Periodic Reporting for period 2 - GIFT (Geographical Islands FlexibiliTy)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2020-07-01 al 2021-12-31
GIFT will address the energy issues on the demonstration sites in a holistic way. High energy costs on the islands mostly depend on the undesirable situations on the grid, caused mostly by the volatile supply through the renewables. In order to achieve high level of RES penetration, the grid needs to become more dynamic. We will deploy several solutions for monitoring the local grid. Those solutions will allow us to make real time predictions on the operational states of the grid. We will use this information to construct a bid for flexibility, which will allow the island to balance the grid in real time. The central part of the project will be a flexibility marketplace, which will allow many different prosumers to participate in a uniform way. This generalization layer will allow for construction of several different business cases for participating players. With unique approaches to storage, such as multi vector and virtual storage, we plan to demonstrate a comprehensive integrated solution of different technologies, all working together in a coordinated manner.
The Elestor BMS/EMS to FA communication channel was successfully tested for the flex agents.
Additionally, the conceptual, basic design phases and detailed design phase for HBr storage have been completed. The battery system build is mostly completed and is currently under commissioning activities in the Netherlands. To get the targeted power out of the battery some further stack tests are required and more stacks need to be built.
The Smart energy hub completed a new version prototype, named “Alpha”, and is currently used for stacks & systems testing and qualification. Final GIFT Smart Energy Hub will have very similar characteristics to “Alpha” prototype, hence its testing and development is considered essential for GIFT systems and to achieve balance of plant (BOP).
Digital twin is kept updating according to the user’s perspective (DSO, municipalities) and new data are available for both islands.
Norway demo site identify 34 potential commercial prosumers in Grytøya and 10 industrials prosumers in Hinnøya. Italian demo site in Procida identify 13 potential prosumers and both demo sites start with integration activities of selecting prosumers.
The EV charger EMS is developed in the way to enable operation and integration with GIFT system in two scenarios: a single charging station and several charging stations at prosumer. The physical installation of EV chargers is ongoing deployment process with integration activities with Virtual Power System.
In parallel, the project website, dissemination and Communication strategy have been fully operational and new communication tools have been developed.
For the VPS, most of the existing solutions to address demand response utilise so-called “curtailment” methods, which means switching customers on or off, based on requirements on the grid / market. Such systems are often met with resistance, since they are invasive by nature – they interrupt processes and/or comfort. To address this issue, GIFT places the prosumer at the centre. Each participating party, whether it is prosumer with flexible loads, generator or storage is generalized using Flex-Offer protocol.
Existing embedded EMS place emphasis on the coordination of electrical appliances, with less emphasis on the interaction of the EMS with the dynamic user preferences and the home environmental context. In GIFT project, EMS will be further developed to allow intelligent management of prosumers, requiring upgrades in structure, communication, cooperation, and algorithms, as well as the integration Flex Agents. So far, the Elestor BMS/EMS to FA communication channel was successfully tested for the flex agents.
In most cases the solutions are tailored to specific requirements and are designed for specific use cases, which results in limited operational capacity and in lack of interoperability and integrability with other systems. GIFT proposes the development of an innovative and standards’-based Enterprise Services Bus (ESB) facilitate the integration and interplay among the various systems that synthesize the IT ecosystem of an Energy Island.
The HBr flow battery will enable electric energy storage at a cost level that presently cannot be reached by any storage solution available on the market or proven on a large scale (0.05 €/kWh.cycle). The conceptual, basic design and detailed design phases with built phase for HBr storage have been completed commissioning has started
Through these innovations, the GIFT project expects to develop energy systems that are cheaper than diesel generation, to reduce fossil fuel consumption significantly, and enhance autonomy for islands that are grid connected to the mainland. The project has also a socio-economic impact on the consumers that have been contacted on the demonstration islands: the aim is to turn these consumers into active prosumers.