Managing an energy community could become even more efficient thanks to a set of digital tools that INESC TEC is developing within the European EMPEDOFLEX project. There are at least 10 interoperable applications in development, which will be validated in four real-world cases, designed to help municipalities, grid operators, and energy community managers reduce costs, integrate more renewable energy sources, and increase network resilience.
The main innovation of EMPEDOFLEX lies in integrating, into a single toolbox, interoperable solutions validated in real scenarios to support the design, planning, and operation of Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) – urban areas or neighbourhoods that produce more renewable energy than they consume over the course of a year – and local energy communities. Currently, only isolated applications exist, without a common data model.
“The idea is to create solutions that integrate data, forecast consumption and production, plan medium- and long-term strategies, and help manage distributed energy resources in real time. Hence, we aim to maximise the use of renewables by boosting flexibility and the integration of distributed energy resources – small-scale production, storage, or energy management units connected directly to local distribution networks rather than large power plants,” explained Tiago Soares, researcher at INESC TEC.
The expected results include the provision of at least 10 interoperable tools validated in four real use cases, covering the entire lifecycle of a PED – from planning to operation. According to the researcher, these tools will allow “up to a 40% increase in flexibility provision capacity compared to the current scenario; Improved energy literacy and citizen engagement; cost and emissions reduction and more efficient integration between buildings, districts, and energy vectors, including electric mobility.”
Within the project, INESC TEC plays an active role in technological development, particularly in short-term management and interoperability. Key contributions include operating the forecasting and management tools to ensure coordinated responses to market and real-time operational signals, as well as creating the project’s common semantic data model, which ensures interoperability across all tools. “The tools developed by INESC TEC will build on solutions and knowledge from previous projects, allowing us to evolve and improve existing solutions, leveraging them with new developments to make them more complete, robust, and adaptable. An example is the SEMAPTIC tool, which will serve as the basis for developing the project’s semantic data model,” added Tiago Soares.
The main beneficiaries of EMPEDOFLEX will be grid operators, who will have access to advanced flexibility management tools. Municipalities, PED managers, and local energy communities will gain planning and operational solutions, while energy service companies, technology providers, and citizens will find new opportunities to reduce costs, increase self-consumption, and participate more knowledgeably in the energy transition.
The EMPEDOFLEX project represents an opportunity to create a solid technological foundation that can be reused in future developments in this research area, accelerating the adoption of PEDs across Europe.
The researcher mentioned in this news piece is associated with INESC TEC and the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP).
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