The ZEUS project focusing on research and development of technologies for energy generation, transmission, and storage with emphasis on the Ostrava metropolitan area kicks off

The ZEUS project – Increasing the resilience of power grids in the context of decarbonisation, decentralisation, and sustainable socio-economic development - focuses on research and development of technologies for energy generation, transmission, and storage. The project has two main research directions. The first will focus on modelling power systems using mathematical-physical and economic models to analyse the resilience of community power grids and assess the effectiveness of their implementation. Furthermore, the project will deal with the digitalisation of hydrogen technologies. For these purposes, digital twins of machine components for hydrogen transport and storage and developing AEM electrolysers will be designed to optimise their deployment. For both research directions, the supercomputing technologies of the IT4Innovations centre and the existing energy infrastructure in the Energy and Environmental Technology Centre - Explorer building will be used. This unique multi-source energy platform allows the behaviour and operation of selected thermal and electrical energy sources to be simulated using an advanced microgrid control system.

Tomáš Kozubek, IT4Innovations Scientific Director: “The ZEUS project marks an ambitious step towards increasing the resilience of power grids, not only within the Czech Republic but also internationally. Thanks to our supercomputing centre, we can simulate and analyse complex scenarios in the energy sector, allowing us to design efficient and sustainable solutions.”

Lukáš Prokop, ENET Centre Director: “The decarbonisation and decentralisation of the energy sector brings new challenges that we must face. Developing community energy, analysing power grids for resilience and hydrogen technologies are key areas of research that will help create a stable and efficient power system.”

Alexandr Nováček, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava: “Our involvement in the ZEUS project will lie in social science research aimed at increasing the acceptance of these new technologies by the general public. Our goal is to leverage and accelerate the contributions of technical research by our colleagues at VSB-TUO.”

The ZEUS project will introduce new methodologies and software tools to support decision-making processes in implementing community energy. It will also focus, for example, on developing cylinders with a higher resistance to hydrogen embrittlement, allowing safer hydrogen storage.

The project will receive more than EUR 63 million from the EU-funded Johannes Amos Comenius Programme. It is part of a wider effort to modernise the energy sector in the Czech Republic. The project results are expected to contribute to strengthening energy security and supporting sustainable socio-economic development in the region.

The project partners include:
VSB – Technical University of Ostrava (IT4Innovations National Supercomputing Center, ENET Centre)
University of Ostrava
VÍTKOVICE CYLINDERS a.s.
ETERNAL ELECTRIC s.r.o.
Moravan-Silesian Hydrogen Cluster, z.s.
Technical University of Košice
MSID, Regional Development Agency, a.s.
Moravian-Silesian Innovation Centre Ostrava, a.s.
Statutary City of Ostrava, Municipal District of Moravská Ostrava and Přívoz
Ministry of Regional Development of the Czech Republic

Co-funded by the European Union within the "Increasing the resilience of power grids in the context of decarbonisation, decentralisation, and sustainable socio-economic development" project, Project ID: CZ.02.01.01/00/23_021/0008759, Johannes Amos Comenius Programme.