RESPOND: integrated demand REsponse Solution towards energy POsitive NeighbourhooDs

Project Information

RESPOND

Grant agreement ID: 768619

DOI

10.3030/768619

Project closed

EC signature date 13 September 2017

Start date 1 October 2017

End date 30 September 2020

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Secure, clean and efficient energy

Total cost

€ 3 645 044,75

EU contribution

€ 3 044 574,58

Coordinated by

FENIE ENERGIA SA
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - RESPOND (RESPOND: integrated demand REsponse Solution towards energy POsitive NeighbourhooDs)

Reporting period: 2019-04-01 to 2020-09-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

According to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, demand response is defined as: “Changes in electric usage by end-use customers from their normal consumption patterns in response to changes in the price of electricity over time, or to incentive payments designed to induce lower electricity use at times of high wholesale market prices or when system reliability is jeopardized.”
Following up on this idea, the project RESPOND (integrated demand REsponse Solution towards energy POsitive NeighbourhooDs) has been developed. It has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.
Nowadays, demand response is mostly implemented in the industrial sector, but there are many current tendencies that try to deliver it in the domestic environment as well. The aim of this project indeed is to adapt demand response so that domestic consumers can benefit from it: to implement a cooperative energy demand management solution for residential energy users to better match energy supply with demand, reducing energy consumption during periods of peak demand in exchange for financial incentives. A very important focus when developing the solution has been to do it in a way as universal as possible, and feasible to implement in any European dwelling.
RESPOND has been carried out by an interdisciplinary committee (11 partners from 5 different countries: Czech Republic, Denmark, Ireland, Serbia and Spain), committed to capacity-building, technology and tools that benefit energy suppliers and consumers under the umbrella of demand response.
To demonstrate its potential, the RESPOND solution has been deployed in three pilot sites chosen at different geographical locations, in different climatic zones, with different underlying energy systems, forms of ownership, population densities, thus providing a diversity of opportunities for the project demonstration.
To this end, RESPOND’s overall goals have been:
• Cooperative demand management to maximize the use of common energy resources
• Engagement of building occupants
• Improved system integration and interoperability
• Strategy towards EEB public private partnership
• Efficient business model definition at building and district level

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

RESPOND deploys and demonstrates an interoperable, cost effective and user-centred demand response solution. The solution uses energy automation, control and monitoring tools to integrate a cooperative demand response program into legacy energy management systems. To this end, RESPOND uses an integrated approach to optimise energy dispatching in real time, taking into account both energy demand and supply while exploiting all available energy assets at each site.
The RESPOND solution is flexible, scalable and capable of delivering cooperative demand response at the building unit, building and district levels.
In order to provide seamless integration all DR-enabling elements and to ensure high replication potential, RESPOND uses open standards for interoperability with smart home devices and automation systems, smart grid connectivity integration potential with third party services.
Underpinned by smart energy monitoring infrastructure, RESPOND can perform reliable energy data analytics and forecasting to detect energy conservation opportunities. The solution is also adapted to different operational environments (indoor and outdoor conditions, comfort levels) in real time. Moreover, and as aforementioned, RESPOND has been deployed in three different pilots consisting in different types of residential buildings, situated in different climate zones and population densities, and with different types of energy monitoring and resources available. With this deployment, REPOND’s high replication potential has been demonstrated. Its final aim is to raise user awareness by delivering data-driven recommendations for energy demand reduction and influence end user behaviour, i.e. to make users an active part of the DR loop regardless of the particular conditions of the site.

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)

The RESPOND solution has achieved by now a Technology Readiness Level 8 (TRL8), counting with actual technology completed and qualified trough test and demonstrations.

RESPOND contributed to the impacts expected by the call with the points described hereafter.

a) Facilitating the deployment of an integrated solution that improves Demand Response in buildings

b) Real time optimization of energy demand and supply integrating demand response into intelligent building energy management systems and/or other systems

c) Energy cost savings through integrated home automation solutions

d) Replicability across the EU

e) Optimization of energy consumption

f) User engagement approach

RESPOND rollup 2

RESPOND rollup 1