After a major power outage, the grid needs to be restored gradually and precisely. A new research project coordinated by Salzburg Research is investigating how satellite communications can efficiently support this process, especially in combination with renewable energies.

Restoring the power grid after a blackout is technically challenging and must be coordinated across many power plants. The growing number of photovoltaic, wind, and small hydroelectric power plants makes the grid more complex, but they are also increasingly “black startable.” This means that they can be restarted independently of the grid. This potential of distributed renewable energy offers new opportunities for faster restoration of power.

Stable communication between the distributed generation units is a prerequisite for the restart and successful interconnection to a functioning overall grid. Traditional communication systems for coordinating the restart could be complemented by satellite communication: Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites should provide stable communication for coordinating distributed energy resources. Thanks to their independence from terrestrial infrastructure and their stable and fast data connection, LEO satellites offer a clear advantage — especially in crisis situations where conventional communication systems can fail.

The project develops a simulation model that couples power and telecommunications systems. The goal is to test new communication-based black start procedures. First tests show LEO satellites provide stable communications with low packet loss and latency of less than 50 milliseconds.

The “STARS” project is funded by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) for one year. The project partners are the University of Passau and the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT).