartgridssalzburg.at