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Reduce electricity bills, free up grid capacity

The grid company Lede is well under way with a pilot project to streamline use of the power grid. One of the most exciting solutions in the project was developed by Envo.

 

PowerFlex

The idea behind PowerFlex is to distribute electricity consumption throughout the day using smart technology and management systems.

In 2019, Lede secured funding from Enova to initiate the project. The importance of and demand for power management has continued to grow since then.

“The solution is about utilising the available flexibility without compromising on comfort. In residential properties, adjustments can be made in relation to heating, ventilation and hot water in particular. Commercial buildings and charging stations for electric vehicles have also been included in the test phase,” explains Ivan Schytte, Head of Metering and Connections at Lede.

The background for the initiative was not only a desire to streamline power consumption. Grid capacity has been challenged through extensive electrification, which has encompassed significant growth in power-intensive electric vehicle charging and an increasing number of solar arrays.

There is significantly greater demand for grid capacity than is available in the market. The grid therefore needs to be expanded to take increasing load into account, but this takes time. In the meantime, methods and solutions to utilise the existing grid need to be prioritised.

Flattening out consumption peaks

The objective of PowerFlex is to flatten consumption peaks through energy management and bilateral agreements. If it is a success, it would make it possible to postpone the expensive expansion of the grid. For grid companies, this would result in lower investment needs and for consumers, it would result in lower grid rent.

“The project could help challenge the market mechanisms. This role would be more typical of an electricity supplier or power trader than a grid company,” Schytte notes.

Although the project was launched 3.5 years ago, it is only now that the results of PowerFlex can be seen, there are many challenges to solve to make various systems communicate.

Smart solutions at the technology company Jotron

A number of technologies have been linked at the 11,000 square metre Jotron building at Ringdalskogen in Larvik to provide flexibility, overview and management. Everything is integrated using open standards. The new commercial building, which was ready in 2020, uses a ground source installation with heat pump, hybrid ventilation and solar energy.

From the start, Envo has taken control of the challenges associated with systems based on different standards.

“Envo’s energy management operates using algorithms that estimate consumption and shows the potential of reducing power peaks. As further functionality is added, it will become increasingly easy to optimise the operation of the building while also reducing costs. The grid companies receive predictable price signals from the demand rate and there is great profitability to be found by monitoring this,” Schytte explains.

Major savings

Independently of the Lede link, Envo’s management system has resulted in major savings in energy consumption. This has been taken one step further using PowerFlex. Integration has been both a keyword and a challenge in the project. Among other things, Lede and Envo experienced challenges associated with the management of Jotron’s electric vehicle charging. The solution was to add a cloud API, which has provided new possibilities by bringing loose threads together.

“Lede can send a signal to the management system to restrict charging to a maximum of 20 kW for a period. With 50 charging spaces at the Jotron building, great savings can be achieved,” according to Schytte. 

In order for the management system to provide maximum benefits, it cannot only flatten out power peaks. It also needs to take into account changing demand rates in the grid rent model, i.e. by moving consumption in accordance with price. The advantages of Envo’s solution include real-time monitoring of energy consumption and price, allowing customers to make quick decisions to reduce costs.

A key variable in the pilot project is the dynamics between the grid company and consumers. PowerFlex depends on both parties being willing to give and take.

“In certain situations, it would be necessary to make a compromise between the various needs. It’s not only about smart management, but also about the possibility for the customer to override when required. Such overrides can either be performed by the local system or manually by the consumer. The customer stays in control,” Schytte explains.

The measures required to avoid capacity challenges can lead to lower indoor temperatures or electric vehicle charging taking longer. The question is to what extent this affects comfort and how it is perceived. During the test period, the cut-off intervals at residential properties and commercial buildings have been limited to one hour per day.

Even greater benefits expected

Today, Lede has approximately 210,000 private customers and just under 6,000 major customers. Even if only a small proportion of these participate in PowerFlex, Schytte can see great potential.

“We can already see the positive results from the tests that have been conducted and we anticipate even greater benefits when these are continued over winter, when significantly higher electricity consumption can be reduced. On the other hand, the situation could also be more difficult in terms of comfort.”

For residential properties, the feature is managed using an app. The smart home solution used by project participants provides the ability to manage electricity consumption directly via the Futurehome app. Here, it is easy to monitor electricity consumption in real time, as well as for each connected device. The AMS meter is connected to Smarthub and shows the total consumption of the home.

The FlexEnergy function allows Lede to utilise flexibility. In addition to the Jotron building, the pilot project also includes a school and approximately 150 residential properties.

“It has been challenging to communicate with buildings with internal systems that use different interfaces. Although the majority of the systems are based on standards, the standards have been applied differently. Envo has done an important job to make sure that this works,” Schytte notes. 

The plan is for PowerFlex to continue until the end of 2023.

“When the results are compiled and aggregated to represent a larger grid area, we will have an excellent basis for utilising the flexibility in grid development.”

PowerFlex facts

  • PowerFlex pilots power management systems
  • The project includes three elements: BuildingFlex, VehicleFlex and HomeFlex
  • Lede is the project owner and the project is being conducted in collaboration with SINTEF Energi, the Municipality of Horten, Vestfold og Telemark County, Format Eiendom and Aidon.
  • The project launched in 2019 and will continue until the end of 2023.