Page 43 - European Energy Innovation - Summer 2016 publication

Summer 2016 European Energy Innovation
Flex4Grid
Prosumer Flexibility Services for Smart Grid Management
Flex4Grid aims at creating an
open data and service framework
that enables a novel concept of
managing flexibility of prosumer
demand and generation, utilising
cloud computing for power
grid management and opening
Distribution System Operator
infrastructure for aggregator
services.
MAIN OBJECTIVES
The advent of distributed power
sources, such as photovoltaics and
windmill plants, gave rise to energy
prosumers, which generate and
consume electrical energy. Energy
demand and energy generation
by prosumers is volatile and can
impact the grid infrastructure and
stakeholders, but they can be flexibly
adapted to thwart those impacts.
Flex4Grid aims at creating an open data MULTI-SITE DEMONSTRATORS
and service framework that enables a
novel concept of managing flexibility
of prosumer demand and generation,
utilising cloud computing for power
grid management and, opening DSO
infrastructure for aggregator services. communication between DSOs and
The system will be built up from
existing ICT components that have
been developed by the consortium
partners over many years in research
projects on IoT and Cloud computing.
This high maturity allows Flex4Grid to
aim for a system prototype of TRL 7.
The Flex4Grid system will include a)
a data cloud service with anonymised
interface and advanced security and
privacy mechanisms for data exchange
and service management, b) prosumer
generation and demand flexibility,
and c) a more viable business model
to accelerate the deployment. The
major innovations are a) opening the
market for new entrants by secure and
privacy enabling third party cloud data
and energy management services, b)
actionable common and multilevel data
management and analytics services
for Smart Grids, and c) the use of co-
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COMMUNICATION
creation to bring end users into the
value creation process.
System validation will be carried out in
real-world pilots in three live electricity by exploring new value-generating
networks with different scenarios
ranging from deployment during
smart meter rollout and retrofitting to
large scale operation and federated
demonstration of multi-site pilots.
REAL-WORLD EVALUATION IN
Three DSOs are part of the consortium
and the Flex4Grid system will be
piloted in their networks, including a
significant number of prosumers and
Flex4Grid gateways that bridge the
HAN (Home Automation Network) /
Building Management System (BMS).
These three distribution networks
exhibit different characteristics that
allow validating the Flex4Grid system
in different scenarios. An iterative
approach will be applied in order to
ensure a smooth deployment of the
Flex4Grid system in settings of growing
complexity and size, and to maximise
the feedback on technical and business
level.
EXPECTED IMPACT
The system introduced by the
Flex4Grid activity will use results from
preceding research projects as baseline
to transfer the results into the market
and follows a business-driven approach
service offerings for customers.
Active demand response will be
demonstrated in the life electricity
networks of all three pilot locations.
New business models will be deployed
where DSOs, prosumers and the third
party hosting the data manager will act
as marketer. Participating companies
will roll out new services to the market
place to ensure business viability of the
project.
The Flex4Grid system will open new
markets for third parties via cloud-
based services, going beyond smart
meters. Applying cloud solutions
(security, privacy, analytics, predictions
for the customer) in the context
of smart grids will strengthen the
competitiveness in this sector. l
CONTACT DETAILS
Markus Taumberger
VTT TECHNICAL RESEARCH
CENTRE OF FINLAND LTD
markus.taumberger@vtt.fi