TrafoKommunE – Transformation process for the municipal energy transition – sector coupled infrastructure and strategies to integrate local actors

The cross-sectoral implementation of the energy transition is a major challenge. Municipal suppliers with the involvement of customers as well as local politics and market participants play a central role in this process. The aim of the TrafoKommunE project is, on the one hand, to provide recommendations for action for the cost-effective and timely realisable design of the energy system at the municipal level. On the other hand, possibilities to involve the actors (especially municipal utilities) in shaping the energy transition will be identified. The cross-sectoral approach of this project is intended to show a way in which municipal energy suppliers can guarantee their supply responsibilities for electricity, heat and gas, as well as mobility and digitalisation at reasonable costs. The simultaneous social science investigations take into account the acceptance of citizens and market partners.

With this approach, synergy opportunities and limits of the existing infrastructure and the infrastructure measures necessary for a secure supply until 2050 will be identified and monetarily evaluated. A particular focus of the project is the analysis of the city of Karlsruhe. The tasks of the IIP include, inter alia, the analysis of the current building stock (including its age), appliance equipment, heating types and retrofitting. On this basis, current and future electricity and heating demands for Karlsruhe are estimated. Furthermore, the scenarios developed in the project are quantitatively evaluated with the help of the RE³ASON (Renewable Energies and Energy Efficiency Analysis and System OptimizatioN) model developed at the IIP for the analysis and optimisation of municipal energy systems.