Amprion receives RGI Grid Award for world-beating technology

Amprion has been honoured with the prestigious RGI Grid Award from the Renewables Grid Initiative in the “Technological Innovation & System Integration” category – for developing and installing the world’s first STATCOM system with a reactive power rating of 300 Mvar and grid forming. The technology reveals significant progress in the power industry’s endeavours to boost grid stability and integrate renewables.

In order to ensure grid stability even with a high feed-in of renewables, the electricity grid needs to be equipped with additional systems and devices.

The STATCOM (static synchronous compensator) that Amprion commissioned in 2023 in the Opladen district of Leverkusen, north of Cologne, not only regulates the voltage level in the grid but also makes an important contribution to grid stability. This innovative control process digitally imitates the behaviour of generators in conventional power plants without the need for additional hardware. This enables the system to adjust feed-in in real time and stabilise the grid frequency and voltage in the process. This behaviour is known as “grid forming”. The technology has been developed in close collaboration with Hitachi Energy.

The jury has recognised the groundbreaking instrumentality of this technology with respect to achieving a sustainable and stable power grid. Its members have highlighted its role in significantly boosting grid stability and the reliability of a renewable energy system with low mechanical inertia. They see it as a valuable basis for future research and projects in this field and foresee far-reaching potential for application of the technology.

“We are delighted to receive this award from the jury”, says Gerald Kaendler, Head of Asset Management at Amprion. “The STATCOM system in Opladen shows that grid forming on a large scale really does work. This technology is crucial to the integration of renewables in the power system and, in addition to stabilising voltage levels, also provides the inertia reserve essential for ensuring grid stability in continental Europe, and particularly in Germany. It’s enabling us to set new benchmarks for the stability and flexibility of our electricity grids and master the challenges of the energy transition”, Kaendler enthuses.

The STATCOM system is part of Amprion’s innovation strategy to pave the way for a climate-neutral energy system. This also includes closely collaborating with research institutions and industry partners to realise the latest technologies and promote knowledge transfer.´

The award was presented at the 5th PCI Energy Days, which were hosted by the European Commission on 4–5 November 2024. The PCI Energy Days are a prestigious annual event that recognises outstanding achievements in the field of energy technology.