biovolatil: Sustainable energy supply for municipalities

Energy from the sun and wind is fluctuating, as is energy demand. Local balancing, which can be expanded with biomass gasifiers with combined heat and power plants (CHP) and geothermal systems (UTES), reduces the load on the grids. The goal of "biovolatil" is to increase the energy-related resilience of municipalities through self-sufficient, climate-neutral energy generation and storage.

Gasification technology taps into the previously untapped potential of sustainable biomass. Residual materials and otherwise unusable biomass are locally available raw materials that can generate added value in works council agreement CHP plants. Depending on the type, works council agreement CHP plants are suitable for different power control ranges. As part of "biovolatil," researchers are evaluating different types of gasifiers. In addition, experiments are being conducted on a commercial works council agreement CHP plant to optimize its usability and generate data for modeling.

UTES provide seasonal heat balancing, thereby increasing the efficiency of the works council agreement CHP plants. Medium-depth UTES are used in particular – they have a higher temperature level, which enables higher energy yields and heat supply for a wider range of applications. Operation with seasonal loading also increases the efficiency of the entire system, as the temperature level in the subsurface can be regenerated by storing heat during warm seasons.

To demonstrate the practicability of the new concept, two sample municipalities are being considered: Oberhausen and Zittau. The "biovolatil" team is evaluating the conditions in the municipalities by looking at biomass availability and geothermal conditions. In addition, the respective energy data is being recorded. All this is done with the aim of demonstrating how the new concept can be integrated into the existing system.

Transfer to other locations

The optimization of local energy systems will be the next step, with a focus on balancing the volatile energy requirements using works council agreement CHP plants and UTES. A comparison with previous data will show the savings in greenhouse gases, self-sufficiency to promote resilience, and economic efficiency. Transferring the concept to other locations is also part of "biovolatil." To this end, individual scenarios are being developed that will define criteria for the use of the technology at other locations towards the end of and following the project. This makes the project results particularly interesting for local energy suppliers and operators of corresponding annexes. They will be able to assess a diversified energy supply and new applications for their technology in the future.