English - MTU Onsite Energy

MTU Onsite Energy electricity generators supply emergency, control and peak-load power
Morning delivery
The future of energy generation is localized
and renewable. But that also changes the
demands placed on the power grids. They
will increasingly have to cope with larger,
fluctuating amounts of energy from wind
farms and solar arrays without allowing the
grid voltage or frequency to drop out. To do
so, they need flexible energy sources that the
grid operators can call upon at short notice.
The energy supplier ÜWAG in Fulda operates
such an energy source. In recent years it has
upgraded its power plant with custom-built
diesel generators from MTU Onsite Energy
and now supplies flexible emergency, control
and peak-load power on the dot.
What does Hans Müller in Germany do at 7 in the
morning? He makes a cup of coffee. Luigi Motta
in Italy uses a fan heater to warm up the kitchen.
Michelle Potier in France cooks breakfest. They
all enjoy the last few moments of calm before the
sun rises. Silence reigns but the grid is starting to
hum. Because right on the dot of 7 a.m., not only
Hans Müller, Luigi Motta and Michelle Portier use
electricity – millions of other people do too. The
electricity being generated just at this moment by
power plants both big and small is not enough to
cover the demand. The grid is overloaded.
Combined European grid delivers
This is the moment for flexible power plants.
Überlandwerk Fulda Aktiengesellschaft (ÜWAG
for short) is one of them. It was built 100 years
ago – originally to supply electricity to the citizens
of Fulda. But nowadays there is a combined
European power grid into which not only largescale
power stations but an increasing number
of smaller, localized energy plants feed their
electricity. That power is distributed to the
individual households and industrial facilities via a
network of transformer stations and substations.
ÜWAG in Fulda had to find itself a new place in
that system – and succeeded in doing so.
Power for demand peaks
The plant supplies peak-load power when demand
is so high that there is not sufficient capacity
available in the combined grid. Just about the time
when Hans Müller, Luigi Motta, Michelle Portier
and millions of others switch on the lights or put
on the kettle. “Between 7 and 8 in the morning
and at about 8 in the evening demand for power
rockets,” explained Frank Weinmann, head of the
Energy Generation and Procurement department
at ÜWAG. In the past, the demand peak occurred
around midday, whereas now people use most
electricity in the morning when they get up and
when they get home in the evening. “The demand
pattern gives you a good idea of how people’s
lifestyles have changed,” he smiled.
To be able to balance out the demand peaks more
effectively in future, ÜWAG in Fulda has spent
€10 million modernizing its power plant in recent
years. Two old diesel engines were retired and
replaced by six smaller generator sets supplied
by MTU Onsite Energy. The key component of
each genset is a 20-cylinder MTU Series 4000
engine. “I don’t know of any diesel power station
in the world that is more modern than ours right
now,” said Frank Weinmann looking down proudly
from the control room onto the blue MTU Onsite
Energy power modules. “Those engines are real
Ferraris,” he enthused. They can start up and
synchronize with the European power grid within
a matter of a few seconds. The old engines would
have needed several minutes to do so.
Control power balances out grid fluctuations
“In today’s power generation world you have to be
fast,” he explained and he went on to point out
that it is not just because demand peaks occur
much more frequently nowadays. The constantly
growing proportion of electricity from renewable
sources is also a factor because, in contrast
with conventional large-scale power plants, it
is not possible to precisely predict how reliably
they will supply energy to the grid. Put simply,
When ÜWAG Fulda was built 100 years ago it was
on the edge of the town. But the city has grown since
then and now it is right in the middle of the urban
area.
Frank Weinmann is a qualified engineer and heads
the Energy Generation and Procurement department.