A More Flexible and Cost-Efficient Electricity Network

E.ON Hungária Group has made significant improvements through its complex research and development program, Flex.ON, with new solutions implemented with HUF 2.1 billion to make energy supply more cost-efficient and flexible, the company informed MTI on Tuesday.

The aim of the investment is to enable the group to serve the growing energy needs of its customers and to connect more solar systems to the grid. Under the three-year research and development program, E.ON has installed about 200 devices on its network, including 19 line voltage regulators, 63 smart metering sensors, the battery electricity storage in Aszófő at Lake Balaton, three low- and medium-voltage transformers that can be regulated under load, and 100 residential distributed battery electricity storage systems, the statement said.

The line voltage regulators were installed in 19 districts in Transdanubia and around Budapest. They have been developed to quickly eliminate voltage problems on the low-voltage network following heavy loads or back-generation.

The new smart metering sensors are able to continuously transmit measurement data and instant fault reports, enabling technicians to react and troubleshoot quickly. The 63 experimental smart metering sensors are in operation in Győr, Baracs, Balatonakal, Balatonszepezd and several other locations in Transdanubia.

As part of the Flex.ON program, E.ON has installed a 2 megavolt-ampere (MVA) and 2 megawatt-hour (MWh) containerized battery electricity storage system in Aszófő. The storage facility is designed to significantly reduce the load on the transformer station, especially during the summer peak period. An additional benefit of the energy storage system is its ability to mitigate the intermittent local load fluctuations caused by solar generation and increased electricity use.

As part of the project, E.ON is working with eleven privately owned solar power plants to regulate their production in case of grid congestion. These devices can balance system output on hot summer days, when solar panels produce more energy than customers use. This is not only for the safety of the grid, but also for the benefit of the owners, as E.ON pays a service fee for the flexibility.