the partners

• Denmark
  • University of Denmark, DTU
  • DHI Water & Environment
  • Aalborg University
• Germany
  • ISET
  • University of Hannover
  • University of Kassel
  • University of Magdeburg
  • Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg
  • University of Stuttgart
• Greece
  • University of Patras
  • CRES
  • National Technical University of Athens
• Netherlands
  • Delft University of Technology
  • ECN
• Norway
  • SINTEF, IFE and NTNU - Centre for Renewable Energy (SFFE)
• Spain
  • CENER
  • Instituto de Investigación de Energías Renovables (IIER)
  • Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M)
  • Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
  • Universidad Pública de Navarra
• United Kingdom
  • CREST
  • Durham University
  • Imperial College London
  • Manchester Metropolitan University
  • STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
  • University of Manchester
  • The ICC at the University of Strathclyde
  • University of Surrey
  • Queen Mary

University of Magdeburg

Contact Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg Universitaetsplatz 2 D-39106 Magdeburg Germany phone: +49 391 67 18866 fax: +49 391 67 12408 e-mail: sty@ovgu.de web: www.uni-magdeburg.de

The Otto-von-Guericke-University (OvGU) Magdeburg was founded in 1993. It evolved from the former Otto-von-Guericke- University of Technology, the Teachers Training College and the Medical Academy. Due to this fusion the University has an interesting profile which covers different fields, beginning with electrical engineering, mathematics and computer sciences, through the natural sciences, humanities and social sciences up to medicine and economics. Currently, more than 13,000 students are studying at 9 faculties.

• Faculty of Engineerin
• Faculty for Process and Systems Engineering
• Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology
• Faculty of Computer Science
• Faculty of Mathematics
• Faculty for Natural Science
• Medical Faculty
• Faculty for the Humanities, Social Sciences and Education
• Faculty of Economics and Management

Although the university is very young, its development has reached a very high level. The Otto-von-Guericke-University is initiator and member of ZERE e.V. (Center of Renewable Energies Saxony-Anhalt) which was founded 2006 by the Minister of Trade of Saxony-Anhalt

Research groups involved

Research in the field of wind energy is mainly being conducted by two groups at the OvGU: the Chair for Electric Power Networks and Renewable Energy Sources from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, and in the Department of Psychology, the Research Group “Environmental Psychology”, which belongs to the Faculty for Humanities, Social Sciences and Education.

The first group is headed by Prof. Dr. Zbigniew. A. Styczynski and deals generally with the technical aspects of wind energy. Here the research is focused on the modelling of wind turbines and the dynamic simulation of their influence on the power system operation. The analysis of bottleneck development in the power system due to the intermittent character of wind generation as well as the analysis of the application of the network security management system is the focus. Moreover, the application of virtual reality systems and 3D visualization methods in the field of wind energy is being researched. The research activities of this group are significantly enhanced by the cooperation with the Center of Excellence for Electrical Networks and Renewable Energies of the Fraunhofer IFF in Magdeburg.

The second group is headed by Prof. Dr. Petra Schweizer-Ries. This group investigates and works with people in their (social) environments, investigating their perceptions, feelings and behavioural decisions concerning different socio-technical systems and environmental protection. Man-technology-environment transactions are of interest on various levels: individuals, collectives and those responsible for structures and the conditions of behaviour towards the environment. Here the main focus is the acceptance of wind turbines: – what are the influencing factors and which planning strategies should be used in order to support further wind projects?

Facilities & Advanced Research Tools

Laboratory for wind turbine simulation	Modelling and dynamic simulation of wind turbines and wind farms with PSSTMNETOMAC. Analysis of possibilities to support system operation by wind turbines.
Laboratory for network planning and simulation	Tools for multi-criteria network planning with regard to wind generation using game theoretical approaches.
Laboratory for power quality	Joint lab with Fraunhofer IFF. Measurement and evaluation systems for power quality analysis with special consideration of non-linearities in the grid.
Laboratory for protection systems	Tools for analysis and configuration of protection units.
Laboratory for wide area monitoring	Analysis of application possibilities of the synchronized phasor measurements PMU) for wide area monitoring systems.
Laboratory for 3D visualization	Joint lab with Fraunhofer IFF. Platform for 3D visualization of system elements and creation of virtual reality based applications.
Public acceptance analysis questionnaire	Standardised measurement instrument for measuring public acceptance.
Laboratory for environmental simulation	Multimedia-system for environmental visualization to analyse perceptual preferences.

R&D Strategy

	TERM
	short	medium	long
Analysis of the impact of network security management systems NSM on the network operation with a high penetration of DGs, especially wind generation.
Development of an approach for reduced representation of wind farms in the dynamic simulations of the power system.
Dimensioning a hybrid system with energy storage to balance the power from the large-scale wind farms.
Analysis of the impact of wind farms on the grid operation and support of the system services.
Development and analysis of virtual power plant systems.
Development of an application for 3D visualisation of wind farms and its integration into the wind farm calculation tool.
Development and actualisation of an e-learning platform for supporting wind energy lectures.
Basic research of the social aspects of wind energy with the objective of developing a model for explaining and predicting acceptance of wind energy.
Development of a holistic strategy and outlining of recommendations concerning further planning and implementation strategies.

Education and training activities

The Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at OvGU offers a special block of lectures about wind energy for its students. These lectures include a broad introduction to the issue. Moreover, a series of practical exercises supplements the aforementioned lectures. The wind energy education is supported by the e-learning based platforms and 3D visualization tools. Since 2008 a master course of study in renewable energies will be proposed for the students.

Environmental Psychology is another part of the academic training offered in Magdeburg. The teaching contents span from basic Environmental Psychology topics up to Social, Differential, Educational and Organisational Psychological issues. Moreover, in integrated seminars psychology and engineering students are taught together with a focus on human-technology- environment interaction in an interdisciplinary way. Regular visits to a local wind turbine producer are also part of the seminars.