DTU researchers are testing the integration of renewable energy in the test laboratory on DTU Risø Campus. Photo: Torben Nielsen.

The birthplace of tomorrow’s energy system

Energy systems Solar energy
In an expanded and ambitious test laboratory, researchers will develop a flexible energy system based on many different technologies that will provide heat and electricity for society.

Denmark has certainly proven that there is much to gain from wind and solar power, and that this can be incorporated into the energy system.

However, one of the major challenges is to ensure constant balance in the energy system, regardless of whether it is sunny or windy outside,” says Frida Frost, COO at PowerLabDK, DTU Electrical Engineering, and continues:

“In order to maintain a stable energy supply, energy production has to match consumption. Otherwise, the system is not balanced. An imbalanced power system will shut down, and then there will be no electricity.”

Denmark has a high security of supply. This means that Danes rarely find themselves without electricity.

Preferably, this will continue, as energy supply becomes increasingly based on renewable energy. At the same time, Denmark also has a very well-developed district heating and natural gas network.

SYSLAB

DTU will test the different possibilities for combining the various solutions in the big test laboratory Energy Systems Integration Lab (SYSLAB) at DTU Risø Campus.

For many years, researchers at SYSLAB have investigated possible solutions for a smart and intelligent power system.

Among other things, SYSLAB currently consists of a 2.5 km power grid which integrates wind and solar power as well as electric cars, while supplying electricity for a handful of buildings on site.

After receiving around EUR 5 million (DKK 38 million) from the Danish state’s so-called Unilab funds, the laboratory will now be expanded to include heating and gas systems.

“We will build a multi-energy lab, in which we can test, develop, and optimize even more components and energy sources. We will also be able to test an exchange between heat and power supply. A multi-energy lab will give us a nearly unlimited number of possible combinations for production, storage, supply, and consumption. We can test and demonstrate the energy system of the future,” says Frida Frost.

And if all goes well, consumers will never even notice the work of the researchers.

“We are working on making the energy system as intelligent as possible. People will most likely never notice all the clever new inventions. They will only notice them if they do not work. Because then they will find themselves without any electricity or heating,” says Frida Frost.

The new multi-energy laboratory is expected to be ready on DTU Risø Campus in 2021.

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