Collective Nonlinear Dynamics of Complex Power Grids (CoNDyNet2), 2019 - 2022

Description
The project CoNDyNet addresses fundamental aspects of stability, reliability and efficiency of future power grids. The participating research institutes combine basic sciences in the fields of dynamical systems and network science with laboratory experiments, scenario analysis and industrial applications. IEK-STE contributes to several work packages within this collaborative research project:

  • We analyze the stability of power grids with respect to collective effects of frequency, voltage and controller dynamics. Combining analytical methods and numerical simulations, we aim to derive rigorous stability criteria.

  • Fundamental considerations of dynamical stability are complemented by numerical and analytical studies of stochastic dynamical systems. We analyze the spatio-temporal grid dynamics of the grid subject to external stochastic perturbations and the impacts on the stability of decentrally controlled systems. Model-based studies are complemented by the statistical analysis of empirical data sets, in particular high-resolution time series of the power grid frequency.

  • We further analyze the structural stability of power grids with respect to single (N-1) or multiple (N-x) outages of transmission elements as well as aspects of voltage stability. A main focus of our work is the application of graph theoretical methods to derive rigorous stability criteria and efficient heuristics.

Project Duration
January 2019 to December 2021. Extension until June 30, 2022

Funded by
Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)

Project Partners
Potsdam Institut für Klimafolgenforschung
Technische Universität Dresden
Jacobs University Bremen
Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Technische Universität Clausthal

Project Manager IEK-STE
Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Dirk Witthaut

Results
The project lead to a variety of results on the dynamics and stability of modern power grids. In particular, we have developed an in-depth understanding of how failures and perturbations spread and how this may lead to large-scale cascades of failures and blackouts. These insights and the developed method allow to identify vulnerable infrastructures and to improve the robustness of grids.

Selected Publications:

  • Dirk Witthaut, Frank Hellmann, Jürgen Kurths, Stefan Kettemann, Hildegard Meyer-Ortmanns, and Marc Timme, Collective nonlinear dynamics and self-organization in decentralized power grids, Rev. Mod. Phys. 94, 015005 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.94.015005
  • Franz Kaiser, Vito Latora, and Dirk Witthaut, Network isolators inhibit failure spreading in complex networks, Nature Communications 12, 3143 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-23292-9
  • Leonardo Rydin Gorjão, Richard Jumar, Heiko Maass, Veit Hagenmeyer, Johannes Kruse, Marc Timme, Christian Beck, Dirk Witthaut, and Benjamin Schäfer, Open data base analysis of scaling and spatio-temporal properties of power grid frequencies, Nature Communications 11 6362 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19732-7

Contact
Forschungszentrum Jülich
Institute of Energy and Climate Research
Systems Analysis and Technology Evaluation (IEK-STE)
e-mail: IEK-STE-Sekretariat@fz-juelich.de

Project Website
http://www.condynet.de/

Last Modified: 29.06.2023