The Challenge Posed by Renewables –
 How Much Power Electronics Can the Grid Cope with?

ETH Zurich is one of the 25 partners from 13 European countries, including twelve transmission system operators (TSO), as well as universities and research institutions, that jointly launched the MIGRATE project in Brussels on 20 January. The project name is derived from the research topic "Massive InteGRATion of power Electronic devices". The aim is to find solutions for key technical issues related to grid stability, supply quality, and control and security of supply that are sparked by the ever-increasing use of renewable energy feed-in sources. Indeed, the European integrated network will face new challenges at various locations because of the large amounts of electricity produced from wind and solar sources. At the same time, both electricity production on the one hand – due to the increasing share of renewable energy – and electricity consumption on the other hand – owing to the implementation of energy efficiency systems, for example – will increasingly be linked to the electricity grid through power electronics. 


Florian Dörfler, Professor of Complex Systems Control (D-ITET) and Gabriela Hug, Professor of Electric Power Systems (D-ITET) are the two Energy Science Center members involved in this project on the ETH side. Especially, their activity is focused on developing solution based on innovative control algorithms together with new grid connection standards that are needed to manage a transition towards an HVAC electric system where all generation and consumption is connected via 100% PE.