Case Study: European Institute for Energy Research (EIFER) boosts district energy self-consumption with AnyLogic

A Digital Twin for Energy Efficient and Sustainable Districts

The European Institute for Energy Research (EIFER) and its partners faced the challenge of integrating fluctuating solar and wind power into a district energy system in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany. Because district-scale batteries were too expensive, they needed a way to prove how much load shifting could replace storage, using AnyLogic simulation software to model the system.

EIFER built a digital twin of a real demonstrator district in AnyLogic, using a 1-second multimethod model and AnyLogic Cloud for experiments and visualization. The solution increased self-consumption from 55% to 75%, reduced power peaks, cut electricity costs by up to €0.05/kWh, delivered nearly 20% savings versus a €0.30/kWh tariff baseline, and replaced 140 real devices with a virtual model for real-time hardware-in-the-loop testing.

European Institute for Energy Research (EIFER)

Enrique Kremers

European Institute for Energy Research (EIFER)