INESC TEC integrates European project for the design of flexibility services, markets and applications for distribution networks
The EUniversal – Market Enabling Interface to Unlock Flexibility Solutions for Cost-effective Management of Smarter Distribution Grids, whose kick-off meeting took place on February 10, aims to develop new market, innovative services and tools to allow the seamless integration of flexibility in the operation and planning of distribution networks. The main goal is to enable the massive integration of renewable energy sources via services that ensure the contribution of flexible resources, such as storage systems and electric vehicles – V2G, consumers and energy communities.
24th February 2020
The EUniversal – Market Enabling Interface to Unlock Flexibility Solutions for Cost-effective Management of Smarter Distribution Grids, whose kick-off meeting took place on February 10, aims to develop new market, innovative services and tools to allow the seamless integration of flexibility in the operation and planning of distribution networks. The main goal is to enable the massive integration of renewable energy sources via services that ensure the contribution of flexible resources, such as storage systems and electric vehicles – V2G, consumers and energy communities.
The project, coordinated by EDP Distribuição de Energia SA, has 18 partners from seven countries – Portugal, Spain, Germany, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom – who will work together until August 2023, in order to demonstrate a replicable solution for the interaction of the DSO (UMEI – Universal Market Enabling Interface) with the new flexibility markets.
The solutions developed within the scope of the project will be demonstrated in three heterogeneous pilots, with distinct network characteristics and regulatory frameworks. The Portuguese demonstrator will focus on the developed interface and advanced network applications, while the German demonstrator will focus on congestion management in the distribution network, based on local P2P markets. The Polish demonstrator is focused on the network observability and control, considering the new tools and the participation of flexible resources.
The INESC TEC Centre for Power and Energy Systems (CPES) plays a crucial role in the development of the solution, leading the service specification activities, the definition of the architecture of the proposed solution and the use cases, and the development of advanced applications for network planning and operation.
More specifically, CPES will develop a set of data-based algorithms to increase the observability of the network and implement a predictive, adaptable (in terms of network topology and resource availability) and distributed operation strategy. New planning methodologies will also be developed, together with the University of Manchester, taking into account the availability of flexible resources and the network resilience as new criteria. The Portuguese and German demonstrators will integrate and validate these applications.
Clara Gouveia, Bernardo Silva, Jose Villar Collado, Ricardo Bessa, Leonel Carvalho, Carlos Moreira, Jorge Pereira, Ricardo Ferreira, Ricardo Silva, Everton Alves, Gil Sampaio, João Silva, Inês Alves and Luís Ribeiro are part of the INESC TEC team working on this project.
In addition to the Portuguese institutions mentioned above, the consortium includes Innogy SE, Energa Operator SA, European Distribution System Operators for Smart Grids, European Association for Storage of Energy, The University of Manchester, Universidad Pontificia Comillas, Vlaamse Instelling voor Technologisch Onderzoek NV , Tractebel Impact Belgium SA, N-side, Nodes AS, Centrica Business Solutions Belgium, Instytut Energetyki, Mikronika Spolka Z Ograniczona Odpowiedzialnoscia, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Vlerick Business School and Zabala Innovation Consulting, SA.
The EU Research and Innovation programme, Horizon 2020, granted approximately €10M to the Euniversal project, under agreement number 864334.
The researchers mentioned in this news piece are associated with INESC TEC, UP-FEUP, UP-FEP.