Mr Koschnick, what is the DC Industry project?
Koschnick: The DC Industry research project is funded as part of the 6th Energy Research Program of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. In the project, 21 companies from industry, four research institutes and the ZVEI are working together to implement the energy transition in industrial production. In other words, we want to bring more energy efficiency and energy flexibility to industrial production. The aim is the demand-oriented distribution of energy within production facilities - with maximum energy reuse and minimized conversion losses. Energy optimization should be possible beyond the isolated consideration of individual devices.

What are the advantages of a direct current grid?
Koschnick: The advantages of a production facility supplied via a direct current grid are obvious: it does not mind a changing grid quality and can react flexibly to fluctuations in the energy supply. The energy grid becomes more stable overall. The aim of this project is to develop and test a direct current concept for the industrial plant and to initiate the necessary standardization.

Why are today's grids inadequate?
Koschnick: This is about a paradigm shift from static grids to digital smart grids. It is important to understand that the DC industry is not about large distribution networks, but about networks within production environments - in other words, networks within plants and their immediate surroundings. For these local grids, the use of direct current enables improvements in energy efficiency and robustness with less installation effort. It is also easier to integrate renewable energy sources and storage systems into a DC grid.

What exactly should the DC grid look like?
Koschnick: As things stand today, production facilities that have a local AC grid are connected to the high-voltage distribution grid with the help of a medium-voltage transformer. One of the aims of DC-Industry is to create a direct current grid for industrial production facilities that is easier to handle and more energy-efficient than the alternating current grid, which also includes all consumers and enables cost savings by reducing the number of components. This is made possible by the fact that the individual rectification processes on the individual machines are eliminated in a DC grid. This avoids energy losses and at the same time facilitates the exchange of energy between active devices in the grid. At the same time, a significant increase in the power and packing density of the components is foreseeable. The industrial DC grids will become local smart distribution grids.

How does the project fit into the 'Industry 4.0' scenario?
Koschnick: A core topic of Industry 4.0 is the end-to-end digitalization and networking of industrial systems. The aim is to make information on the status of individual plant parts and components available and usable. This information can then be used to optimize the entire plant, for example in terms of energy efficiency. However, in order to exploit such optimization potential, an infrastructure is required that enables maximum flexibility in energy distribution. Our project aims to provide such an infrastructure.

Which partners are involved in the project?
Koschnick: There are 15 partners and 11 associated partners in the project, which is funded with 6 million euros. The partners are Siemens, Bauer Gear Motor, Baumüller, Bosch Rexroth, Daimler, Danfoss, Eaton, KHS, Lenze, LTI Motion, Weidmüller, Fraunhofer IPA and Fraunhofer IISB, Ostwestfalen-Lippe University of Applied Sciences, Stuttgart University, ABB Stotz-Kontakt, E-T-A Elektronische Apparate, Harting, Homag Group, Jean Müller Elektrotechnische Fabrik, Leoni Special Cables, Phoenix Contact, SEW-PowerSystems, U.I. Lapp, Yaskawa and the ZVEI, which is responsible for communication around the project.

And what does your roadmap look like?
Koschnick: DC-Industry is scheduled to run for three years with a subsequent commercialization phase. By 2018, the conceptual work should be completed to such an extent that practical testing of the DC technology on test systems can begin.