System control

The security of the electricity supply is an important topic and a challenge we are happy to take on also in light of the energy transition.

Germany plays a leading role in the integration of renewable energy sources, distributed electricity generation and the corresponding development of infrastructure. As a transmission system operator for the north-east of Germany and at the centre of Europe we bear great responsibility.

Almost 18 million people in Berlin, Brandenburg, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia trust in the reliable supply of electricity by 50Hertz. It is both our legal duty and our own aspiration to guarantee system security and grid stability at a high level and secure them for the future. Thanks to system monitoring 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, targeted grid development and the active participation in the European electricity market, we are able to fulfil this responsibility within our grid area.

Purpose of system control

To bring electricity from the producers to the consumers, power grids of different voltage levels have to work together in a reliable manner. Within the 50Hertz grid area, our specialists take care of system control for a secure transmission grid and an uninterrupted electricity supply. To fulfil this task, we have different control instruments at our disposal in grid management itself, but also market mechanisms that have a regulating influence on the system.

• Grid management: around the clock, we monitor the state of and the load on our transmission grid. In addition to analysis, monitoring and the coordination of the electricity flow during normal operation, this also includes unplanned operational actions to remedy disturbances, for instance to bypass malfunctioning grid elements or avoid line overloads and grid congestion.
• System balancing: our experts always take care of the balance between electricity generation and electricity demand. If too much or too little electricity is fed into the grid, the standard grid frequency of 50 hertz can deviate, which affects the electricity supply. To balance fluctuations, we use balancing energy or switch off certain consumers (interruptible loads), in addition to other measures.
• In the European internal energy market we also use instruments to guarantee the system security and further optimise the market. The 50Hertz transmission grid is a decisive interface with the energy grids in northern, eastern and central Europe. This does not only involve monitoring of the electricity transits and cross-border trade, but also their coordination. Through international cooperation, energy balances can be improved and CO2 emissions can be reduced.

Everything under control: our Control Center

System security, coordination of the (international) exchange of capacity, constant grid frequency and the balance between generation and consumption: the Control Center (CC) in Neuenhagen bei Berlin is the centrepiece of 50Hertz and the central site for system control. Here, our team of specialists monitors, controls and regulates the 50Hertz transmission system based on the latest technology. 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, for millions of people in the north and east of Germany, and together with our partners across borders for all of Europe.

Extraordinary challenges

The energy transition and the corresponding distributed generation of renewable energy represent extraordinary challenges for our transmission system and our experts at system management on a daily basis.

Energy generated from renewable sources, such as wind or solar power, is subject to fluctuations due to the weather; fluctuations that can be quite strong at times. These fluctuations between generation and the actual electrical output required by consumers have to be balanced to ensure that the grid frequency remains stable. To this end, 50Hertz works with highly precise generation and consumption forecasts and uses different grid- and market-based control instruments.

 Moreover, distributed generation has to be securely transported to the consumption centres across wide distances. In the 50Hertz gird area, a disproportionate amount of energy from wind turbines is fed into the transmission system, so that our system control always needs to constantly adjust and regulate this by means of appropriate measures (e.g. redispatch and reactive power provision) and ensure the required voltage control.

Additionally, cross-border power flows, international electricity trade and corresponding transits through our transmission system must of course also be guaranteed without them leading to congestion or overloads.

Continue leading

Reliability is a basic principle for system control. To make sure that this is also the case in the future, 50Hertz is a partner of many national and international innovation and research projects in the fields of energy market, system control and grid operation.

 This for instance includes the development of methods for the provision of control reserve from wind and solar power, cooperation towards a concept for the use of large batteries to store energy or in the development projects for the single European electricity market.

We furthermore support the GridCast research project as one of its partners. In the scope of this project, Fraunhofer IWES and the German Weather Service (DWD) work together with system operators to develop new methods to better determine the actual wind and solar power feed-in at random grid nodes of the German power grid.

 The power supply of the future should be efficient, environmentally friendly, secure and economic.