Research, Development and Innovation

Energie AG has always considered research, development and innovation to be one of its core tasks in all areas of the Group. Driven by social and political processes such as the transformation of energy systems, the energy sector is undergoing a major transformation which Energie AG seeks to shape. It is now no longer sufficient to look at the individual sectors separately; instead cross-sectoral solutions are needed to address the current issues. In addition, digitalisation and automation offer opportunities which Energie AG takes up with targeted innovation and research. Close cooperation with partners from science and industry drives excellent cost efficiency and an intensive exchange featuring valuable, mutual impulses.

In the period under review, research, development and innovation activities focused on adapting the distribution grids to increasingly decentralised generation plants and providing energy from renewable sources, as well as on developing new business models and numerous projects in the Waste Management and Water Segments. A further focus in the 2017/2018 fiscal year was the implementation of projects from the “e-bit” digitalisation offensive. These “e-bit” projects generated internal and external impetus across Group companies and resulted in proposals for further projects.

In fiscal year 2017/2018, research, development and innovation were carried out in the following projects (non-exhaustive list):

Photovoltaic (PV) Post-measurement

The photovoltaic plant erected in 1988 on Mount Loser was Energie AG's first major photovoltaic research project, and it is still fully functional today. After 30 years, important insights into the behaviour of PV modules over their service life and beyond have been gained by means of re-measurements and thermographic imaging in the reporting period.

Rassa – Reference Architecture for Safe Smart Grids

The Rassa project, initiated by the Smart Grids Austria technology platform, aims to develop a reference architecture for secure smart grids in Austria in close consultation with all relevant stakeholders. By adopting the principles of the reference architecture when instantiating individual components, secure and interoperable smart grid systems can be implemented in a consistent and efficient manner.

Enerchain

Together with a consortium of European utilities and a development partner, a “proof of concept” trading platform based on blockchain technology was developed in the 2017/2018 fiscal year, which in principle allows bilateral electricity and gas wholesale transactions to be conducted decentrally, anonymously and with a high degree of security. In February 2018, the first blockchain-based electricity wholesale deal was successfully concluded with a market partner. The intent is to make the platform commercially marketable in the future. Numerous technological and legal issues need to be clarified to do so.

Co-incineration of Powdery Waste

Dusty waste is a major problem and potential hazard in the thermal treatment of waste. In this project, therefore, holistic solutions and treatment processes for the problem material dust were developed in the reporting period for the co-incineration of this dusty waste in grate firing plants. The main focus was on hydrophobic dusts such as powder coatings. In addition, a scientific paper presented the basics for characterising dusts, the difficulties in manipulation and treatment, and target scenarios for handling dusty waste.

Hydrant Service Water Map

Municipalities, water utilities, fire services and other service providers rely on fast and reliable information about the water system and hydrant locations. In cooperation with the start-up company wasserkarte.info, the content of the web application developed in the 2015/2016 fiscal year was further developed to market maturity in the reporting period. On-site data acquisition is carried out using tablets or smartphones; potential further developments with regard to additional possible uses (gate valves, etc.) were taken into account in the project.

Digitalisation Projects in the Grid Segment

In the Grid Segment, several innovations in the field of digitalisation were implemented in the 2017/2018 fiscal year. The WTC web trouble ticket system starts a workflow during complaint report entry, in which all relevant information is automatically transmitted. The network technician is navigated to the incident location and uses a mobile application to close the workflow after completion on site. This efficient communication simplifies and accelerates troubleshooting. In the field of planning, the SWebAPP “Measurement Tool”, a trench routing module, was used to offer the option of recording data on trench routing online and on site. The data is stored directly in the GIS database for further processing. Furthermore, the first augmented reality-based pilot application was developed for marking of underground lines (flagging) using the iPhone app.