Duration: 2021 to 2026

Consortium leader: Technical University of Darmstadt with industrial partnership

Country: Hesse

Focus: energy flows in large cities

Project: Showcase for the urban energy transition through interacting energy-optimised neighbourhoods

Summary: In the future energy supply system, urban neighbourhoods must function in an energy-optimised way. Furthermore, they need to interact with each other so that within a city in its entirety, the energy demand can be reduced as much as possible and energy can be used efficiently.

In Darmstadt, several types of neighbourhood - from industry and commerce to education and housing – are planned to be linked with grid infrastructures in the areas of electricity, heat, gas, communication and transport. Afterwards, Partners of DELTA will analyse and optimise the corresponding interaction. Consequently, networks should be better utilised and coupled, so that cross-sector synergies can emerge. The overarching goal is to reduce energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions in urban neighbourhoods. Economic feasibility and social acceptance will be examined as well. Moreover, DELTA intends to simplify the planning of future energy supply, reduce the infrastructure costs and reduce the need to build new capacities.

Topic: Energy-optimised neighbourhoods

Duration: 2021 to 2025

Consortium leader: TAGFW-Projekt GmbH - a company of AGFW | Der Energieeffizienzverband für Wärme, Kälte und KWK e. V. Analysis and optimisation linked.

Country: Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Berlin

Focus: Medium-sized city, large city

Project: Showcase for the urban energy transition through interacting energy-optimised neighbourhoods

Summary: A large part of the energy consumption and CO₂ emissions in Germany is accounted for by the heat supply. For this reason, the use of large-scale heat pumps (GWP) in particular has great potential to reduce greenhouse gases. In order to develop innovative concepts in this area, regulatory barriers need to be removed.

Therefore, the GWP Living Lab is dedicated to testing economic and regulatory framework conditions as well as efficient operating concepts for the use of large-scale heat pumps. In addition, the consortium wants to find out how large-scale heat pumps can be used for the overarching transformation of the heating infrastructure and electricity infrastructure and thus make a significant contribution to sector coupling. To this end, five large heat pumps with different integration concepts, heat sources and other specifics are intended to be integrated into the district heating networks in Germany. Although the locations are independent, they are linked by a superordinate central data collection, analysis and optimisation system.

Topic: Energy-optimised neighbourhoods

Duration: 2020 to 2024

Consortium leader: Hamburg Energie GmbH

Country: Hamburg

Focus: Large city

Project: Sustainable heat supply for urban districts

Summary: With the example of the IW3 Living Lab, the urban district Wilhelmsburg in Hamburg shows that a reliable and affordable heat supply based on renewable energy is possible. In this rapidly growing district, heat, electricity and mobility are efficiently interconnected.

Geothermal energy is extracted from a depth of around 3,500 metres via a geothermal plant and fed into a local heating network. During the summer months, surplus heat is planned to be temporarily stored in a near surface, water-conducting rock. A cross-system technology platform combines heat, electricity and mobility in the neighbourhood via a virtual power plant for an intelligent, efficient and regenerative energy supply. The partners are developing an open heat marketplace for the Living Lab, through which heat from various sources and providers will be traded transparently, highly automated and efficiently. The concept of the integrated heat transition, which is transferable throughout Germany, makes Wilhelmsburg a beacon for energy and heat transition in urban areas.

Topic: Energy-optimised neighbourhoods

Duration:2022-2027

Consortium leader:Stadtwerke Jena Netze GmbH

State: Thuringia

Focus: Large cities

Project: Energy-optimized living lab Jena by means of real-time scalable energy storage systems

Summary: The living lab is intended to serve as a blueprint for the future supply of electrical and thermal energy, with the mobility sector acting as a link. JenErgieReal will demonstrate how to intelligently couple the various players in a city's energy system - producers, storage facilities and consumers - and thus control load distribution in the grid in a flexible manner. To this end, several photovoltaic and solar thermal systems as well as large-scale electrical storage units will be installed in Jena. These are connected virtually via an ICT platform. The project partners are investigating various approaches: Neighborhood storage and grid-serving energy storage will be combined with CHP plants and charging stations for electric vehicles. At the same time, waste heat from the resulting fast charging processes will be reused. In addition, the project will be accompanied by an investigation of the potential for improving the energy-economic framework conditions, as well as the integration into urban development and acceptance criteria of the system users. After prototype development and field testing, the results will be presented to the public.

Topic: Energy-optimised neighbourhoods

Duration: 2020 to 2024

Consortium leader: innogy SE

State: North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate

Focus: Rural areas, small towns, large cities

Project: Smart energy districts

Summary: In order to achieve the climate targets, the electricity turnaround needs to change into a "real" energy turnaround that links the energy, heat and mobility sectors more closely than before. SmartQuart intends to show that this is already possible, technically and economically, within a neighbourhood and in interaction with neighbouring neighbourhoods. The cities Essen and Bedburg in North Rhine-Westphalia and the city Kaisersesch in Rhineland-Palatinate together form this Living Lab.

The urban districts will each be connected within themselves as well as with each other so that the existing energy infrastructures can be used efficiently. Smart grid solutions intelligently combine heating, cooling, "green" electricity, hydrogen and the area of mobility. The goal is to achieve a climate-neutral energy supply in the model regions. Residents, energy suppliers and local technology providers are participating in all three urban districts. SmartQuart represents typical urban neighbourhoods in a densely populated and rural as well as urban area, so that the concepts are transferable to other neighbourhoods.

Topic: Energy-optimised neighbourhoods

Duration: 2020 to 2025

Consortium leader: E.ON Energy Solutions GmbH

Country: North Rhine-Westphalia

Focus: Medium-sized city, large city

Project: Transformation of grid-connected and urban heating and cooling supply with intersectoral Power-to-Heat solutions as a contribution to structural change in the coalfields of North Rhine-Westphalia

Summary: The Living Lab TransUrbanNRW transforms the heat supply at five locations in North Rhine-Westphalia. So far, neighbourhoods characterised by lignite mining have been supplied via district heating networks. The consortium relies on 5th generation heating networks, which integrate renewable energy and waste heat at all temperature levels.

5th generation heat grids function as an energy platform for "prosumers" - i.e. for consumers who both use and provide energy themselves, for example via their PV system on the roof of their own house. The necessary energy generation mix for the provision of heating and cooling can be synthesised from fossil and CO₂-free generation capacities in these heat grids. This enables a gradual conversion from today's fossil generation to an electricity-based and increasingly renewable supply of heating and cooling. In the course of the coal phase-out, the role of the classic district heating utility is thus changing to that of an energy platform provider for heating, cooling, electricity and mobility.

Topic: Energy-optimised neighbourhoods

Duration: 2021 to 2025

Consortium leader: thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG

Country: North Rhine-Westphalia

Focus: 10,000 m3 per hour hydrogen injection in blast furnace and 6.5 km hydrogen pipeline

Project: Living Lab on hydrogen technologies for the gradual decarbonisation of the steel industry

Summary: Steel has shaped the Ruhr Area. Today, Germany is the largest steel producer in the European Union. This is where reducing CO₂ production creates competitive advantages and makes a significant contribution to the energy transition and to climate action. There is support for a structural change towards a modern industrial location.

The Living Lab H₂Stahl uses hydrogen technologies to extract iron from ore. So far, pulverised coal injection has been used for this process in the blast furnace. In a transitional phase, pure hydrogen is intended to be added to the existing plants, which will partially decarbonise the process. The operators assume that this bridge technology will reduce CO₂ emissions by 20 per cent. In order to reduce more CO₂ emissions in later steps, the use of pure hydrogen in a pilot plant for direct reduction is tested.

Topic: Sector coupling and hydrogen technologies

Duration: 2021 until 2025

Consortium leader: Energiedienst AG

Country: Baden-Württemberg

Focus: Up to 10 megawatt alkaline electrolysis with electricity from hydropower plant

Project: Development and investigation of a test area for local energy and raw material supply for the sectors building, transport and industry based on regenerative and electricity-based hydrogen

Summary: Hydrogen, an energy storage medium, is an important building block for a sustainable and clean energy supply. Its use means no or only very low greenhouse gas emissions.

In the electrolysis plant in Grenzach-Wyhlen on the Rhine, H₂O is split into hydrogen and oxygen by means of electricity from the local run-of-river power plant. After this process, the hydrogen is available for various uses. The existing power-to-hydrogen infrastructure in Grenzach-Wyhlen is planned to be expanded with H₂-Wyhlen into a test area with the adjacent neighbourhood and industrial area: Business models for the on-demand generation, the local distribution and the use of the gas in the various sectors are intended to be developed in advance and tested if they are viable. Research is being conducted on the development of large-scale ready electrolysis technology as well as on how the process heat can be reused. Additionally, an accompanying research is taking into account social factors. After funding, the overall system is planned to be developed to the point that an economic operation is possible.

Topic: Sector coupling and hydrogen technologies

Duration: 2021 to 2025

Consortium leader: Competence Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CC4E) at the University of Applied Sciences Hamburg

State: Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

Focus: Electrolysis with a total of 77 megawatts; H₂ filling stations and H₂ transport

Project: Norddeutsches Reallabor - the energy transition alliance for sector coupling

Summary: The Living Lab Norddeutsches Reallbor aims to test the holistic transformation of the energy system and thus contribute to a rapid decarbonisation of all consumption sectors. Distributed across five geographical "hubs" in Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, large-scale concepts for sector coupling are planned to be developed, with a focus on hydrogen and energy-efficient neighbourhood solutions in the heating sector.

In order to save CO₂, residues from refineries, for example, are intended to be further processed with "green" hydrogen. Additionally, there will be examinations on the effect of adding hydrogen to natural gas burners. In order to integrate the transport sector systemically, the use of fuel cell vehicles and the promotion of hydrogen filling stations are planned to be increased. To advance the heat transition, the partners even want to utilise the waste heat from a waste incineration plant and an industrial plant by means of existing district heating pipes. - The planned projects of the North German Living Lab can save about 560,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions per year.

Topic: Sector coupling, hydrogen technologies and neighbourhood solutions

Laufzeit:

Konsortialführer: Zweckverband Industriepark Schwarze Pumpe

Land: Brandenburg

Fokus: 10-Megawatt-PEM-Elektrolyse, 500 MWh Wasserstoffspeicher, 7,9 MW Gasturbine,
2 MW Superkondensator, 2 MW Li-Batterie und 2 MW Brennstoffzelle

Projekt: Referenzkraftwerk Lausitz

Zusammenfassung: Der Wandel des deutschen Energiesystems stellt viele Regionen vor große Herausforderungen. Als Kraftwerks- und Industriestandort treibt die Lausitz den Strukturwandel mit innovativen Konzepten voran, um Arbeitsplätze zu sichern und den Energiestandort durch technologischen Wandel zu erneuern.

Im Reallabor Referenzkraftwerk Lausitz will das Konsortium Schlüsseltechnologien der Energieversorgung mit erneuerbaren Energien und Wasserstoff als chemischem Speicher in der Praxis erproben und den Umbau zu einer CO₂-neutralen, sektorübergreifenden Energieversorgung beschleunigen. Mit einem Referenzkraftwerk unter Nutzung erneuerbarer Energien sollen Strom und Wärme für alle Sektoren bereitgestellt werden. Wasserstoff soll für Verkehr und Industrie verfügbar gemacht und in das bestehende Erdgasnetz eingespeist werden. Zudem wollen die Partner gesetzliche und regulatorische Hürden, die einen wirtschaftlichen Betrieb bei der Kombination der verschiedenen Technologien erschweren, identifizieren und durch konkrete Anpassungen des regulatorischen Rahmens abbauen.

Thema: Sektorkopplung und Wasserstofftechnologien

Duration: 2020 to 2025

Consortium leader: Raffinerie Heide GmbH

Country: Schleswig-Holstein

Focus: 30-megawatt electrolysis, cavern storage, gas and hydrogen network

Project: Green hydrogen and decarbonisation on an industrial scale

Summary: Through WESTKÜSTE100, the "model region Heide" emerges. Here, a small-scale test is being carried out of what industrial society should be able to achieve in the future, as far as possible across the board: the nearly climate-neutral generation of energy and production of goods. In order to achieve this objective, the project partners want to convert electricity from wind into hydrogen by means of a 30-megawatt electrolyser. Therefore, transfer and use of gas on demand are possible, for the production of CO₂-neutral fuel, among other things.

In this Living Lab, hydrogen is intended to be stored in a salt cavern. A model network for transporting hydrogen to various customers is planned as well. In addition, oxygen obtained during electrolysis is planned be converted into high-purity carbon dioxide in the combustion process in a cement plant about 60 kilometres away. The result can be used to produce chemical raw materials for solvents, for example. Furthermore, the consortium is developing operating and business models as well as recommendations for further development of the regulatory framework.

Topic: Sector coupling and hydrogen technologies