Analysis: community grids would allow for higher levels of renewable electricity microgeneration and empower local renewable energy projects
We rely on the grid to supply electricity when we need it, whenever we boil our kettle, cook our dinner and watch sport on TV. Electricity generation close to consumers such as roof-top solar panels, also known as microgeneration or distributed generation, as opposed to remote or central generation such as offshore windfarms, could disturb the local distribution of electricity to others. For example, the power flow in the local grid could reverse, which may cause issues in sub-stations.
To maintain undisturbed supply, grid operators such as ESB use statutory powers to limit the level of microgeneration in the area under their monopoly control and require approval for each connection of a microgenerator. In some countries, grid operators can temporarily reduce ("curtail") the output from solar panels remotely.
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The CosyGrid research group in TU Dublin is currently developing solutions that instead delegate such powers, and corresponding obligations, to the communities that host microgeneration. It is power to the people. As long as these community grids adhere to a defined set of rules, referred to as disturbance-neutrality rules, they can operate autonomously from grid operators, installing microgeneration without requiring permission from or relinquishing control to grid operators.
The rules cover everything from installation to real-time conditions ("disturbance") under which power flows should change ("neutralise the disturbance"). It not only applies to roof-top solar, but to any locally hosted renewable microgenerator technologies such as local community-owned wind farms or certain district heating technologies. It is a major step towards a truly de-centralised, de-monopolised, open market, renewable Smart Energy Grid, and towards the EU objective of increasing community engagement in energy transition.
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There are technological and regulatory challenges. Technically, to maintain disturbance-neutrality, the community must coordinate each one's electricity consumption or production 24/7 sometimes acting within seconds. This requires a high level of automation, especially at night when people sleep.
Two technologies are core to achieving this:
Trading energy within the community, resulting in smart contracts between peers in the community that, if properly executed, will avoid grid issues.
Smart home technologies such as SmartThings, Apple Home, Alexa and Nest allow manual and automated control over smart appliances in your home. These are used to automatically or manually execute smart contracts.
For example, as long as room temperatures stay within boundaries set by the smart thermostat, heat pumps can be turned on and off automatically by Alexa. This flexibility can be made available within the community grid.
Other examples are immersion heaters, ovens and fridges (can be interrupted for a few seconds without affecting the cooking or cooling cycle), dishwashers (can be temporarily suspended as long as it is finished when you want to have the dishes washed), electric vehicle charging (as long as the car is charged on time) and more. Smart home technology is fast becoming more and more ubiquitous and powerful. Standards such as SAREF4ENER and Matter are continuously adding energy management capabilities to smart appliances.
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Crucially, delegating powers to the community means the community decides how to cooperate with each other. Solar will only be curtailed if available flexibility in consumption has been exhausted, and the technology is owned by the community rather than grid operator or intermediates (so-called aggregators). Community ownership enables open systems that use off-the-shelf components such as SmartThings which can also be used for other applications such as security and health.
The resulting improved economy incentivises more investment in smart home technology, thereby increasing the flexibility available which in its turn increases the level of solar that can be supported. Autonomous community grids allow for higher levels of renewable microgeneration that can compete with other generator technologies such as off-shore wind farms, making local community-led renewable energy projects more feasible.
Delegating powers to the community means the community decides how to cooperate with each other.
Community grids are an Irish invention and do not exist anywhere yet. The concept was introduced to the public in a 2018 SEAI funded research project, winning the SEAI Research Award. Right now, the CosyGrid research team are focusing on removing technological and regulatory obstacles.
We have developed the theoretical foundation for autonomy and an experimental cloud-based system for community grids, called CosyGrid. It is currently demonstrating a live peer-to-peer market for a community in Santry, north Dublin as part of the SEAI-funded ESHER project. In the H2020-funded (EU) Auto-DAN project, CosyGrid will automate the trading by using SmartThings and HomeWhiz Smart Home solutions, which will be demonstrated in six renewable energy communities across Ireland, Italy and Spain.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
