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Energy
ICT
Microgrids are smaller-scale versions of a local centralised electricity system - a.k.a. a macrogrid - and are equipped with control capabilities that allow them to operate in tandem with the local macrogrid, or autonomously on a stand-alone basis. As such, microgrids have existed for decades powering industrial sites, military bases, campuses and critical facilities such as hospitals, primarily using fossil-fuel-fired Combined Heat and Power (CHP) and reciprocating engine generators. However, many cities are now interested in microgrid systems that can better integrate renewable generation resources and various energy loads, serve multiple users and/or meet environmental or emergency responses.
Microgrids can bring several benefits to the environment, utility operators and customers; benefits that are especially important for cities as they strive to create smart, safe, and liveable communities with thriving economies. Considering local priorities and challenges, municipalities have three good reasons to pursue microgrids:
| Energy costs | Carbon emissions | Energy losses | Unreliable energy supply | Increasing energy demandy | Ageing, weak and absent infrastructure |
Reducing operation costs
Reducing GHG emissions
Reducing use of fossils
Improving energy supply efficiency
Enhances grid stability
Shaving peak energy demand
Reducing energy bills
Reducing investment costs
Creating new jobs
Enabling new business opportunities
Reducing local air pollution
Reducing energy bills
Improving social integration
Improving life quality
Promoting sustainable behavior
Promoting sustainable use of land
Facilitating citizen engagement
Enhanced data collection
Enhanced data security
Functions help you to understand what the products can do for you and which ones will help you achieve your goals.
Each solution has at least one mandatory function, which is needed to achieve the basic purpose of the solution, and several additional functions, which are features that can be added to provide additional benefits.
Micro grids enable to meet the end-user energy demand
Micro grids enable to balance power and load
Planning to maintain the tsability of the system
Planning to manage grid congestion
Products that enable FLISR
Planning to enable off-grid / grid-connected transition
Services that enable to access data and data management
Products and services that enable an power exchange with the main grid
Services that provide ancillary services to main grid
Services and products tgat enable an end-user interface and data management
Balancing microgrid against city-wide virtual power plant by selling energy when demand is exceeded in the microgrid and vice-versa.
From the technical point of view, a microgrid is a localised group of interconnected loads and distributed energy resources (DERs) with clearly defined electrical boundaries that may operate at grid connected or islanded modes, acting as a single controllable entity with respect to the grid. Several variations (and combinations) of microgrids are possible, based on their connection mode to the central grid (off-grid or plugged-in), and by their size, type of load and functions (e.g., residential, commercial, community, etc. – from 100 kW to multiple MW).
Not only are microgrids electricity grids but they can also often constitute thermal grids as well, providing both types of energy to different users by exploiting different primary sources (renewables and/or fossil fuels). Furthermore, the more complex a microgrid is, in terms of interconnected loads and energy sources, the ‘smarter’ it needs to be. The microgrid’s energy management system achieves this through advanced ICT-enabled capabilities, acting as the microgrid’s ‘brain’ to manage energy production and loads to the operation.
From the user’s point of view, a microgrid can be constructed based on a variety of benefit expectations, which might be the improved reliability, economy or preparedness for disasters. Additionally, the geographical locations set conditions for the microgrid feasibility.
Microgrids serve in different applications such as commercial buildings, industrial sites and campuses and institutions. While being connected to the main grid, these microgrids are created for improved reliability (in places where the main grid reliability is inadequate), shaving peak demand, reducing operation costs and preventing faults. Depending on the local market conditions, facility microgrids can help increase resilience and provide ancillary services to the utility in the form of a virtual power plant (VPP) - whether acting as a demand response resource or providing other grid services.
Energy
Building
The system is an integral part of the ambition to become grid independent on a campus housing 1 large academic building, an energy centre, a multi-storey car park and accommodation for 900 university students.
Energy
Microgrid management controller, designed to integrate disparate energy assets throughout single stakeholders to deliver improved energy performance within the areas of cost, CO2, flatten peak and effective use of low carbon generation.
A common type of microgrid typically found where the main grid is out of reach, such as islands or remote rural areas. They range from remote facilities such as military bases, remote mines or industrial sites, to remote villages and communities, serving multiple consumers and producers.
Supporting City Context: It is critical to ensure high energy reliability and minimise production losses. This is achieved through the integration of low carbon renewable energy (e.g, biomass, solar photovoltaics (PV) and wind power) to minimise fuel dependency while reducing pollution and energy costs.
Energy
Mobility
ICT
An off-grid charging station was installed in the Hochschule Bochum as a pilot project, to harness solar power through a flexible and modular light EV docking station.
These microgrids serve multiple consumers and producers and are connected to the main grid or managed as a dispatchable unit with optimised power exchanges with the central grid. Their size ranges from districts-enabling applications, such as smart districts or positive energy districts, to villages, towns and small municipalities.
Smart communities and distribution networks will need to rely upon digital platforms to maximise the use of prosumer assets (solar PV or electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure), which can be aggregated into Distributed Energy Resources (DER) portfolios that trade energy services via VPPs. Established market structures and regulations are critical to enable this type of business model.
Energy
Microgrid management controller, designed to integrate disparate energy assets throughout single stakeholders to deliver improved energy performance within the areas of cost, CO2, flatten peak and effective use of low carbon generation.
Energy
Building
The smart energy and self-sufficient block aims to reduce electric consumption in tertiary buildings through renewable energy, especially photovoltaic.
Cogeneration (combined heat and power) and trigeneration (combined, cooling, heat and power) plants are characterised by the simultaneous production of electrical and thermal energy and are paving the way for the integration between smart power grids and district heating and cooling networks.
The massive diffusion of renewable energy source power plants within smart microgrids is usually coupled with the installation of electrical storage technologies that are acquiring more importance to compensate the fluctuation of the renewable energy source productions and to provide ancillary services to the grid. Small-distributed energy storage devices can be used to increase self-consumption of generated energy inside microgrids, helping also to flatten the daily load curve of the electrical power system.
Electrical storage systems can be used to smooth the load peaks on the grid, participate in reactive power and voltage regulation and active power and frequency regulation, provide spinning reserve to the electricity market, contribute to solve grid congestions and defer investments on the grid consequent to the increase in loads.
Energy
Energy storage system with Li-Ion batteries which provides bi-directional flexibility. It is aimed for dynamic cycling.
MEMS aim to provide controlled and optimised operation of a microgrid to meet its functional requirements and the benefits expectations set for the microgrid. They include real-time control functions that allow the system to manage itself, operate autonomously and connect to and disconnect from the main grid for the exchange of power and supply of ancillary services. These functions run based on data monitoring, data analytics and forecasting (generation, storage, meteorological data and market prices)
Energy
Microgrid management controller, designed to integrate disparate energy assets throughout single stakeholders to deliver improved energy performance within the areas of cost, CO2, flatten peak and effective use of low carbon generation.
With the integration of more intermittent Distributed Energy Resources (DER) from renewables, many stability and reliability issues are raised during microgrid operation. Transforming (or ‘upgrading’) microgrids into VPPs is a way to eliminate DERs negative impacts, since VPPs can coordinate all DERs as a single agent to integrate them into the grid without compromising stability and reliability, adding many other additional benefits and opportunities for customers, prosumers and grid operators.
There is a great overlap between microgrids and VPPs, as they both have in common the aggregation and optimisation of an equally diverse DER portfolio. The difference is that a microgrid is a confined network boundary and can disconnect from the larger grid to create a power island, while VPPS can stretch over a much wider geography and can grow or shrink depending upon real-time market conditions.
The primary value proposition for a VPP is that the services from these DER assets flow upstream to the macrogrid operator; services are not sealed off into an island from the larger grid.
Once a microgrid sells a service to a load aggregator or utility, it becomes “VPP-ready”, and then can be used as a Distributed Energy Resource Management Systems (DERMS), for instance, to help mitigate voltage hotspots on a feeder, providing bidirectional value to the larger grid.
Energy
Microgrid management controller, designed to integrate disparate energy assets throughout single stakeholders to deliver improved energy performance within the areas of cost, CO2, flatten peak and effective use of low carbon generation.
Energy
ICT
A Virtual Power Plant energy management platform, providing the capability to city stakeholders to actively manage Distributed Energy Resource (generation, storage and load) from a single platform.
Value Model for a Smart Grid System (BABLE, 2021)
Local governments can play a key role in supporting the implementation of community microgrids in existing electricity grids to meet city specific objectives. This is a complex task that requires institutional changes and regulatory updates. Nevertheless, microgrid providers and developers respond to market signals, and local policy can create clarity, communicate priority level and lower entry barriers. In addition, local governments can engage stakeholders and citizens around needs and opportunities and even become a microgrid customer in specific municipality-led initiatives, e.g. the German village Feldheim which claims to be the only grid-independent village in the developed world with 100% renewable resources. Some key factors to ensure the deployment of community microgrids are the following:
In European countries, the implementation of local energy systems is supported by many initiatives and policies at the European- or national-level, where many research and development projects, benefitting from national or European funding, are focused on smart grids, energy efficiency, integration of distributed renewable resources, smart network management and much more.
In the context of EU policies, the policy drivers for such projects include increasing grid congestion and energy demand, climate change, depletion of fossil fuels, aging infrastructure of electricity network and internal European energy market; all of these factors pushing for the implementation of local energy systems has been inspired by the latest EU’s climate and energy package ‘Clean energy for all Europeans’, and now the new European Green Deal.
A noteworthy initiative is the establishment of the Smart Grid Task Force (SGTF) as part of the EU third energy package in 2009 to advise on policies and regulations concerning smart grid deployment. For instance, under the development of a common standard for European Smart Grids, several mandates have been issued by the EC to the European Standards Organisations (ESO) seeking to establish standards for the interoperability of smart utility meters, EV charging standards and high levels of smart grid services and operations.
The EU is currently directing member countries to update their electricity market and renewable energy regulations to allow communities to act as aggregators of renewable generation, flexible loads and storage services to the overall grid, paving the way towards community microgrids.
Stakeholder Map for a Smart Grid System (BABLE, 2021)
The advancement of microgrids is part of a broader trend towards digitalisation, decentralisation, and decarbonisation of the energy sector. Globally, the growing market of local energy systems is a response to environmental concerns, lack of robust grid infrastructure and power reliability, rising energy prices and a combination of regulatory pressures and incentives. As a result, the microgrid market is expected to quickly grow over the next 10 years.
Annual Total Microgrid Power Capacity and Implementation Spending by Region, World Markets: 2020-2029 (Guidehouse Insights)
Despite being considered a global leader in moving towards a low carbon energy future, Europe represents only 9% of the global microgrid market. The most direct explanation is that the vast majority of installed microgrid capacity in Europe is located on remote islands that are not connected to the mainland grid. However, a closer look at the way in which EU markets are tightly intertwined and regulated shows a distinct pattern that places severe constraints on the development of microgrids (according to Navigant Research): (1) Europe has been focusing on large-scale renewable energy deployment, such as offshore, which requires massive investment in transmission infrastructure; (2) Deployment of distributed energy resources (DER) has primarily been based on feed-in-tariffs, a business model precluding the key defining feature of a microgrid, i.e. islanding; (3) The preferred methods to address the variability of renewables and increase power reliability lean towards cross-border trading and not towards localised microgrid
Ultimately, the advanced integration of the European market is shifting the focus from microgrids to VPPs. In fact, Europe is at the forefront of the adoption of VPP platforms with sophisticated capabilities that enable the integration of renewables and real-time energy trading to maximise the value of flexibility resources, while opening the door to new value streams to create markets for ancillary services.
Until recently, the business model for microgrids was an obstacle for many organisations, given the required costly capital expenditure and high financial risks associated with their construction and deployment. Now, new financing and operating mechanisms are reducing the barriers to organisations and communities, enabling more microgrids - and hence the sustainable energy transition - to become a reality.
Operating Model for a Smart Microgrid System (BABLE, 2021)
Since there are no specific regulations for microgrids in the European Union, it is necessary to first define key regulatory field of microgrids and link the existing European directives to these fields. The regulatory fields relevant to microgrids and the related directives are:
Renewable energies: considering renewable generation units within the microgrid, incl. measures fostering the integration of renewables, energy efficiency, and decarbonisation.
Regulations Renewable Energies (BABLE, 2021)
Grid connection: concerning distribution grid connection requirements for loads, generation units and energy storage devices.
Regulations Grid Connection (BABLE, 2021)
Self-consumption and energy storage: Conditions for delivering excess of production, possibility of use of storage systems, etc.
Regulations Self-Consumption and Energy Storage (BABLE, 2021)
All in all, the amount of regulation directly applying to microgrids for the EU is low, which also increases differences between regulations for microgrids in each member state. Nevertheless, the impact of some regulations as 2009/28/EC promoting renewable energies is considerable. To comply with the goals of European directives in line with microgrids, member states have implemented strategies based on economic incentives. The most common support scheme in the EU is based on Feed-in-Tariffs (FITs); however, there are other relevant incentives such as market premiums, green certificates and traditional tenders.
Data and Standards for a Smart Micogrid System (BABLE, 2021)
Energy
Building
The smart energy and self-sufficient block aims to reduce electric consumption in tertiary buildings through renewable energy, especially photovoltaic.
Energy
Microgrid management controller, designed to integrate disparate energy assets throughout single stakeholders to deliver improved energy performance within the areas of cost, CO2, flatten peak and effective use of low carbon generation.
Energy
ICT
A Virtual Power Plant energy management platform, providing the capability to city stakeholders to actively manage Distributed Energy Resource (generation, storage and load) from a single platform.
Energy
Energy storage system with Li-Ion batteries which provides bi-directional flexibility. It is aimed for dynamic cycling.
Energy
Mobility
ICT
An off-grid charging station was installed in the Hochschule Bochum as a pilot project, to harness solar power through a flexible and modular light EV docking station.
Energy
Overcoming insufficient power generation by including the Dunker solar plant to supply heat to a district that cannot produce enough renewable energy.
Approximately one-quarter of the energy price is owed by the transportation of the energy. The implementation of a local energy system can shift the energy production from a centralised system to a decentralised system.
The Electric Bus System is a public transportation system that is operated by electric buses only. Electric buses are not only environmentally beneficial, as they do not have any local emission, but due to their longer lifespan and lower operational costs, they can also be financially beneficial.
The current EU regulation on emissions for cars is the strictest worldwide. Along with further restrictions the thresholds cannot be meet with conventional cars only anymore. One alternative technology, reducing the local emissions, are electric vehicles.
According to the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), buildings are responsible for approximately 40% of energy consumption and 36% of CO2 emissions in the EU.
Smart streetlights enable the reduction of running expenses associated with public lighting by delivering several value-added services to cities and citizens.