The kick-off meeting for the research project "Reallabor am Netz" - funded by the FFG - took place at the end of March. Within the framework of this project, the partners 4ward Energy Research GmbH, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Energy Services Handels- und Dienstleistungs GesmbH, Kraftwerk Glatzing-Rüstorf eGen and Peter Muckenhuber Consulting are developing approaches for a redesign of electricity grid charges that will meet the future framework conditions of grid operation.
The grid fees to cover the costs of the grid operators are currently distributed to all grid users according to the causation principle. Those grid users who place a greater burden on the grids must also pay for the corresponding costs. The increasing spread of decentralised PV systems and the growing number of electric vehicles lead to a greater load on the grid, which has not existed in this form so far and is currently not taken into account in the calculation of grid charges. A revision of the grid charges is necessary and is already being discussed intensively by various players in the energy industry.
In the research project "Reallabor am Netz", new approaches for grid charges are being developed and tested in a so-called "Regulatory Sandbox". For a Regulatory Sandbox, there are exceptional conditions with regard to the applicable regulations, which make it possible to gather practical experience. For this practical operation, about 100 grid users in the supply area of Kraftwerk Glatzing-Rüstorf eGen will be selected, whose grid use will be billed using the new approaches for grid charges.
An essential part of the project is the participatory involvement of the grid users, which is organised by the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH (Doris Wilhelmer from the Center for Innovation Systems & Policy). Within the framework of the project, it will be investigated to what extent information to grid users and new grid fees will lead to grid-friendly behaviour.
The findings and results of the project can contribute to the redesign of grid charges and their integration into the Austrian electricity market model.