System operations
Elia Group innovates to enable the integration of renewables while ensuring a stable operation of the grid.
This is accomplished by addressing the increasing complexity of the grid with new technologies and digitalization tools.
The recent rapid expansion of RES (Renewable Energy Sources) brings along new challenges that we at Elia Group need to tackle already today. Among the main trends impacting system operations are:
- Increase of renewables (based on power electronics) cause growing number of interconnections and cross-border competition
- Low rotating inertia and voltage issues make it harder to control and keep harmonic stability of the grid
- The inherent uncertainty of RES production demands new approaches in grid planning, forecasting, and ensuring its flexibility
- Decentralized assets will add complexity to system operations, making it impossible for a human decision maker to keep a full overview over the asset portfolio.
To tackle these challenges Innovation team together the colleagues from System Operation departments at Elia and 50Hertz have streamlined the innovation portfolio around 4 key topics:
We understand that to tackle the challenges, collaboration is essential. That’s why we push forward 2 types of partnerships:
Are you a student willing to take part in the energy transition? Look at Career opportunities at Elia Group or Get in touch with us
Our projects
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Reducing the software digital footprint via granular green power certificates
Joint study to explore how effectively data centres could adjust their energy use according to the availability of renewable energy in the power grid. -
3D model of Princess Elisabeth Island
We are proud to unveil our 3D model of the groundbreaking offshore infrastructure project, Princess Elisabeth Island - the world’s first artificial energy island that combines both direct current (HVDC) and alternating current (HVAC). -
VoltControl: Bringing decision support into the control rooms
The goal of Voltcontrol tool is to understand and anticipate the foreseeable future, and propose different actions, to reach an optimal voltage plan of the high voltage grid. -
Digital identity application adopted by OpenWallet Foundation
Together, Elia Group and Energy Web have developed digital identity application which can securely transfer identity information and be easily integrated into digital wallet technology.
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01 December 2022
Robots for autonomous inspection of HVDC Converter Halls
The robots will allow for frequent automated inspections whilst removing the need to interrupt electricity supply, lowering risks of undiscovered defects, and unplanned outages. -
05 December 2022
Hyperspectral camera for condition assessment of painted metallic towers
Metallic towers, one of the main components of overhead lines, rust over time. This project aims to find out whether there is any technology out there that can detect rust behind the painting in a non-destructive way? -
14 December 2022
IEC61850 Engineering Process Common Vision
The Engineering Process Common Vision provides users with a shared view of IEC61850 engineering from the perspective of a number of different organisations. It provides stakeholders with a strong signal as a more flexible, efficient and standardised engineering process is adopted. -
14 December 2022
From conventional to digital power line inspections: using autonomous drones and AI
Using Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drones and robots to improve asset inspections. -
16 December 2022
ReBeam protocol allows EV drivers to choose their energy retailer at public charging stations
The electrification of the mobility sector is one of the most important milestones we need to reach on the road to climate neutrality. To ensure it is successful, a large number of electric vehicles (EVs) and charging processes must be integrated into the energy system. -
25 December 2022
Quantum Computing in System Operation
Elia Group explored the capabilities and limitations of quantum solvers in a proof of concept to solve a complex optimization problem in system operation, measuring the accuracy and runtime of quantum solvers against classical ones. -
28 December 2022
Unmanned Surface Vehicles and offshore O&M activities
First test of USV to inspect offshore transmission assets 40 km off the Belgium coast in the North Sea -
04 January 2023
Machine learning to optimize the success rate of offshore maintenance voyages
Elia is responsible for managing the MOG OSY platform, which transmits power from 4 offshore windfarms totaling 1 GW of capacity. -
05 January 2023
Digital monitoring of SCOF cables
The SCOF Monitoring Project arose from the need to more efficiently address leaks coming from Elia’s underground self-contained oil-filled (SCOF) cables. -
06 January 2023
Using Artificial Intelligence to reduce the cost of transmission losses
An artificial neural network allows 50Hertz now to calculate the estimated grid losses for the next day. -
07 January 2023
SAFIR | U-space drone demonstrations
The SAFIR consortium, a group of 13 public and private organisations, has been selected by Single European Sky ATM Research Joint Undertaking (SESAR JU) to demonstrate integrated Drone Traffic Management for a broad range of drone operations in Belgium. -
08 January 2023
Forecasting deterministic frequency deviations using artificial intelligence
European electricity production and shifts in demand undergo periodic schedule changes according to market clearance on an hourly basis. -
09 January 2023
Predictive Asset Management to avoid incidents with energy not supplied on aged asset systems
Older grid parts with assets are forced to extend their lifetime due to the reality of capex and workload arbitrage. -
10 January 2023
DARE – Dynamic daily dimensioning of reserve needs
To keep the frequency at 50 Hz, the Elia Group needs to dispose of balancing services, which is also referred to as reserve capacity or frequency restoration reserve (FRR). -
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12 January 2023
Osmose: improving flexibility integration
As renewable energy uptake is accelerating, access to flexibility is becoming a key requirement to make the energy transition possible. -
13 January 2023
Market integration of electric vehicles using blockchain technology
Electric vehicles (EV) are the fastest growing decentralized energy resources (DER). -
14 January 2023
Open data
The Opendata initiative started with simple goals: demystify the concept and understand the underlying advantage of exposing our data freely. -
16 January 2023
Acoustic sensors to monitor critical assets (OIC 2019)
The NEMO Link converter station connects the electricity system of Belgium and Great Britain via subsea cables. -
17 January 2023
Sensa – Define your comfort level, we take care of the rest
Sensa project has been designed and shaped in the context of the IO.Energy Ecosystem. -
18 January 2023
Using electric vehicles to balance the network
Recent predictions of electric vehicle (EV) uptake state that by 2030, 1.2 million EVs will be in use in Belgium. If managed incorrectly, these new types of consumption can put a significant pressure on the grid, for instance by increasing the evening peak load. -
19 January 2023
Improve forecasting of electricity production and consumption (OIC 2018)
In 2018, after a successful first edition that resulted in a tool that is currently used to improve our public acceptance, Elia Group launched its second Open Innovation Challenge for startups. -
20 January 2023
Simplify – Advanced Machine Learning to support balancing the system
Keeping the balance in the grid is essential: the injection of power must always be equal to the consumption to keep the frequency at 50Hz. Due to the increasing penetration of limitedly predictable renewable energy, balancing the system could become increasingly challenging. -
21 January 2023
Synapse: innovative operational planning enabled by Advanced Analytics
Building tomorrow’s infrastructure and maintaining Elia’s grid and its equipment is crucial to guarantee the security of electricity supply for several million consumers. -
22 January 2023
Fast grid topology reconfiguration
Today only highly experienced system operators, backed by trial-and-error simulations, can perform fast topology reconfigurations. However, mainly based on what is known to work, potentially better actions are left untested. -
23 January 2023
Local Inertia
The de-commissioning of nuclear power plants (and more generally, all types of conventional thermal power plants) is decreasing the inertia of the Belgian power system. -
24 January 2023
3D printing spare parts
Starting with logistics and spare parts management, Elia is exploring the use of 3D printing throughout the company. -
26 January 2023
How to improve public acceptance of our infrastructure (OIC 2017)
In 2016, Elia first organised the Start-Up/Open Innovation Challenge in order to identify start-ups that are proposing tools to enhance public acceptance of infrastructure projects. The contest was won by Gilytics, a Zurich-based start-up. -
27 January 2023
Distributed Flexibility
Elia needs to find alternative sources of flexibility from installations connected to distribution systems in order to ensure grid security in the most cost efficient way. -
28 January 2023
R2 Wind: Exploring wind farm's contribution to balancing
RES will need to participate in all balancing reserves markets. This pilot project investigated the technical capability of wind farms to regulate their power infeed in real-time to balance the active power in the grid (in collaboration with Eneco, WindVision and Enercon). -
12 October 2023
Revolutionizing Overhead Line Incident Response: Introducing Drone-in-a-Box (DiaB)
Drone-in-a-Box (DiaB) is a new emerging technology: a drone, housed and charged in a remote docking station, ready to take off on a request and operate Beyond-Visual-Line-Of-Sight (BVLOS). -
16 November 2023
SSI in the Energy sector: A study
Decentralized assets like EVs and flexible devices transform the energy landscape, offering grid flexibility. Secure grid interaction is of key importance. -
23 April 2024
Pylon unbending
Advancing pylon repair methods: an efficient, economical, and safe solution for uninterrupted power supply
