National consortium project led by TU Delft receives huge grant from NWO to build world's largest research digital twins for energy systems

(Press-News.org) A cutting-edge consortium project called Understanding large and cOmplex Power sYstems (UTOPYS) will enable researchers to build the world’s largest research cluster for real-time energy system studies. The project is led by Principal Investigator Prof. Peter Palensky of TU Delft, and is comprised of eight Dutch research organisations, and SURF - the IT cooperative of education and research. It has been awarded a huge grant of 16.5 million euros through the Large-Scale Research Infrastructure (LSRI) programme of the Dutch Research Council (NWO). 

 

Being able to develop this state-of-the-art infrastructure will empower scientists to explore new theories and methods for modelling, control, optimisation, and design of the future complex energy systems and their interactions with society over the next century.

"With this incredible grant, we can work on the safety and resilience of energy systems and make an important contribution to the security of Europe’s future energy networks." - Peter Palensky

A First-of-Its-Kind Infrastructure The new research infrastructure will be the first of its kind worldwide. It will be capable of dynamically representing the complex energy systems, allowing researchers to simulate and study the energy system of the future before building it. 

This unique platform will enable investigation of crucial phenomena such as cyber physical dynamics, hidden instability modes, complex controller interactions, swarm behaviour, and cyber vulnerabilities—all key challenges that future energy scientists must master.

At TU Delft, research on the energy transition is a key strategic priority, exemplified by initiatives such as Delft Energy (DE) and PowerWeb Institute. PowerWeb Institute, which facilities cross-faculty and cross-disciplinary collaboration in energy systems, coordinated the preparation of this proposal. 

The necessity and urgency Energy systems worldwide share a set of challenges. Electrification of transport, heating, and industry lead to unprecedented loading and congestion, meanwhile, distributed renewable generation units such as solar panels and the growing number of digital assets increase complexity and threaten grid stability. At the same time, the need for national autonomy and resilience calls for a fundamental rethinking of how we design and operate our energy networks. 

“The way we plan and operate energy systems is still based on assumptions that are over 100 years old,” says Prof. Palensky. “Back then, large but simple rotating machines generated electricity that was instantly distributed via the grid. Today, these assumptions no longer hold: we now have power-electronic converters, distributed functions, and intelligent digital actors that create complex, fast-changing behaviours. Existing methods can no longer keep up.” 

From cyber security up to sabotage Koen Kok (TU/e): “This new technological impulse is not the only change. We also care for fairness in the system, how will we distribute and share electricity among citizens, for instance. Further, we need to take malicious actors into account, focussing on cyber security up to sabotage and physical attacks. We need a grid that is prepared for the unknown since uncertainty is not only in the weather.”

“The goal is to investigate alternative topologies, controls, market rules, and the impact of new technologies. For this we are setting up the most powerful digital twin for electricity system research world-wide", Kok continues.

"The way we plan and operate energy systems is still based on assumptions that are over 100 years old." - Peter Palensky

World leader in this field The consortium already has experience in creating and operating smaller versions of such digital twins. The new infrastructure, however, will lift these activities to a completely new level: entire countries can be replicated and analysed as well as technologies and systems that do not even exist yet. 

“The Netherlands is already a European leader in this field,” says Palensky. “Over the next decade, UTOPYS will advance that position by driving scientific breakthroughs in the understanding and management of complex energy systems. We are developing novel modelling approaches for complex, multiscale, and stochastic systems—methods also relevant to urban climate, water, and transport infrastructures. 

UTOPYS unites power systems, computer science, mathematics, energy economics, and law in a truly interdisciplinary effort, and we are committed to sharing all results through open-source models and data so both experts and non experts can explore and innovate.” 

A Landmark Achievement UTOPYS was ranked number one among all proposals submitted to the NWO LSRI programme. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to all the individuals and organisations whose dedication and collaboration made this achievement possible. 

Through LSRI, NWO strategically invests in large-scale research facilities across the Netherlands—ensuring that they remain state-of-the-art or beyond, and extending their operational lifetimes to support future scientific breakthroughs. 

Consortium partners TUD: TU Delft, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Faculty of Technology, Policy & Management TU/e: TU Eindhoven, Faculty of Electrical Engineering UT: University of Twente, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science CWI: Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI), the national research institute for mathematics and computer science in the Netherlands UG: Univ. of Groningen, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Engineering and Technology institute Groningen UU: Utrecht University, Faculty of Geosciences, Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development EUR: Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam School of Management and Erasmus School of Law RU: Radboud University, Department of Mathematics  Co-operation partner SURF: the IT cooperative of education and research, Service Delivery Department, Innovation Department 

TU Delft is also a consortium partner in the EBRAINS-Neurotech, EMPower, and De Macroscoop consortium projects. More information about these projects can be found in the full announcement from NWO.

Press officers Dave Boomkens
06 3408 1461
d.j.boomkens@tudelft.nl

Bregt Timmerman
06 3855 4542
b.w.timmerman@tudelft.nl

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