Wide scale demonstration of Integrated Solutions and business models for European smartGRID

Project Information

WiseGRID

Grant agreement ID: 731205

DOI

10.3030/731205

Project closed

EC signature date 26 October 2016

Start date 1 November 2016

End date 30 April 2020

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Secure, clean and efficient energy

Total cost

€ 17 595 500,00

EU contribution

€ 13 854 247,27

Coordinated by

ETRA INVESTIGACION Y DESARROLLO SA
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - WiseGRID (Wide scale demonstration of Integrated Solutions and business models for European smartGRID)

Reporting period: 2019-05-01 to 2020-04-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The Project will tackle the need to increase the grid's robustness, flexibility and ability to adapt and anticípate to uncertain and changing power system conditions in a Smart, secure and cost efficient way. WiseGRID will provide the required technology for achieving this putting the customer in the middle of the energy transition.

WiseGRID main objectives are:
• To integrate and demonstrate innovative and advanced Demand-Response mechanisms that will facilitate the active participation, protection and empowerment of the European consumers and prosumers (households and businesses) in the energy grid and market, through flexible RES generation, self-consumption and storage, or through intermediaries such as aggregators and suppliers on behalf of the former. This will reduce the customers’ electricity bill and their energy dependency but it will also will help DSOs in providing more balanced and stable distribution grids. The project will also demonstrate the sustainable incentives schemas and business models, based on different technologies (smart metering, smart home appliances, batteries, EVs, etc.) to create a win-win situation and benefit both the grid and the consumers. Moreover, the project will issue recommendations to overcome non-technical barriers for the proper integration of demand response schemas into the network, such as legal, regulatory and social barriers.
• To address the smartening of the distribution grid, including both technologies and methods to gain advanced monitoring and awareness of variable generation and consumption loads, as well as the integration of VPPs and microgrids as active balancing assets.
• To address the integration of renewable energy storage systems in the network, such as batteries or heat accumulators. Technologies integrated and demonstrated during the project will help plan the market deployment of these storage systems, manage and balance the network optimally, responding better to changes in demand and reducing at the same time losses in distribution.
• To integrate tools to plan the deployment of electric mobility services, as well as the management of loading and unloading of these vehicles -including the possible use of their batteries as storage systems or VPPs. Thus, similarly to other storage systems, it will be possible to answer better to demand variations, e.g. charging the vehicle when the energy comes from renewable sources. In the same way, the project will evaluate the impact of the deployment of charging points in the power grid and will provide information and services to the end user e.g. advising when and where it is most convenient or cost-effective to recharge the vehicle.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The main achievements are:
- The Smart Grids Technical and non-technical requirements for the entire project have been formally specified in the earliest phase of the project.
- The scenarios and uses cases to address the interest of the demonstration sites, and go beyond such needs and interests in order to ensure the transferability of the results, have been described in detail.
- The project identified the emerging business models for the different actors involved in the WiseGRID value chain.
- The project has studied the regulatory framework both at EU and national level. The objective was not only to provide a report on the situation, but identify barriers and propose solutions. Regulatory analysis of 14 more EU countries (extra work, not specified in the DoA).
- Development and integrated lab-testing of 9 different tools to support all the stakeholders in the energy distribution and retail chain.
- The project consortium has participated and organized several dissemination activities, in order to increase the project impact, to spread WiseGRID benefits and outputs among different stakeholders and to create synergies with other projects.
- DPIA approval and monitoring of the different data privacy actions to be performed by data controllers and data processors.
- Definition of the methodology to be followed by the consortium for exploiting all the Key Exploitable Results. Fulfilment of the IPR repository table of the project.
- Development of the DR framework of the project.
- Definition of WiseGRID strategy for contributing to standardization and the actions performed and foreseen for this contribution. CEN CENELEC Workshop delivered.
- Deployment of the 9 tools in the different pilot sites.
- Establishment of the methodology for validating the project and actual validation of it.
- Technical KPI calcultaion
- Business models of the main KER
- Replication potential of the project studied
- Updated market and enhanced SWOT analysis.
- Three awards received: Good Practice of the Year 2018 (Technology and Design category); EUSEW Business Award 2018 and EUSEW Citizens Award 2018.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Social KPIs are typically non-monetary appraisals of the impact of a project. Social impact analysis is therefore part of a qualitative analysis. Social impacts are typically difficult to quantify, but should be considered, especially since WiseGRID has a strong environmental and social focus. In general, implementing Smart Grids benefit society as a whole, which implies positive social impacts on its citizens, although they may not perceive the benefits as directly applicable to themselves. However, negative social impacts can be also be identified. Since citizen concerns are not taken lightly in the deployment of smart technologies as part of a democratic process, it is imperative that citizens clearly and fully understand the impacts of Smart Grids, otherwise progress to full maturation may be slowed down.
In terms of figures, regarding the project partners, 80% of the pilot participant organisations have in-creased their personnel in more than two employees partially thanks to the new business models oppor-tunities that the WiseGRID tools enable in the premises of local energy cooperatives and DSOs. In all pilot partner organizations 100% of utility workers, field technicians and local grid operators were trained in the management and operation of smart meters, distributed energy resources, energy storage and elec-tric vehicles, as well as training for the use of the WiseGRID tools, directly related with the previous assets and resources.
In terms of domestic end-users, in Flanders, Terni and Crevillent, respectively 47, 50 and 50% of the end users of the WiseHOME App are women, achieving a clear parity in these pilots. Reflected in the satisfac-tion rates of the project second round of citizen engagement workshops, in all pilots in which this round took place, 87% or more participants have indicated to be very satisfied with the project, agreeing/having availability to participate in the citizen engagement workshops at least, 45% of the citizens reached in Flanders, up to 100% of the contacted individuals in Terni.

All the main tools and ICT services developed within WiseGRID have been validated in the pilot site of Flanders (Belgium), Crevillent (Spain), Terni (Italy), Mesogia (Greece) and Kythnos (Greece). The evalua-tion is based on a set of technical KPIs calculated per pilot site, where the corresponding KPIs are applica-ble. Overall, WiseGRID products have met their goals, achieving the measures of succeed initially fore-casted for eack KPI.

Photo of the Consortium at the Pilot Site of Crevillent