DREAM - Intelligent control processes for flexible power grids

The EU research project Distributed Renewable Resources Exploitation in Electric Grids through Advanced Heterarchical Management (DREAM) aimed to research innovative control methods for the management of energy grids. The solution developed should make electricity grids more flexible, resilient and efficient and enable greater consumer involvement in the economic and ecological use of electricity.

The project was supervised by a consortium of universities, electricity grid operators and research institutes and relied on state-of-the-art technological developments to optimize smart grids.

Participation of the Software & Information Engineering department

The Software & Information Engineering department at Fraunhofer IML contributed its expertise in the areas of IT strategy consulting and software development to the project. A particular added value was the transfer of knowledge from the logistics domain to the area of electrical networks and systems.

The main tasks included:

• Development of an architecture for the developed solution and its prototypical implementation.
• Leading role in the "DREAM Energy Distribution Marketplace" work package, which developed market-based mechanisms for the integration of renewable energies.
• Demonstrators and simulations to illustrate technical and economic feasibility.

Results and significance of the project

The DREAM project made it possible to develop a new management approach for complex electricity grids. The research results contributed to this:

• Develop new mechanisms for the stable and cost-efficient integration of renewable energy sources.
• To significantly improve the resilience and flexibility of electricity grids.
• To enable greater consumer participation in the economic and ecological use of energy.