FlexHP
FlexHP
As part of the European Union, Austria has set itself ambitious targets for climate neutrality. A large proportion of domestic CO2 emissions are generated in the building sector in particular, which is why a switch to renewable energy sources and an integrated heating transition with a switch to heat pumps is also necessary here. The use of electricity from wind power and photovoltaics will increase massively so that heating and cooling in the building sector can take place sustainably and without CO2 emissions. This is accompanied by challenges that primarily affect the electricity grid. High feed-in peaks from renewables and a simultaneous lack of grid supply put a strain on the grid. In view of this fact, the topics of energy storage, load shifting and sector coupling are becoming increasingly important. At the same time, the existing building stock offers us potential that is currently underutilised. This requires control systems that react proactively to changes and take measures in advance. Artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) have multiplied the potential for new control algorithms in recent years. Smart algorithms for intelligent control of individual consumers allow load shifting and can relieve the load on the electricity grid and increase the proportion of renewables in the grid.
The aim of this project is to develop a new type of management tool for dynamic and flexible heat pump operation in a decentralised energy system (= dynamic energy management system DEMS). At the heart of this DEMS are models of the various actors in the system and an algorithm that optimises the energy flows.
One methodological focus is on modelling the actors in the energy system. Modern ICT technologies are used for this. The focus of the modelling is on the development of a reliable heat pump model for forecasting power consumption in combination with the thermal behaviour of the building. Finally, the individual models are combined in an overall forecast, which serves as the basis for controlling the energy flows. The function of the data management system is tested in a living lab.
The primary result is an experimentally confirmed concept for a dynamic energy management system that can be subjected to a broad test by means of functional verification on a laboratory scale. Testing in the Living Lab has largely eliminated challenges relating to interface incompatibility and the poor quality of the models and data. The model structure is not specific to building types, which extends the field of application to various building uses and larger spatial structures such as urban neighbourhoods or entire cities. Finally, various application scenarios are identified for a possible expansion of the system beyond the Living Lab.
The FlexHP research project is being funded by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) as part of the call Ausschreibung 2024 Technologien und Innovationen für die klimaneutrale Stadt. The project is being carried out together with the partners Wirtschaftsagentur Burgenland Forschungs- und Innovations GmbH (FIB) and Novotek GmbH.
Project status: ongoing