Salzburg is one of the pioneers in Europe in developing smart energy networks. This is why it was chosen by the Austrian Climate and Energy Fund to be the first Smart Grids Model Region in Austria. Smart Grids Model Region Salzburg is supported by an interdisciplinary team from the energy sector (Salzburg AG, Salzburg Netz GmbH), a property developer (Salzburg Wohnbau), a technology vendor (Siemens), consulting services (Fichtner) and renowned research institutions (Austrian Institute of Technology, Vienna University of Technology, CURE). The goal is to create a holistic smart grid system called Smart Infrastructure Salzburg.
Smart Infrastructure Salzburg is an intelligent energy system that creates a regionally differentiated balance between production and consumption, leading to the use of a high percentage of volatile renewable energies while preventing network congestion. Making this possible requires intelligent voltage control, as well as a more flexible and energy-efficient consumption structure on the part of companies, buildings, electric vehicles and residential customers. Only as a last resort is the active power of renewable energy generators limited. In implementing these applications, synergies are used across the whole network to reduce costs. The coupling of different energy networks creates more opportunities to balance generation and consumption.
