TOWARDS A MORE
ENERGY-EFFICIENT AND SUSTAINABLE PATH
Challenges
Large-scale research facilities as particle accelerators are usually energy-intensive systems, which during their operations can have a yearly average energy consumption of about hundreds of GWh. This is comparable to the consumption of large metropolitan cities in Europe.
Considering the current energy mix, where the renewables cover only half of the power production, the carbon footprint of accelerators is not negligible. In addition, the large quantity of raw materials required for their constructions and operations has an impact on the environmental sustainability of these infrastructures. Previous studies targeted the reduction of energy consumption, carbon footprint emission or material sustainability, but they were limited to specialized studies on specific technical topics.
Solutions
RF2.0 will design, develop and on-field validate novel energy solutions for components and systems, that allow to transform particle accelerators in sustainable and energy efficient research infrastructures.
Following the RF2.0 approach, the focus lies on:
- New highly-efficient components: permanent magnets for beam guiding and focusing magnets for accelerators, Solide State Amplifiers for accelerator high power RF systems
- AI-assisted power management: optimized operations during beamtime, accelerated start-up and shut-down operations, digital twins for accelerators design and operations
- Low carbon technologies integration: renewables and energy storage systems integration, power electronics-based transmission
- Power consumption flexibility approaches for providing grid services: power-flexible high power computing, fast-dynamic monitoring systems
Through 4 demonstrator projects, the energy saving of the proposed solutions will be validated under realistic conditions
Impact
Thanks to its holistic approach, RF2.0 addresses all expected outcomes of the Horizon Europe call for the development of new technologies and solutions for reducing the environmental and climate footprint of research infrastructures within Europe.
The achieved innovations within RF2.0 will not only benefit research infrastructures, but go far beyond. Medical centers, data centers, industrial plants, and high-tech companies have very similar characteristics and face the same challenges.
RF2.0 develops a methodology for addressing those challenges, offering a flexible and multi-disciplinary energy management strategy as well as new technologies and solutions for such energy-intensive facilities of high societal relevance.
Energy lab 2.0 at KIT- Large-scale
research infrastructure
for renewable energy
Al-assisted load management
- New energy management approaches using AI
- Digital twins of accelerator components and systems
New highly-efficient and reliable components
- Permanent magnets
- Semiconductor technologies
- Solid State Amplifiers
Power consumption flexibility approaches for providing grid services
- Power electronics
and DC grids - Fast measurement systems
(phasor measurement units) - Energy costs and resources analysis
Sustainable low carbon technologies integration
- Energy storage systems and technologies (batteries, supercaps, hydrogen)
- Flexible power consumption as for HPC centers / Renewable power-driven scientific computing
RF2.0
Approach
Vision
The RF2.0 partners vision is to design, operate and supply accelerators anytime in a secure and stable way on 100% renewable energy, i.e., almost independently from the public power grid, while reducing their environmental impact.
Partners
