vgbe energy journal 11 (2022) - International Journal for Generation and Storage of Electricity and Heat

Power News
her überhaupt keine Wärmestrom-Messungen
durchgeführt. Damit fehlt ein wichtiger
Parameter zum Verständnis des thermischen
Feldes des Untergrundes.
„Angesichts der drastisch gestiegenen
Nachfrage, den Untergrund für verschiedene
Geoenergie-Anwendungen zu nutzen,
müssen wir diese großen Datenlücken in
Deutschland möglichst schnell schließen.
Diese Bemühungen werden dazu beitragen,
unser Bild der geothermischen Ressourcen
in Deutschland zu vervollständigen“, sagt
Sven Fuchs. Um mögliche Prozesse, die die
Wärmestrom-Bestimmung beeinflussen,
besser zu verstehen und um neue Wärmestrom-Daten
in Regionen ohne Daten bereitzustellen,
bereitet das GFZ-Team nun eine
neue Wärmestrom-Messkampagne für ganz
Deutschland vor. Diese wird es ermöglichen,
die Karte weiter auszufüllen und die Analyse
des unterirdischen Temperatur- und Wärmestromfeldes
zu verstärken.
LL
www.gfz-potsdam.de (223521325)
Superconducting cables for
Europe’s clean energy future
(ias) Rising amounts of renewable energy
coupled with an increase in decentralised
power generation call for the modernisation
and significant expansion of the European
grids. The EU project SCARLET (“Superconducting
cables for sustainable energy transition”)
unites 15 partners from 7 countries
around the goal of designing and industrially
manufacturing superconducting cables to
enable more efficient and less costly power
transmission from renewable electricity
generation sites.
Superconductivity is a phenomenon occurring
when specific materials are cooled to
very low temperatures, allowing for the
transmission of electricity without any resistive
losses. The promise of superconducting
cables lies in their high efficiency, compact
size, and reduced environmental impact.
The SCARLET project will make use of these
advantages by developing cables that transfer
very high powers in very small conductors.
The goal is to bring the technology to
the last qualification step before commercialization.
SCARLET has secured funding by the European
Union’s Horizon Europe research
and innovation programme for the duration
of four and a half years. “We are very pleased
that the European Commission recognises
the potential for the use of superconducting
cables in the future electricity grid. It is an
opportunity and now our responsibility to
bring this new power cable technology to
commercial performance levels. In the end,
we will enable the supply of renewable energy
to Europe at a significantly lower cost
than what is possible today”, says project
coordinator Niklas Magnusson from SINTEF
Energy Research in Norway.
Ambitious research targets
On 28th and 29th of September, the partners
gathered at the Institute for Advanced
Sustainability Studies in Potsdam for the
project’s kick-off meeting. Throughout this
first get-together, participants planned the
tasks and developments of the project in detail.
They looked at the whole range of effects
of superconducting cables, as their
properties open the door for cost savings
beyond the cables themselves. For instance,
the high current carrying capability of the
cables allows for a reduction in voltage level,
leading to smaller and much less expensive
equipment at offshore wind power farms.
Another novelty to be developed is the
transport of electricity and hydrogen in the
same pipeline. The ambitious targets call for
intensive research in the years to come by
the industrial partners Absolut System, ASG
Superconductors, Nexans, RINA Consulting,
SuperGrid Institute, SuperNode, and Vision
Electric Super Conductors, and the research
institutes and universities ESPCI, IASS, RSE,
SINTEF, IEE Slovak Academy of Sciences,
University of Bologna, and WavEC.
Towards an international standard
The SCARLET project builds upon previous
work on high-power superconducting
links by the IASS and its European partners,
explains IASS researcher Adela Marian:
“One key focus will be set on standardization
activities, which will ensure that the
testing experience gained in the project will
be used to establish an international standard
for high-power superconducting cables.“
The recommendations will be forwarded to
the IEC, the international organization that
prepares and publishes standards for all
electrical technologies.
LL
www.iass-potsdam.de (223521352)
Power
News
eurelectric: Ukraine’s energy
infrastructure is under attack,
what are the consequences and
how you can help
(eurelectric) Since the start of Russia’s invasion
of Ukraine, energy infrastructure has
frequently been damaged as a result of the
fighting or, as in the case of the Zaporizhzhia
Nuclear Power Station, actively occupied
and disconnected from the Ukrainian grid.
Now, as temperatures drop, Russia stands
accused of “weaponising winter.”
A cynical turn in the war
Beginning in October, in the face of consistent
battlefield setbacks, Russia has explicitly
and systematically targeted Ukraine’s
power system; civilian infrastructure that is
vital to keeping lights on and homes warm
for the millions of Ukrainians as winter begins.
A first wave of missile and drone strikes
in early October struck dozens of energy facilities
across 16 oblasts, leaving almost a
third of the country’s power stations unable
to generate or deliver electricity. The persistent
bombing campaign continued before
intensifying again 15 November when almost
a hundred missiles targeted just DTEK’s
facilities, a utility responsible for about 25%
of Ukraine’s power generation.
Significantly, these strikes are typically not
aimed at generation facilities but at the critical
connection infrastructure behind
Ukraine’s power system. Open switch gears,
transformers, and transmission lines are
specifically hit to deprive power stations the
ability to connect to the power system and
deliver electricity to those who need it. In
this regard, high-voltage sub stations are a
regular focus as damaging these nodal
points triggers power surpluses in one region
and deficits in another. The result being
that cities in particular are unable to get the
power they need.
The human consequences
All told, by early November, before the latest
waves of attacks, about 40% of Ukraine’s
energy infrastructure had been seriously
damaged. Repairs are constantly ongoing,
but the sheer scale of attacks has meant that
today up to 10 million Ukrainians are without
reliable access to power. Rolling blackouts,
but also unplanned cut-offs, have become
common in many parts of Ukraine.
Between 25-27 November, for example,
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