Over three years, the ATTEST (Advanced Tools Towards cost-efficient decarbonisation of future reliable Energy SysTems) team studied and developed solutions for the planning and operation of energy transmission and distribution network infrastructures. The results are now materialised in a set of 12 optimisation tools, which are available to producers, traders, and operators of energy networks.
Divided into three modules – planning, operation, and asset management – the tools, designed to operate in an integrated manner, feature algorithms that favour “clean” or low-emission technologies. Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Croatia are the four countries involved in the collection and analysis of energy networks’ data, which will support the decision-making processes associated with operational planning and infrastructure improvement.
“The planning tools allow, for example, to study the evolution of consumption and photovoltaic micro-production in real networks until 2050”, explained Filipe Joel Soares, INESC TEC researcher and project coordinator, adding that, this way, it will be “possible to decide the most economical way to reinforce the network, so that there are no technical problems, and the agreed quality of service standards can be maintained”.
The application of these tools ensures an effective response in different time horizons (including real-time) to the needs of end consumers, ensuring better management and cost reduction. “These tools will bring benefits to final users, albeit indirectly, since they contribute to a general reduction in environmental pollution and to the better use of grid assets – which is reflected in a decrease in energy bills,” explained Filipe Joel Soares.
In addition, “they will allow addressing and solving challenges that energy networks will face in their decarbonisation process, namely the rising demand resulting from electrification in various sectors, the increasing integration of renewable electricity and gas production equipment, and the potential growth of storage devices”.
The 12 tools are available in open source and, in Croatia, the demonstrations are already taking place on the transmission and distribution network.
The project was led by INESC TEC (Portugal), featuring the University of Manchester (United Kingdom), the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, the Pontifical University of Comillas (Spain), Softlab (Italy), the Nikola Tesla Innovation Center, HEP (DSO) and HOPS (TSO), and KONCAR Digital (Croatia).
ATTEST received close to €4M through the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and development programme.
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