As part of the course “Elektrische Energiesysteme 2”, an interactive course unit was held in the physics lecture room P1 on 2023/05/17. Students from several courses of our Institute were able to participate in exciting experiments in the field of thermodynamics. For example, the boiling and subsequent cooling (temperature curve comparable to the voltage at a capacitor) of water was analysed, the functioning of a Stirling engine was explained and the ignition of methane foam was demonstrated.
We would like to express our special thanks to the Institute for Experimental Physics, especially to Dr. Roland Lammegger and Prof. Martin Schultze for carrying out and supervising the experiments.

In the course of a scientific study, the electric field of a 220 kV overhead line was analysed using the finite element method (FEM). The aim of the study was to compare the field characteristics between two different tower configurations that differ in terms of geometry, conductor cables, phase arrangements, insulators and armatures. With the towers modelled in detail in CAD in three dimensions, an electrostatic model was created in the FEM programme Ansys Maxwell 3D. Of particular interest was the field curve (maximum value in the time domain) in the area of the insulators, i.e. between the conductor cables and the arms. It is noteworthy that the choice of phase arrangement and the position on the tower had hardly any effect on the magnitudes of the field curves in this area.

The largest solar storm in recent years hit Austria on April 23-24. Even polar lights were visible in Austria. Additionally, the highest ever recorded GICs were measured in the transmission grid of Austrian Power Grid AG. Peaks of up to 20 A DC were detected with our neutral point measurement system. The picture shows the magnetic field measurements at Conrad Observatory by GeoSphere Austria and one of the 9 neutral point measurements during the first phase of the storm.

Also this year, a delegation of TU Graz from the institutes IEAN, IHS and IEE travelled to Glasgow for a 3-day workshop to strengthen the cooperation with the University of Strathclyde. The topics covered included integrating powerful offshore wind power plants, energy distribution via MVDC cables, and local use via energy communities. A technical highlight was the visit to the National HVDC Centre, which has multi-terminal replicas of the control and protection systems of HVDC projects in Scotland. Thank you again for the hospitality and we are looking forward to the next workshop in Graz.

Shortly before the Easter vacations, Prof. Schürhuber visited the AHS HIB Liebenau in Graz. He presented a lecture on the topic of "Power grids and energy supply". In view of the climate crisis, the current state of energy supply was presented and approaches for future developments were discussed. Subsequently, educational paths from the HIB via the TU into the professional world of technology were shown and questions about studies and careers were discussed in plenary.

Maybe you have heard it in the media, or if you were in northern Germany and further north even seen it: In the night of March 24, a solarstorm hit the Earth. In addition to northern lights, solar storms also cause direct currents in power grids, which can lead to significant disruptions. The Institute of Electrical Power Systems measures these currents in the transmission grid of APG, analyzes the data and calculates possible effects. The picture shows one of the nine installed current measurements as well as the geomagnetic field measurements of GeoSphere Austria. The impact of the storm on the earth can be clearly seen in the measurements, but the induced currents remained at a harmless level for the grid. More info about solar storms and their effects can be found at
www.iean.tugraz.at
 

On September 10, 2022, real island tests took place in Upper Austria with the participation of Netz Oberösterreich and EnergieAG, in which the start-up process of a combined cycle power plant with a capacity of 400 MW was successfully tested with the help of hydropower plants with a total capacity of 100 MW.

Two hydropower plants, each with two generators and two pumping units of a pumped storage power plant, were used in the entire start-up process, which were interconnected by a 100 km long 110 kV single circuit system. Subsequently, the Institute of Electrical Power Systems created a simulation model and modeled and parameterized the electrical components based on the measurement results.

The simulation results, such as the validation of the simulation model or even the minimum required number of rotating masses for a successful start-up process, were prepared and submitted in a paper for CIRED 2023 in Rome.

From 12-13.1.2023 we welcomed Mr. Adam Dyśko, Senior Lecturer at University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. The researcher, who comes from Poland, works mainly in the field of protection of electric power systems. During the laboratory tour at the Institute of Electrical Power Systems and the guest lecture, many interesting overlapping topics with our research groups emerged. In particular, the increased use of converters and the massive growth in distributed generation raise questions about the effectiveness of current protection methods. Many thanks for the detailed guest lecture and the subsequent discussion.

On 26 October 2022, the Dr. Karl-Heinz Weck Prize was awarded for the first time by the FGH (Research Association for Electrical Systems and Power Economics) to Wendelin Angermann in the historic transformer house in Mannheim. He was able to convince the jury with his Bachelor's thesis "Reactive Power Supply of Electric Power Plants" and the associated practical tests. In addition to the extensive calculations, the jury particularly emphasised the verification of the results by carrying out experiments in an operating power plant.

An exciting research colloquium where highly topical issues are discussed and an informal, inspiring and productive exchange of knowledge, experience and ideas takes place.

Many thanks to all participants with their contributed topics:

• Georg Erdmann (Berlin) - Energy prices and state intervention
• Albert Moser (Aachen) – Integrated operational simulation of electricity and gas transport infrastructures
• Christian Rehtanz (Dortmund) – Flexibility in holonic structures
• Robert Schürhuber (Graz) – Aspects of Stability of Converter-Coupled Plants on the Grid
• Lothar Fickert (Graz) – How can fault protection work with inverters?
• Peter Schegner (Dresden) – Digitalisation in the distribution grids
• Harald Weber (Rostock) – Ways to a secure and stable fully regenerative electric energy supply
• Lutz Hofmann (Hannover) – Aggregation of decentralised active and reactive power flexibilities for a flexibility market-based DSO-TSO cooperation
• Christian Becker (Hamburg) – Dynamic Modelling and Optimal Operation of Smart Integrated Energy Systems

As the Institute for Electrical Power Systems, we were also able to make a contribution to the Project Week Energy Communities in the form of presentations on the topics of future electrical grids, power quality and short-circuit calculation. In the course of the project week, students of the HTL-BULME Graz-Gösting and students of the FH Joanneum Kapfenberg had the opportunity to work on practical projects, e.g. on the integration of photovoltaic systems in different regions, based on interdisciplinary issues. A big thank you to all the organisers, especially Willi Weigend from the BULME.
Daniel Herbst

This year the IEEE Power & Energy Student Summit and Power Electronics Student Summit 2022 (PESS & PELLS 2022) was again held in Kassel, Germany. Our institute was strongly represented at this great conference with 4 participants, Darko Brankovic, Philipp Schachinger, Alexander Fröhlich and Manuel Galler.

Congratulations to our university assistant Manuel Galler for receiving the Best Presentation Award, sponsored by CIGRE NGN Germany.

Special thanks to Fraunhofer IEE, Universität Kassel and Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg for this great conference!

On October 19 and 20, the OVE Energy Technology Conference took place at the Seifenfabrik in Graz. In addition to interesting discussions about the future of the energy transition and e-mobility, the OVE Energy Technology Award was again presented. We are very pleased that our former master student and current PhD student Carina Lehmal was able to dust off the first place in the category master theses at TUs and FHs.
With her research on converter stability during grid connection, she was able to convince the expert jury.

The OVE Energy Technology Conference is the industry meeting of the year and was held this year as a home game for us directly in Graz, whereupon we participated in this event of the OVE Austrian Association for Electrical Engineering.

The focus of this year's conference was on energy storage technologies, infrastructure for e-mobility and innovative electricity-based processes for industry and commerce.
Due to the thematic coverage of our institute's focal points, it was a matter of course that the institute's director, Prof. Robert Schürhuber, provided an instructive contribution to the conference, including a small live experiment supported by his IEAN assistants.

Follow us on: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6990642279308779520

To discuss the future orientation of the Institute as well as internal processes and procedures, the entire staff went on a retreat on 5 October 2022. In keeping with our profession, electrical power engineering, our workshop took place at the foot of the Kölnbreinsperre in the Berghotel Malta/Carinthia. In autumnal sunshine, a wide variety of questions and opinions were discussed.

The second day brought a marathon of 4 guided tours and visits to the Malta-Reißeck power plant group of Verbund: First thing in the morning we started with a tour over and through the dam wall of the Kölnbreinsperre, which is the highest dam in Austria with a height of 200 metres. Afterwards, the recently modernised Malta Oberstufe power station at 1655 m above sea level was visited with its two reversible vertical Francis pump turbines (5 - 80 MW each) together with the associated converters. Back in the valley, the tour continued past the impressive penstocks to the Malta main stage power station with a total congestion power of 730 MW distributed over four machine sets. From there we continued to the impressive Reißeck II power station, which with a capacity of 430 MW is the second largest pumped storage power station in the Malta-Reißeck power station group and was built completely underground in the mountain due to its cavern design. Many thanks at this point to our colleagues from Verbund for the great insights and the highly interesting guided tours.

At the end of the three-day team-building excursion, the last energies of the participants were activated to undertake a hike to the Umbal Falls in the Virgen Valley in East Tyrol.

Daniel Herbst

With his stage performance "Netzfehler - wir müssen draußen bleiben" energy technology researcher Manuel Galller from Graz University of Technology won the Science Slam 2022 at the Orpheum in Graz.

Dear Manuell, our institute is proud to have you as a staff member with us.

You can find a summary of the Science Slam: here

The Kaprun Oberstufe hydropower plant is part of the Kaprun power plant group. This group consists of several storage and pumped storage power plants and is located in the Glockner Group in Austria. In the Kaprun Oberstufe power plant, two full converter machine sets with 85 MVA each are currently being commissioned in the course of a power plant revitalisation. Thanks to the speed variability, active power points can now be flexibly approached at optimal efficiency levels in generator and pump operation. Thanks to the high active power flexibility, Kaprun Oberstufe makes an important contribution to achieving the energy transition and contributes to the stability of the Austrian transmission grid. The Institute of Electrical Power Systems TU Graz supported the operator of the power plant, Verbund Hydro Power GmbH, in carrying out a measurement to investigate the operating behaviour and the grid feedback effects. In the process, 34 measured variables were recorded and evaluated in a time-synchronised manner. Thanks to our colleagues at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria for their support with measuring equipment.

You can find further information at: ww.iean.tugraz.at.
Report: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6939968207814348800

At the invitation of Austrian Standards International (ASI), the Austrian Electrotechnical Association (OVE), the European Commission, the Federal Ministry for Digitalisation and Economic Affairs (BMDW) as well as the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKO), an information event on the new EU standardisation strategy (ENS) was held at ASI in Vienna on 9 June 2022. Numerous experts from the branch illustrated the importance of standardisation and the relationship with new challenges. Under the motto "green, digital, future-oriented", various aspects of different stakeholders were highlighted and discussed. Representatives of the EU Commission, the Austrian economy, education and training institutions, standardisation organisations and the BMDW presented their respective views on the topics to provide a basis for interesting discussions. Daniel Herbst participated on behalf of IEAN with a presentation on "Young Professionals and the Future of Standardisation".

Further information and pictures can be found at: austrian-standards.at/.../EU-Standardisierungs-Strategie

Copyright picture: Credit: Austrian Standards, Fotograf Lukas Ackermann
Text: Daniel Herbst

From 21.06. to 22.06.2022, a total of around 470 experts in protection and control technology from almost 10 nations met at the VDE ETG/FNN Tutorial in Berlin/Germany. In total, the audience was provided with technical contributions from practice-oriented research and industry in the form of almost 40 oral presentations and 32 posters. The topics discussed included

• the digital substation (IEC 61850),
• security aspects related to communication (cyber security),
• the context of the "Energiewende" (including protection concepts and secure grid operation)
• but also new ideas for new challenges.

Parallel to the presentations and workshops, the event was rounded off by an exhibition with 29 industry-specific manufacturers. IEAN was represented with an oral speech (Prof. Schürhuber), two posters (DI Galler, DI Herbst) and a total of 4 people on site.

DI Galler received first place in the Best Academic Poster Award for his contribution entitled " Distanzschutzverhalten auf den Fehlerstrombeitrag einer Erzeugungsanlage mit Vollumrichter “. Congratulations from the entire IEAN team!

Daniel Herbst

On 7 June 2022, the BIG Bundesimmobiliengesellschaft m.b.H. invited participants to an information event on BIG and UNIVERSITIES 2022. Wolfgang Marth (BIG Graz) organised 10 high-level speakers from science and industry who gave keynote speeches on the four key topics of

• Photovoltaics,
• OVE E 8101,
• EMC and
• electric vehicle charging stations

which laid the foundation for further discussions and technical exchanges. With the three pillars of the event "Sustainability - Electrical Engineering - Safety", the organiser has already summarised the burning issues of the industry in the subtitle. After a break of several years, a total of around 100 participants (all of them planners, partners from industry and research or employees of the Styrian universities or BIG) exchanged their views on the above-mentioned issues during the one-day event. Rector Harald Kainz also highlighted the importance of such an interaction between all stakeholders in the course of his opening speech. The IEAN was able to support the information event with presentations by K. Friedl, D. Brankovic, M. Fürnschuß, E. Schmautzer and D. Herbst.

Daniel Herbst

Students and institute members of IEAN had the opportunity to visit different mast construction sites of the Salzburg line in consultation with APG. APG took the time for one day to answer questions of all excursion participants and to present masts in different phases of completion.
Many thanks for this!
Finally, the absolute highlight of the day was the observation of the rope pull between two pylons. It was an absolute experience to witness line construction live and to be able to perceive the dimensions as well as the challenges of this demanding expansion project in Austria.

OMICRON serves the electrical power industry with innovative products and services for testing, diagnostics and monitoring of assets worldwide. We help to make the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity safe and reliable.

complete program:

In high voltage grids with a high percentage of cables, voltage limits can be exceeded due to the increased reactive power demand. A mitigation method can be shunt reactors, which are located on the tertiary side of coupling transformers or directly on the high voltage substations. For proper operation, not only the static compliance but also the transient voltages must be below the maximum limits of the equipment. With the investigation of switching operations for different compensation variants in EMTP, IEAN supported the grid operators in the planning of a substation with gas insulated switchgears. The variants were analyzed for grid restoration scenarios, grid resonances and the use of optimized RC snubbers in the medium voltage.

The head of the institute, Prof. Schürhuber, was especially interested in having another Christmas party in presence in 2021. The COVID regulations allowed this, so, no sooner said than done, we met on 2021.12.21 at the Ristorante/Focacceria San Pietro.
In a fine little round we were able to discover the full culinary range of this restaurant. Some of us were even tempted to try the house specialty, focaccia. At the beginning quite skeptically, however, finally all those colleagues who dared to do so were delighted by the specialty. Following an old tradition, our external lecturers were of course also invited to the IEAN Christmas party and, like all attendees, they visibly enjoyed the party.

From 6 to 7 October, the OVE Energy Technology Conference 2021 took place this year as a hybrid event with about 200 participants at the voestalpine Stahlwelt in Linz. Prof. Schürhuber talked about the technical challenges of integration of renewable energy sources in his presentation on "Grids and Power Electronics". Furthermore, the evening event was used to award prizes for graduation theses, and the IEAN would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Philipp Hackl as one of the winners of the Prof. Werner Rieder-Preis.

...the Christmas party is a fixed point on the calendar of the Institute of Electrical Power Systems (IEAN). Following this year's motto that "special times require special measures", we decided to hold our pre-Christmas get-together in 2020 virtually. Prof. Schürhuber summarised the smaller and larger highlights of the institute's year in his speech, the entire IEAN choir sang their way into the Advent season together, a virtual room escape game challenged the brain cells and one or two recited poems rounded off the event. Nonetheless, we are all already looking forward to when the social distance finally can be reduced to a good level and we can sit together again in the usual way.

The IEAN wishes all its friends and their loved ones a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2021!

In close cooperation with the IHS of Graz University of Technology, the IEAN carried out the final earthing measurement of the new Murkraftwerk Graz Puntigam. The aim of the measurement was to check the earthing, equipotential bonding and lightning protection system of the power plant, which is already in full operation.

IEAN and IHS accompanied the project Murkraftwerk Graz Puntigam from the very beginning with regard to the earthing, equipotential bonding and lightning protection system. In cooperation with the planners, a special earthing and lightning protection concept was developed for this power plant, which ensures the protection of persons, animals and property.

In close cooperation with IHS, IEAN carried out the final measurement of the earthing system of the new substation Villach Süd. The 220/110 kV Villach South substation is designed as an outdoor switchgear, serves as a grid support and is intended to contribute to the continued reliable supply of electricity in the Villach area. IEAN and IHS were involved in the project from the very beginning and contributed important aspects regarding the earthing and equipotential bonding and lightning protection system to the conceptual design of the substation. The aim of this measurement was to check the effectiveness of the earthing, equipotential bonding and lightning protection system to ensure the protection of persons, animals and property. Furthermore, the measurement results serve to verify the calculations of the earthing, equipotential bonding and lightning protection system of the Villach Süd substation carried out at IEAN.

The increasing number of scientific journals, technical literature and theses in the inventory of the Institute of Electrical Power Systems required a new structuring of the institute library. The outdated archiving system was replaced by the centrally administered library system of Graz University of Technology. Thus, in addition to books, all diploma and master theses, dissertations and habilitations have been added to the inventory system of the library of Graz University of Technology. During the following reorganization of the institute library, some treasures were rediscovered.

The grid restoration strategy after large-scale blackouts in Austria focuses on hydro power plants in Salzburg and Carinthia. The management of the grid restoration is not only trained on the simulator, but also regularly tested on the real grid through black start and island grid tests. On September 18, 2020, such tests were carried out by KELAG and Kärnten Netz with the Fragant power plant group. The Institute for Electrical Power Systems (IEAN) accompanied these tests as a scientific partner, carried out part of the measurements and took over the evaluation of the measurement data.

Changes in the Earth's magnetic field can cause unwanted low-frequency currents in our electrical transmission grid. These currents flow through grounded transformer star points. In a joint research project with the Austrian transmission grid operator APG and Siemens, IEAN measures these low-frequency currents, also known as geomagnetically induced currents (GIC).

In order to be able to measure these currents also in case of future geomagnetic disturbances (GMD), the hardware of some measuring devices was updated on September 23rd and 24th, 2020. IEAN would like to thank the APG staff who supported us with the maintenance.

In the past few days, despite the currently difficult circumstances, five students have successfully completed their Bachelor's or Master's thesis at IEAN.

Congratulations to Benjamin Jauk, Abedin Bytqi, Matthias Rüschitz and Konstantin Tschabuschnig for successfully defending their master thesis. Congratulations also to Peter Wohlfart on the successful completed his Bachelor thesis.

The IEAN wishes you success in your future professional life or in your further studies. You are cordially invited to visit the IEAN again in the future - we always look forward to see you again!

Despite the current circumstances, it is possible to start your Bachelor's or Master's thesis at the IEAN. You can find our currently advertised work on the website. If there is nothing suitable, please contact us by phone or e-mail.

In the course of filming a documentary on the topic of geomagnetically induced currents in Austria, the IEAN was invited to the Conrad Observatory. Prof. Renner presented our simulation tool in the tunnel and explained the activities of IEAN in this area and the importance of the entire research area.

In January 2020, IEAN installed another measuring device for recording low-frequency neutral point currents in the Austrian transmission grid. In a joint research project with APG and Siemens, the influence of low-frequency neutral point currents on power transformers and the transmission grid is being investigated. These currents are influenced, for example, by changing solar activity and are therefore also called geomagnetically induced currents (GIC). Thanks to APG and Siemens for their support!

In the pre-Christmas season 2019, the Institute of Electrical Power Systems measured the behavior of the earthing system at a 380 kV substation, located directly next to an electrified railway. The reason for this is the extension of the railway and the construction of a pedestrian crossing. The measurement results serve as a basis for the calculations, on which results the earthing systems of the future installations will be dimensioned in such a way that, after integration into the existing earthing system, the protection of persons and property can be guaranteed both in normal operation and in the event of a fault.

On 13th / 14th November, the second technical colloquium of energy technology took place at the Institute for Electrical Power Systems at the TU Graz.

Prof. Bernd Oswald from Hannover, Prof. Peter Schegner from Dresden, em. Prof. Lothar Fickert from Graz and Prof. Lutz Hofmann from Hannnover, discussed with Prof. Robert Schürhuber and Prof. Herwig Renner from the IEAN current developments in the field of energy technology and exchanged views on research results. Furthermore, the Grazer culture and gastronomy could impress the guests.

At the beginning of the week, on 30.09.2019, IEAN visited the Siemens transformer plant in Linz. In addition to a project meeting, the students and employees of the IEAN had the opportunity to visit the plant in Linz. At the Linz location, each transformer is developed and produced individually for the special applications of the customers. From core layering to acceptance testing, all process steps are carried out at the site in Linz.

The IEAN met on the 23.09.2019 in the Wachau in order to set the course for a successful future of the institute. Under the excellent leadership of Bernhard Ibertsberger, a lively discussion about the challenges and goals of the institute developed in the morning, which was dealt with in detail after lunch in small groups.

Through the open and eye-level discussion, the different interests of the institute members could be cast into a common vision for the development of the institute. The labor-intensive day ended with the one and other wine at a cozy sitting together in a local Heurigen.

The second day was completely devoted to energy engineering with the visits of the nuclear power plant Zwentendorf and the substation Dürnrohr. The Zwentendorf NPP is worldwide unique, because it has never been in service. Therefore, areas of the reactor can be inspected which are normally not accessible due to radiation exposure even after shutdown. Thus, a direct view into the pressure vessel of the boiling water reactor and the committing of the containment is possible.

The second day was completely devoted to energy engineering with the visits of the nuclear power plant Zwentendorf and the substation Dürnrohr. The Zwentendorf NPP is worldwide unique, because it has never been in service. Therefore, areas of the reactor can be inspected which are normally not accessible due to radiation exposure even after shutdown. Thus, a direct view into the pressure vessel of the boiling water reactor and the committing of the containment is possible.

After extensive restoration work, a model of a Francis turbine can now be seen in front of the rooms of the Institute of Electrical Power Systems.

Many thanks to ANDRITZ HYDRO GmbH for providing the turbine model and many thanks to the IHS mechanical workshop (Anton Schriebl and Christoph Probst) for built-up the metal substructure.

Prof. Schürhuber, DI D.Herbst, DI M.Fürnschuß

In the period from 20 August to 30 September 2019, the Institute of Electrical Power Systems was represented by four academics at Tongji University in Shanghai. During the first week, Prof. Dr. Schürhuber, the institute's head, held a special lecture on " From Energy Turnaround to Challenges for High Penetration of Renewable Energy ". Further lectures were given by Em. Prof. Dr. L. Fickert and Dr. Ziqian. Furthermore, Mr. Alexander Atzmueller supported the Institute for Rail Transit in the sense of deepening the scientific cooperation by evaluating technical literature regarding the reliability of the power supply in the metro area.

Zigian Zhang

On 21.06.2019 we received a delegation of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology at our institute. The high-ranking delegation of representatives of the government and the automotive industry visited the laboratory facilities of our Institute of Electrical Power Systems, the laboratory of the Electrical Drives and Machines Institute as well as the Nikola Tesla Laboratory of the Institute of High Voltage Engineering and System Performance. The trip of our Chinese partners focused on the latest scientific findings in the field of electric drives, alternative fuels and e-mobility. Our institute presented in the course of its projects around electrical safety as well as protection against electric shock at DC charging stations for electric vehicles.

Ziqian Zhang and Daniel Herbst

With the signing of the cooperation agreement on 24.06.2019 a new era of cooperation between the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of Shanghai Dianji University and the Institute of Electrical Power Systems of Graz University of Technology has started. The two institutions, represented by Vice Rectors H.Bischof and D. Chen, our dean W.Bösch and professors R. Schürhuber and G. Chen, jointly unveiled a plaque in front of our institute expressing the university exchange. In addition to interesting discussions between the delegation participants and the representatives of Graz University of Technology, various laboratory facilities were also visited. We are already looking forward to a long-term partnership with our Chinese colleagues, for example in projects in the institute's own Power Hardware-in-the-Loop laboratory in the field of renewable energies.

Ziqian Zhang and Daniel Herbst

On 27.05.2019 we had again the opportunity to carry out an excursion to the thermal power plant Mellach of the Austrian Thermal Power Association as part of the lecture Electrical Energy Systems 2.

During this excursion, we were able to visit the coal-fired power station, the gas and steam power plant, the control room and the switchgear and receive detailed explanations on function and operation. We also got an interesting insight into the current driving style of thermal systems, which are strongly influenced by redispatch.

In sum, this excursion was an ideal complement to the lecture, in which the theory of thermal power plants was discussed in advance.

Under the title "Future Challenges for Electrical Power Systems", Prof. Schuerhuber's inaugural lecture was able to strike a balance between previous research work, the challenges in energy technology and the future research contributions of the Institute of Electrical Power Systems.

As a driving force for the changes in the energy sector, Prof. Robert Schuerhuber cites our rising consumption and mainly carbon-based production of energy. Due to the previous handling of raw materials, humans action influences the earth ecosystem more and more negatively. In order to counteract this negative trend, the electrical energy supply plays a key role. Due to the versatile usability, for example, in the area of mobility, air conditioning and heat engineering, resources can be used more effectively. The Institute of Electrical Power Systems do research for example in the field of sector coupling and in the planning and operation of large networks.

After the inaugural lecture, numerous guests from industry, families and universities discussed in a pleasant atmosphere in the foyer of the Energy Center Graz.

The Institute

In October 2017, Prof. Robert Schuerhuber took over the Institute of Electrical Systems from Prof. Lothar Fickert. In order to highlight the current and future research activities in the field of energy networks, the institute bears the name "Institute of Electrical Power Systems". The three core competences of the institute lie in the areas of

• calculation and planning of energy systems and of the grid connection for generating plants,
• analysis of quality of supply and supply reliablility,
• Assessment of earthing systems and questions regarding personal safety.

Under the motto Team Building, the winter sports enthusiasts of the IEAN spent a day of skiing in Schladming. With the view of a lot of sunshine and 20 cm of fresh snow on the slope, on March 12th, they started in the best of moods towards Planai and Hochwurzen.

On the last downhill, the employees competed in a downhill race.

Around 4 pm, the all-round successful skiing day ended with the last swing - the “Einkehrschwung” - at the valley station in Schladming. With a good day of skiing in the thighs and uninjured, all employees started their way back home to Graz at 5:30 pm.

The last stop of the field trip was to the district heating plant of Stadtwerke Klagenfurt, the central hub of the Klagenfurt district heating network and the location of the energy control center of Stadtwerke Klagenfurt. Until the turn of the millennium, a coal-fired combined heat and power plant (CHP) was operated at the site. After decommission of the CHP plant, modern gas boilers were put into operation to ensure the supply of the city with district heating. During the dismantling of the old steam power plant, the 70-year-old brick-built boiler and a partially dismantled turbine-generator were obtained.