ExpectedOutcome:
Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:
- Develop an independent, EU-validated flexibility and peer-to-peer trading solution for consumers willing to engage in such operations, to the benefit of the integration of Distributed Energy Resources (such as solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles, but also demand-response and flexible heat pumps and heaters considered as a resource) within the electricity network.
- Such an alternative should be open source, freely accessible, free of IPR, easy to maintain, and ensure that the final ownership of the tools can remain in community hands, and that these tools are available for reuse.
- Increase consumer engagement and tool’s acceptability.
- Illustrate the relevant services that are supported by this peer-to-peer trading platform (flexibility services for TSO, DSO, self-consumption).
- Ensure policies of operations, integration and usage of blockchain technologies and underlying data for all stakeholders.
- Ensure interoperability and contribute to standardisation of blockchain energy applications
Scope:
The activities include, but are not limited to:
- Defining the core operations that a flexibility and peer-to-peer trading platform should execute in order to:
- Guarantee optimal valorisation and integration of DER (such as solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles, but also demand-response and flexible heat pumps and heater considered as a resource) within the electricity network.
- Take into account network constraints, including through the use of price signals to foster flexibility.
- Meet the local consumers’ needs and characteristics.
- Developing an AI-based software that uses machine learning processes to integrate core operations and local grid constraints (including when channelled through price signals) in order to adapt to variations and changes in grid conditions.
- Testing and simulation cases for blockchain-based trading operations following an agile methodology with the objective to get a fully functional trading tool within the project lifetime. The design of the platform should reflect the multi-actor, open-ended nature of decentralised use of energy. Proposals should account for a complex system change process, and prescribe evolutionary pathways for the platforms, account for their socio-technical interdependencies, and define and validate feasible entry points.
- Developing field studies in citizen energy communities / renewable energy communities to integrate bottom-up approaches.
- Setting rules for using the tool
- Involving energy cooperatives or citizen energy communities (see Article 16 of the Commission’s Directive 2019/944 on common rules for the internal market for electricity (IEMD)) / renewable energy communities (see Article 22 of the Commission’s Directive 2018/2001 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (RED II)) in each selected project and ensure that the final ownership of these tools can remain in community hands, and that they are available for reuse (a particular consideration will be taken with respect to data security and potential related restrictions thereof).
- Developing an open, available and operational platform to strengthen business models, and define which these business models are.
- Exploring and comparing advantages / disadvantages of existing and new market making methods (Order Book-based systems and Liquidity pool-based Automated Market Makers) for a peer-to-peer energy exchange.
- The project should be developed by taking into account both a technology performance perspective and a long-term sustainability roadmap.
The developed solutions should be freely available to citizens, energy cooperatives and citizen/renewable energy communities.
Solutions should be developed and made available as Open-Source solutions, while making sure that contributors are recognised and fairly compensated, respecting well defined rules and within a network of trusted data, which guarantees security and sovereignty of data and services.
The selected projects will cooperate and with other relevant projects through regular common workshops, exchange of non-confidential reports, etc.
The selected projects, especially those that are testing peer-to-peer feasibility in real conditions and environments (such as living labs or other types of sandbox initiatives), are expected to contribute to the BRIDGE initiative[1], actively participate to its activities and allocate up to 2% of their budgets to that end. Additional contributions to the ‘Alliance for Internet of Things Innovation’ (AIOTI) and other relevant activities (e.g. clusters of digital projects and coordinating actions) might be considered, when relevant.
Solutions should be developed considering integration into existing power markets where appropriate. The selected projects should associate energy regulators in their governance and should preferably be located in the territory of EU Member States/Associated countries where few peer-to-peer energy trading pilot projects have been setup so far.
This topic requires the effective contribution of SSH disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts, institutions as well as the inclusion of relevant SSH expertise, in order to produce meaningful and significant effects enhancing the societal impact of the related research activities. This is all the more important in the project at hand that a modification of consumers incentives (through price-signals for instance) can trigger changes of behaviour, which in turn can have positive effects on the electricity system, and interesting applications in terms of flexibility services, optimization of use of excess RE production, as well as congestion management.
Specific Topic Conditions:
Activities are expected to achieve TRL 6-8 by the end of the project – see General Annex B.
[1]https://www.h2020-bridge.eu/
