The ongoing energy transition is posing increasing challenges for the German electricity grid. Renewable energies will cover the growing energy demand in the future. Today, the electricity grid is still dependent on system services from conventional large-scale power plants to ensure secure operation. In the lead project "System services for secure power grids in times of advancing energy transition and digital transformation" (SiNED), scientists at the Energy Research Centre of Lower Saxony (EFZN) are conducting research with the aim of further developing existing system services and adapting them to the changing requirements and possibilities. The interdisciplinary project is being carried out at the four EFZN research locations in Braunschweig, Clausthal, Hanover and Oldenburg, which are working on a sustainable electricity grid in a multidisciplinary and closely networked manner. The project is thematically divided into three areas of expertise, which have interfaces with each other and are each being worked on by several project partners. In the "Electrical energy technology" area of expertise, the focus is on the changing provision of system services in the course of the energy transition.

The "Digital transformation / information and communication technology (ICT)" area of expertise is developing the necessary secure communication approaches to ensure this provision runs smoothly in the future. The project is rounded off by the "Economic and energy law issues" area of expertise, which deals with the economic optimisation potential in the provision of ancillary services and examines which (data protection) legal restrictions must be observed and which adjustments to the regulatory framework are necessary.

In SiNED, the Digitalised Energy Systems group at the University of Oldenburg is working on the design of a tamper-proof IT-based system for the decentralised provision and settlement of ancillary services. To this end, an agent system for contracting the flexibility of decentralised energy sources is being designed. It will be evaluated using a game-theoretical approach in order to understand possible fraudulent behaviour. Based on the results, a reliable transaction system for fully automated activation and billing processes will be developed. In a later phase of the project, incentive systems for non-fraudulent behaviour will be investigated and a transfer of the collected findings will be planned in order to design a fully automated and integrated system for controlling the distributed agents.

Further information can be found on the Internet at: https://www.efzn.de/forschung/niedersaechsische-energieforschung-im-ueberblick/efzn-forschungsverbuende-und-kompetenznetzwerke/efzn-leitprojekt-sined