Inn Valley – Demonstration Projects of Flexible Energy Systems (INNERGY Leitprojekt)

Project manager overall project: Wolfgang Streicher (UIBK Energieeffizientes Bauen)

Project leader University of Innsbruck: Wolfgang Streicher

Project deputy: Alexander Thür

Projektmitarbeiter: Alexander Thür, Sandra Forndran, Luca Vittorio Valentini

 Project partner:

  • alpS GmbH (Innrain 11, 6020 Innsbruck)
  • Bundesimmobiliengesellschaft m.b.H (Trabrennstraße 2c, 1020 Wien)
  • Energieagentur Tirol GmbH (Leopoldstraße 3, 6020 Wilten)
  • HALLAG Kommunal GmbH (Augasse 6, 6060 Hall i.T.)
  • INNIO Jenbacher GmbH & Co OG (Achenseestraße 1-3, 6200 Jenbach)
  • Innsbrucker Kommunalbetriebe Aktiengesellschaft (Salurner Straße 11, 6020 Innsbruck)
  • MCI Management Center Innsbruck - Internationale Hochschule GmbH (Universitätsstraße 15, 6020 Innsbruck)
  • Stadtwerke Schwaz GmbH (Hermine-Berghofer-Straße 31, 6130 Schwaz, FBN)
  • TIGAS-Erdgas Tirol GmbH (Salurnerstraße 15, 6020 Innsbruck)
  • Tiroler gemeinnützige Wohnungsbau- und Siedlungsgesellschaft m.b.H. (Fürstenweg 27, 6020 Innsbruck)
  • Tirol Kliniken GmbH (Anichstraße 35, 6020 Innsbruck)
  • Tiroler Rohre GmbH (Innsbruckerstraße 51, 6060 Hall/Tirol)
  • TIWAG-Next Energy Solutions GmbH (Eduard-Wallnöfer-Platz 2, 6020 Innsbruck)

Funding agency: Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG)

Funding program: Reallabore - Energie- und Umwelttechnologie Ausschreibung 2022

Total funding: 2.955.255 Euro (UIBK: 804.865 Euro)

Project period: 01/01/2024 - 31/12/2027

INNERGY Projectlogo

Summary:

The INNERGY lead project is interlinked with the INNERGY InnoLab to form the INNERGY real laboratory. It is spatially situated in the Inn-Valley from in the area from Völs via Innsbruck to Jenbach. The goal of the INNERGY real laboratory is to significantly increase the efficiency and flexibility of the energy supply system, in particular the heat supply in the real laboratory area, to further develop for future new framework conditions and requirements of a 100% renewable energy supply and to test and validate concrete implementation projects.

The INNERGY InnoLab is operated as a non-profit organization and bundles important competences of state-related and scientific organizations as well as energy suppliers and energy prosumers/consumers in the fields of energy solutions, digital tools and innovation ecosystems. As an "enabler", the InnoLab will develop, accelerate and accompany implementation projects, secure findings and act as a multiplier to bring them into widespread use.

The INNERGY lead project comprises nine subprojects. According to the politically agreed Tyrol 2050 strategy and the national requirements, the energy supply for the heating sector should also be 100% from renewable energy sources. For these boundary conditions, typical regional solutions will be developed and tested in the project by the subprojects. They range from general conceptual design and development of innovative business models and legal solutions to detailed planning, construction and commissioning, monitoring and optimization of ongoing operations as well as potential future expansions and integration of additional uses. The general timeline of the subproject processes is represented by the work packages into which the subprojects are classified according to their stage of implementation.INNERGY Demoprojects Map

The subprojects are spatially located in the Tyrolean Inn Valley and the lead project operators and scientific partners all come from this region. The INNERGY real laboratory region is characterized by a high population density, a large number of small and medium sized as well as some large commercial and industrial enterprises, a well developed gas infrastructure and a common district heating line operated by TIGAS (and partly by Hall AG) from Wattens to Innsbruck which will be extended to Völs/Kematen/Zirl in the future as well as some smaller district heating networks. The power supply is currently covered by 90% hydropower and 10% purchased electricity from renewable energy sources, but will change massively in its structure of supply (volatile PV and wind power) and significantly higher consumption through increased use of heat pumps and e-mobility (possibility of flexibilities).

In the subprojects, a flexible and efficient heat supply system (generation - transport - storage - consumption) will be developed, tested and evaluated. In each case, three of these subprojects comprise (i) the construction or adaptation and operation of heating networks, (ii) innovative systems for cascaded and/or coupled heating and cooling supply of buildings (residential buildings, laboratories, offices, EDP centers) with interfaces to heating and electricity networks, and (iii) the identification and feed-in of previously unused waste heat potentials from industry or hydrogen production or alternative heat sources (waste water, exhaust air, groundwater). The subprojects each have a different focus.

In all subprojects, the interaction between actors and infrastructures offers new challenges, but also new opportunities. In addition to technical and digital solutions, legal, social and economic aspects will also be examined, with a particular focus on the role of prosumers (alternating feeders and consumers). In addition, the projects will investigate larger heat storage facilities to balance heat flows for one to several days (potentially also up to months) as well as the flexibilization of consumers. Increasing the flexibility of feed-in and use will increase the stability and resilience of the system due to the different technical concepts and larger number of feeders, but it will require an increased coordination and control effort and possibly even an online digital twin. New partnerships with flexible business models must be developed to allow the systems to interact optimally with each other.

INNERGY Projectscheme

Through the subprojects, good planning but also experimentation with and dissemination of innovation in the area of prosumers, heat and sector coupling will attempt to generate robust knowledge and trigger momentum for a wider change. This includes the entire heat value chain (generation - transport - storage - consumption) in the frame of sector coupling. The central aspiration should therefore be to develop processes and mechanisms of support in order to test innovative solutions in real projects. Innovative solutions include not only technological, but also social and legal innovations. This leads to a change of the socio-technical energy system including their social practices as a whole.

The 14 partners of the lead project consortium represent important players of the energy supply chain and leading companies in the real laboratory area and include scientific experts as well as partners from the energy supply, real estate sector and industry. The results will be experiences and model solutions for new partnerships and innovative infrastructure and sector couplings, which will serve as a basis for broad application.

Project goals:

Project Leader, Scientific support for the sub-projects, simulation and optimization of district heating networks, district heating optimized system solutions for buildings (AZW FH Gesundheit, IKB), energy concepts for campus Technik (UIBK).

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