01 August 2026
Accelerating speed from Research to (System) Operations
Elia Group Open Research Challenge in collaboration with Energinet.
Who are we?
Elia Group
Elia Group owns two transmission system operators (TSOs): Elia Transmission Belgium (ETB) and 50Hertz in the north and east of Germany. Together, ETB and 50Hertz own and operate their high-voltage grids, ensuring that the production and consumption of electricity are balanced around the clock, and supplying 30 million end users with electricity.
Why do we launch the Research Challenge?
The growing challenges in system operations, including monitoring, control, data management, forecasting, and grid analysis (such as accelerated load flow calculations), demand a faster and more agile approach to collaboration with research institutions.
We want to shorten the time from R&D to operational implementation. To do this, we propose a new agile and dynamic way of cooperation between TSOs and researchers.
Results of Research Challenge’s first edition
The first Elia Group Research Challenge successfully connected leading research institutes with operational experts to develop solutions for key challenges in power system operations. From May 2025 until May 2026 five institutes worked on four research questions, generating results with clear potential for future application.
Key outcomes include:
- Faster and more accurate grid calculations: Researchers developed a new "DC+" approach that combines the speed advantages of simplified load flow models with improved accuracy. This creates a promising pathway for integrating voltage constraints into future optimization tools. Further information on DCPlus and the related paper.
Research Team: Dirk Witthaut (Forschungszentrum Jülich) / Christian Merz & Nico Westerbeck (Elia Group, 50Hertz) - Improved monitoring of grid stability: Two promising algorithms were identified by ETH Zürich and Fraunhofer IEE that can reliably detect potential stability issues caused by the growing use of power electronics. The methods performed successfully in simulations and will now move towards testing under real operating conditions. You can find further information in the paper of ETH Zürich.
- More efficient and open simulation models: The project delivered and validated a new Modelica-based HVDC modelling approach that enables faster simulations and reduces dependency on proprietary black-box solutions. In addition, tutorials and training materials were developed to support practical implementation. Please find here the tutorial for Modelica.
Beyond the technical results, the challenge demonstrated how closer collaboration between research and system operations can accelerate innovation and help transfer new ideas more quickly into business applications.
We are currently preparing the 2nd edition of the Research Challenge.
If you have questions, contact Innovation team by sending an email to [email protected]
