European Guide to Smart Energy System Testing : The ERIGrid 2.0 Approach for Evaluating Complex Smart Energy System Configurations

This open access book is a logical follow-up to European Guide to Power System Testing: The ERIGrid Holistic Approach for Evaluating Complex Smart Grid Configurations.

Renewables are pivotal for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and combating global warming. However, their intermittent nature and limited storage capabilities present challenges for power system operators in maintaining power quality and ensuring the security of supply. Meanwhile, advancements in automation and communication technologies provide opportunities for developing intelligent solutions, transforming traditional power systems into Cyber-Physical Energy Systems (CPES). Despite progress, there is a growing need for integrated approaches to evaluate and validate these increasingly complex systems. The ERIGrid 2.0 project addressed this by focusing on the validation and testing of smart grids. 

The book includes validation scenarios, advanced simulation tools (e.g., co-simulation, real-time simulation, hardware-in-the-loop), and practical test cases. It highlights sector coupling and multi-energy systems as well as RI integration while addressing educational needs to support researchers, industry professionals, policymakers, infrastructure operators, and educators. By bridging smart grids and smart energy systems, ERIGrid 2.0 facilitates the deployment of innovative, sustainable energy solutions, accelerating the transition to resilient and integrated energy systems across Europe.

Privdoz. Dr. Thomas I. Strasser (male) earned his master’s, Ph.D., and Venia Docendi (habilitation) in automation from Technische Universität Wien (TU Wien). He has been a senior scientist at the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology’s Center for Energy for over 14 years, focusing on smart grid automation, research project development, and mentoring Ph.D. candidates and junior scientists. Before AIT, he spent six years as a senior researcher at PROFACTOR, investigating advanced automation and control systems. He also serves as a docent at TU Wien. Dr. Strasser has co-authored approximately 300 scientific publications, including journal and conference papers, book chapters, and technical reports, and holds two patents. He regularly presents his work at international conferences and serves on program committees. Additionally, he is an associate editor for IEEE and Springer journals. With over two decades of experience, Dr. Strasser has held key roles in numerous national and international research projects.

Dr. Mihai Calin (male) completed his Ph.D. studies at the Electrical Engineering Faculty, University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest, Romania, on advanced control systems for active distribution grids with high penetration of DER. Other research topics of interest: voltage and frequency control, smart grids, synchronised measurements for the power system, integration of distributed energy resources, power electronics converters, and hardware-in-the-loop. Before joining AIT as a research engineer in 2018, Dr Calin was a research coordinator of European Distributed Energy Resources Laboratories (DERlab) e.V. an association of leading laboratories and research institutes in the field of distributed energy resources equipment and systems and was actively involved as a team member in several international research projects VSYNC (FP6 STREP Project 2007-2011), ELECTRA (FP7), STARGRID (FP7), SmartGrids ETP (FP7), NobelGrid (H2020), ERIGrid (H2020), INTERPLAN (H2020), INTERFLEX (H2020), ERIGrid2.0 (H2020).

Leonard Enrique Ramos Perez (male) finished his bachelor’s studies in Electrical Engineering at Universidad del Norte (Colombia) in 2016. Afterwards, he completed a certification course on generation projects with non-conventional energy sources at the same university in 2018. Subsequently, in 2020, accomplished his M. Sc. degree in Renewable Energy at Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg (Germany). From 2017 to 2019 Leonard worked for the control centre of the distributed system operator (DSO) which operates the Electrical system of the Colombian’s Northern region in the analysis of grid faults. Since 2022, working as a research engineer and project manager in European Distributed Energy Resources Laboratories (DERlab) e.V. in Germany participating on European projects related to smart grids, research infrastructure provision and other energy topics.