Periodic Reporting for period 3 - IELECTRIX (Indian and European Local Energy CommuniTies for Renewable Integration and the Energy Transition.)
Reporting period: 2021-11-01 to 2023-02-28
The objective of IElectrix is to develop innovative technical solutions and economical business models to facilitate the implementation of Local Energy Communities (LEC). This is also a way to speed up the integration of Renewable Energy Sources in Smart Grids and to take part in the decarbonisation of the energy system. In this context, Distribution System Operators need to ensure an appropriate connection of LEC within the grid.
The IElectrix project gathers European and Indian partners towards the achievement of a common technical and economical goal. It consists in implementing different Smart Grids demonstrators to test a set of functionalities required to keep up with the current energy sector transformation: renewable intermittent energies, digitization, decentralization, and consumer’s implication. To reach such goals, IElectrix project brings forward innovative technical solutions:
• Mobile storage systems and digital substations
• Implementation of demand-side management schemes
• Microgrid and islanding solutions
• Low voltage grid digitalization
The IElectrix project gathers European and Indian partners towards the achievement of a common technical and economical goal. It consists in implementing different Smart Grids demonstrators to test a set of functionalities required to keep up with the current energy sector transformation: renewable intermittent energies, digitization, decentralization, and consumer’s implication. To reach such goals, IElectrix project brings forward innovative technical solutions:
• Mobile storage systems and digital substations
• Implementation of demand-side management schemes
• Microgrid and islanding solutions
• Low voltage grid digitalization
The 5 demonstration pilots are based on different regulatory and ecosystem contexts: one is located in India, two in Hungary, one in Germany and one in Austria:
• The Indian demonstration pilot anticipates the large amount of photovoltaic panels (PV) which will be connected at the low voltage level in the coming years following recent governmental plans.
• The Hungarian demonstration pilots address issues that are located at an early stage of renewable deployment in two distinct regions.
• The German demonstration pilot is carried out in a region with a high amount of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) already integrated in the grid. Within the demonstration, a mobile storage system is used in order to both postpone costly network reinforcements and integrate more RES in a faster way.
• The Austrian demonstration pilot involves an existing energy community in the Güssing District where RES investments have already been made.
• The Indian demonstration pilot anticipates the large amount of photovoltaic panels (PV) which will be connected at the low voltage level in the coming years following recent governmental plans.
• The Hungarian demonstration pilots address issues that are located at an early stage of renewable deployment in two distinct regions.
• The German demonstration pilot is carried out in a region with a high amount of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) already integrated in the grid. Within the demonstration, a mobile storage system is used in order to both postpone costly network reinforcements and integrate more RES in a faster way.
• The Austrian demonstration pilot involves an existing energy community in the Güssing District where RES investments have already been made.
Impacts :
Replicability: The scalability and replicability analysis of the use cases aims at learning from the solutions tested in the demonstrators and evaluating the impacts of their implementation at a larger scale within a similar or a different energy background. In parallel, a coordination with similar EU-funded projects is implemented to address four policy relevant issues: regulatory framework, business models, data management, and customer engagement, in support of the deployment studies.
Socio-economics: The project aims at stimulating the pan-European and Indian roll-out of flexibility solutions and associated services: this will be beneficial for the industrial partners of the project by creating new market opportunities supporting this deployment. The systemic technical and market optimisation proposed by the consortium partners should also help optimise social welfare and guarantee adequate signals for investors and competitive electricity prices for end users.
Environment: The project facilitates the integration of very high shares of RES generation, and thus improves the overall GHG emissions reduction of the pan-European power system.
Policy: The present project aims at providing recommendations on market designs and regulations to ensure sufficient and cost-efficient provision of flexibilities at DSO level, while making a critical assessment of the current frameworks. The costs supporting these recommendations will be studied with a regional focus (Germany, France, Hungary) and next extrapolated at pan European level. These outputs, based on the results from the demonstrations and replication studies, will support the Clean Energy for all Europeans package in general.
Replicability: The scalability and replicability analysis of the use cases aims at learning from the solutions tested in the demonstrators and evaluating the impacts of their implementation at a larger scale within a similar or a different energy background. In parallel, a coordination with similar EU-funded projects is implemented to address four policy relevant issues: regulatory framework, business models, data management, and customer engagement, in support of the deployment studies.
Socio-economics: The project aims at stimulating the pan-European and Indian roll-out of flexibility solutions and associated services: this will be beneficial for the industrial partners of the project by creating new market opportunities supporting this deployment. The systemic technical and market optimisation proposed by the consortium partners should also help optimise social welfare and guarantee adequate signals for investors and competitive electricity prices for end users.
Environment: The project facilitates the integration of very high shares of RES generation, and thus improves the overall GHG emissions reduction of the pan-European power system.
Policy: The present project aims at providing recommendations on market designs and regulations to ensure sufficient and cost-efficient provision of flexibilities at DSO level, while making a critical assessment of the current frameworks. The costs supporting these recommendations will be studied with a regional focus (Germany, France, Hungary) and next extrapolated at pan European level. These outputs, based on the results from the demonstrations and replication studies, will support the Clean Energy for all Europeans package in general.