DigitalEnergyTestbed: An Open Testbed Prototype for Integrated Energy Systems

The development of new concepts for integrated energy systems that enable the cross-sectoral coupling of the traditional energy domains is considered a key challenge for the energy transition. However, the vast majority of laboratories and testbeds focus on domain-specific applications. Therefore, the validation of cross-domain applications is not possible or only possible to a limited extent with the currently available laboratory infrastructure. The digital and physical coupling of existing test stands in combination with the use of simulation models provides an efficient and cost-effective solution for testing and validating innovative concepts for integrated energy systems on a laboratory scale. This work presents the DigitalEnergyTestbed, a prototype based on the laboratory middleware Lablink that enables the implementation of such a coupled environment based on open standards and open-source software. Two case studies are presented that showcase the applicability of this approach for integrated energy systems.