NextGen Grid Control How can the power grid of the future be monitored and controlled?
Control systems are a central element in managing critical infrastructures, particularly energy supply systems. They have evolved historically to become monolithic, proprietary, and generally "archaic" in their appearance and handling, requiring extensive expertise and lengthy qualification processes for operators.
This poses significant problems given the numerous challenges presented by the energy transition. Decentralized generation by small and micro-scale installations, even at lower voltage levels, leads to a substantial increase in complexity. Additionally, there is a growing need to couple different energy sectors and the associated IT systems in the background. These factors necessitate high automation and the introduction of new operational approaches, particularly innovative and potentially AI-based solutions. Accordingly, there is a drive among grid operators to harmonize and integrate control systems to enhance efficiency and enable the possibility of monitoring and controlling the grid for other, typically smaller, operators during specific periods (e.g., night shifts). However, this also increases the complexity for operating personnel, who are already facing more frequent critical grid conditions and rising threats from cyber-attacks.
Historically developed control systems are reaching their limits both internally and externally. Outdated software technologies and concepts result in natural performance limitations, including real-time capability, expandability, and maintainability. Regarding IT security, these systems are also constrained, as security was not a primary focus during their development, making it cumbersome to implement. The harmonization and integration of control systems sought by grid operators are largely, if not completely, hindered by vendor lock-in; the same applies to extending control systems with third-party functionalities.
Furthermore, the required expertise to operate these control systems is becoming scarce, exacerbated by the use of outdated software concepts. Today's workforce is trained on modern software and interaction concepts, making the use of outdated and archaic human-machine interaction software unintuitive and unattractive in the job market.
In summary, the challenges posed by the energy transition are increasingly difficult to address with current, antiquated control systems.
Another essential feature of NextGen Grid Control is the ability to holistically model (coupled) energy and ICT systems. The interactions between these systems will be crucial for resilient grid operation. The increasing interaction between the control system and external actors and installations further necessitates interoperability as a central goal, enabling third-party processes and applications to integrate with the control system. Specifically, defined interfaces are required to establish the foundation for modular interchange and extensibility.
Key technological aspects that make NextGen Grid Control future-proof include the use of digital twins and event-driven data stream processing. The concept of digital twins is particularly suitable because it goes beyond merely creating digital representations—potentially hierarchical or nested—by enabling automated adjustments to the physical infrastructure based on changes in the digital twin. The representation and modification of the physical infrastructure should occur in real time as much as possible. This real-time capability is achieved through the use of data stream processing, which allows for event-driven data processing, analysis, and visualization.
Research Questions
The ROC group focuses on, but is not limited to, the following research questions:
- How can control systems be designed to address current and future challenges of IoT-based CPESs?
- How can CPES services be (re)designed using the functionalities of NextGen Grid Control?
- How can HMIs for grid control be designed to be intuitive and purpose-driven, while also being as automated as possible in their creation?
Persons
- Dr. Michael Brand (Contact Person)
- Kersten Blümel
- Nils Huxoll
- Amin Raeiszadeh
Persons 
N
B
W
H
L
Projects
O
OpenEnergyTwin
Duration: 2024 - 2026
T
Publications
2025
Resilience Monitoring for the Digitalisation of the Energy Transition (ReMoDigital)
Bert Droste-Franke and Gabriele Fohr and Davy van Doren and Markus Voge and Moritz Bergfeld and Urte Brand-Daniels and Karen Derendorf and Marc Dziakowski and Hans Christian Gils and Ghinwa Harb and Gandhi Pragada and Tudor Mocanu and Sophie Nägele and Henrik Netz and Martin Plener and Angelika Schulz and Henning Wigger and Madhura Yeligeti and Michael Brand and Batoul Hage Hassan and Anand Narayan and Sigrid Prehofer; January / 2025
2024
Applying Trust for Operational States of ICT-Enabled Power Grid Services
Michael Brand, Anand Narayan, Sebastian Lehnhoff; April / 2024
Modelling the propagation of properties across services in cyber-physical energy systems
Anand Narayan, Michael Brand, Nils Huxoll, Batoul Hage Hassan, Sebastian Lehnhoff ; March / 2024
Poster Abstract: A Digital Twin Platform Applied to Hydrogen Electrolyzers
AMIT KUMAR SINGH, JELKE WIBBEKE, AMIN RAEISZADEH, NILS HUXOLL, MICHAEL BRAND; DACH+ Conference on Energy Informatics 2024; October / 2024
Resilience Quantification of Interdependent Power and ICT Systems using Operational State Classification
Anand Narayan; July / 2024
2023
ASSESS – Anomaliesensitive State Estimation mit Streaming Systemen in Smart Grids
Michael Brand; December / 2023
Assess: anomaly sensitive state estimation with streaming systems
Brand, Michael and Engel, Dominik and Lehnhoff, Sebastian; Energy Informatics; 2023
Demo Abstract: IT Platform for Provision of Ancillary Services from Distributed Energy Resources
Payam Teimourzadeh Baboli, Amin Raeiszadeh, Michael Brand, and Sebastian Lehnhoff; DACH+ Conference on Energy Informatics, Vienna, Austria; 2023
Impact of ICT Latency, Data Loss and Data Corruption on Active Distribution Network Control
Klaes, Marcel and Zwartscholten, Jannik and Narayan, Anand and Lehnhoff, Sebastian and Rehtanz, Christian; IEEE Access; 2023
Poster Abstract: Algorithms for Condition Monitoring of Complex Power Electronic Systems in Photovoltaics
Loeffler, Dominik; Abstracts of the 12th DACH+ Conference on Energy Informatics 2023; October / 2023
