Projects

Easy Smart Grid is Partnering up with various Organizations already

GELaZ – Easy Smart Grid technology for smart electric vehicle charging

Smart charging adapts to availability of volatile renewables, so EVs help to use more of them. It also means that EVs are not all charged simultaneously (e.g. immediately after arrival) to reduce grid strain. Easy Smart Grid technology allows to implement both with fully decentral control to keep EV owners in the “driver’s seat”. They set the constraints (such as arrival and leaving time), while the smart system coordinates all charging processes.

At three locations (Ludwigsburg, Reutlingen and Constance) existing parking sites will be upgraded with charging infrastructure. Easy Smart Grid contributes technology for decentralized real-time energy management using local energy markets. The objective is to demonstrate the benefit over more traditional approaches: much simpler coordination and preparation for future requirements, specifically dynamic tariffs to which EVs respond while their owners benefit financially. The project is funded by the Ministry for Environment and Energy of Baden-Württemberg, and ESG will collaborate with main project partners Reutlingen University, isc Konstanz, and several other associated partners.

SoLAR project – Cleaner and smarter energy system

Allensbach is a community on Lake Constance with just over 7000 inhabitants and strong ambitions for active climate protection. With a representative population density and residential building structure, it can - and wants to be - a model for a successful energy transition in Germany.

In the demonstration project “SoLAR” a real estate with 22 households will be equipped with Easy Smart Grid technology, supported by the Ministry of Environment and Energy of Baden-Wuerttemberg. Local PV and a CHP generation will be integrated with heat pumps, electric vehicle chargers and showcase household appliances to balance the volatility of renewables and minimize grid load. Easy Smart Grid technology creates a local energy market to maximize consumption of locally generated energy, while minimizing control and storage complexity and thus cost.

Other project partners:

EIfER, ISC Konstanz, Kaufmannbau, Weider, Stadtwerk Haßfurt, Gemeinde Allensbach, E3/DC, BSH Hausgeräte.

FUSE - FUture Smart Energy: Smart grid support

Future power grids must adapt to challenges of renewable energy: Wind and sun generation depend on weather and is produced at small scale and de-centrally. As a result, generation volatility and bidirectional energy flow require completely new information and communication technology (ICT).

The Finnish-German consortium (German partners funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy - BMWi) FUSE uses novel approaches such as artificial intelligence and local markets to monitor and optimize the grid and its maintenance.

Easy Smart Grid contributes its technology of decentralized demand management to this project to develop its capability to increase energy network efficiency and security of supply.

Mastering complex power grids - CoNDyNet2

More efficient power grids are essential for a successful energy transition. Innovation is needed to secure reliable power supply at high performance and maximum flexibility. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) therefore is funding CoNDyNet for another three years.

Scientists and industry partners work on 'Collective Nonlinear Dynamics of Complex Electricity Grids (CoNDyNet)' to develop criteria for stability, reliability, risks and market integration of future-proof power grids – supplied by renewable energy sources throughout Europe.

Main CoNDy-Net2 partners are Jacobs University Bremen, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS), Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ), TU Dresden, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and TU Clausthal. Other partners are DLR Institute for Networked Energy Systems Oldenburg, Siemens AG, Easy Smart Grid GmbH, Tennet, Transnet BW, Elena International and the University of Aarhus.

Collaboration with the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPIDS)

Göttingen (Prof. Dr. Marc. Timme, head, Network Dynamics)

Under the leadership of the (German) Federal Ministries for Education and Research (BMBF), for the Environment (BMU) and for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), a call for proposals has been launched in 2013. A consortium of five top-level research organizations in Germany as well as five application partners, iniated by the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (Prof. Dr. Marc. Timme, head, Network Dynamics and Dr. Dirk Witthaut, Project Leader Modern Power Grids) and coordinated by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research submitted a project proposal to analyze the Collective Nonlinear Dynamics of Complex Power Networks (CoNDyNet). One of the planned activities is the modelling and understanding of systems like those used in Easy Smart Grid and developing techniques to ensure stability.

http://www.maxplanck.me

Research cooperation with the Institute for Program Structures and Data Organization (IPD) at KIT

In cooperation with Dr.-Ing. Erik Buchmann, Institute for Program Structures and Data Organization from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), we use extensive simulations to develop and evaluate Easy Smart Grid algorithms that allow an optimal load balancing and pricing. Furthermore, we compare the Easy Smart Grid with energy auctions, optimization techniques and other conventional Smart Grid approaches.Dr.-Ing. Erik Buchmann is head of a Young Investigator Group and member of the Institute for Program Structures and Data Organization (IPD) at KIT. His research interests include the management and processing of any kinds of imprecise, individual-related, large-volume data sets, e.g., from wireless sensor networks, location-based systems or smart-grid installations, together with the impact on the privacy of the individuals concerned.

http://www.ipd.kit.edu

Research cooperation with EIFER (European Institute for Energy Research)

The European Institure for Energy Research EIFER (EIFER, EDF-KIT, EEIG) and Easy Smart Grid GmbH collaborate on a technical and economic study of decentralized frequency driven demand-side management.  Easy Smart Grid economic feature will be added to the existing UFLS (Under Frequency Load Shedding) fridge simulation realized by EIFER, in order to have a concrete quantification of the benefit/barriers of oru solution on a concrete example.

Besides, this study will also help us to value the flexibility potential that can be activated through the fridges (or other household appliances) and its influence to the penetration of renewable energy in the grid.

EIFER intends to work on economic analysis of decentralized frequency driven demand side management, especially on island systems and wishes to explore Easy Smart Grid approach to potentially enlarge its propositions.

More than ten years ago, EDF and the University of Karlsruhe (now: Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, KIT) decided to establish a common research institute devoted to energy and the environment in Karlsruhe, called EIFER, European Institute for Energy Research. Considered as the first R&D international center of the EDF Group, complementing the assets of the EDF Research & Development with around 2000 researchers, its mission is to develop a strong connection with the German academic institutes, mainly with KIT and build a high level German and European partnership network.

EIFER is a widely recognized research institute, with more than 110 employees from 14 different nationalities, developing a multidisciplinary know-how around the topics of “Sustainable Cities” and “Distributed Energy”, together with high level scientific and industrial partners, and contributing to several national and European public funded projects.

http://www.eifer.org