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Research and Innovation | News | 05/12/2017

FLEXCoop Grant

FLEXCoop Grant

HYPERTECH Energy Labs have been awarded a new R&D contract from the European Commission (Project Acronym: FLEXCoop) focusing on the development of novel solutions for the realization of highly effective demand response programmes in EU Energy Markets. Hypertech Energy Labs hold the role of the technical manager of the project and will coordinate the technical activities to be realized by an international consortium of renowned academic and industrial partners, led by the Fraunhofer FOKUS Germany) and actively involving ETRA, CIMNE, CIRCE and Som Energia (Spain), the Danish Technical University (Denmark), Grindrop (UK), Koncar KET (Croatia), Suite5 (Ireland), RESCOOP.EU and Merit (Belgium) and ODE (Netherlands).

FLEXCoop is a project co-funded by the European Commission under the H2020 Programme/ Topic LCE-01: Next generation innovative technologies enabling smart grids, storage and energy system integration with increasing share of renewables: distribution network. The project has officially been launched on October 1st 2017, its duration is 36 months and it has a total budget of €4M.

FLEXCoop introduces an end-to-end Automated Demand Response Optimization Framework. It enables the realization of novel business models, allowing energy cooperatives to introduce themselves in energy markets under the role of an aggregator. It equips cooperatives with innovative and highly effective tools for the establishment of robust business practices to exploit their microgrids and dynamic VPPs as balancing and ancillary assets toward grid stability and alleviation of network constraints.

Optimization in FLEXCoop applies to multiple levels. It spans local generation output, demand and storage flexibility, as well as the flexibility offered by EVs to facilitate maximum RES integration into the grid, avoidance of curtailment and satisfaction of balancing and ancillary grid needs. This is achieved via automated, human-centric demand response schemes with the participation of appropriately selected residential prosumers. To enhance prosumer acceptance, the FLEXCoop innovative services will feature non-intrusiveness, comfort and well-being preservation, non-violation of prosumer daily schedules as well as maximization of benefits through transparent and open participation in markets. It will also guarantee easy switching between DR service providers, vendor lock-in avoidance, customized DR service contracts and objective settlement and remuneration, thus establishing an energy democracy context and empowering prosumers to become active energy market players.

FLEXCoop brings together a wide range of baseline technologies to build an open and interoperable DR optimization framework, including a fully-fledged tool suite for energy cooperatives (aggregators) and prosumers involved in the DR value chain, ensuring: (i) DR stakeholders empowerment and transformation into active market players, (ii) end-to-end interoperability between energy networks, energy management systems and devices and (iii) the realization of new business models for energy cooperatives.

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