In addition to the strong expansion of renewable energies, emission-neutral heat generators and the charging infrastructure for electromobility, the success of the energy transition in Germany will also depend on the expansion of the electricity grids in order to integrate the new types of generators and loads into them.

To this end, ZVEI e. V., as the manufacturers' association of the electrical and digital industry, and BDEW e. V., as the interest group of the German electricity and energy industry, have joined forces and commissioned a study to quantify the technology requirements in German distribution grids from the Institute of Power Systems Engineering at the University of Wuppertal under the direction of Professor Markus Zdrallek. The aim was to determine the number of operating resources required nationwide, which on the one hand need to be newly installed due to grid expansion and on the other hand need to be replaced due to the progressive ageing of existing operating resources.

The results show, among other things, a need for more than half a million kilometres of low-voltage cables and around half a million transformers for the conversion from medium to low voltage. A similar picture emerges for transformers for the conversion from high to medium voltage: more than five thousand, almost 70 per cent of the existing stock, need to be newly installed, upgraded or replaced.

"Thanks to the close integration of our department's scientific research focus with the challenges faced by grid operators, we were able to successfully complete the task of analysing the operating equipment," says project manager Dr Kevin Kotthaus, explaining the contribution from the scientific community. In particular, the NRW Competence Centre for Condition Assessment of Electrical Equipment plays a decisive role in this. "We use our expertise to develop solutions to the challenges of the energy transition and discuss their feasibility in close dialogue with practitioners," says Kotthaus.

The documentation, including future studies and research work, takes the form of a knowledge database in which, for example, important knowledge about the susceptibility of equipment to faults is collected and made available to distribution grid operators.