Our Solution - FLEXcoop Project

FLEXCoop solution
A tool suite for cooperative and prosumers to aggregate and sell flexibility
A tool for aggregators

The FLEXCoop solution will enable Energy Cooperatives/ Aggregators to
Accurately forecast Demand Response potential and demand flexibility of prosumers
Continuously monitor the evolution of Demand Response (DR) events and signals and revise pre-defined strategy through an open and semantically enhanced DER registry.
Negotiate with individual Decentralised Energy Resources (DER) owners on the terms (frequency, duration, capacity) of flexibility activation.
Ensure objective DR settlement and prosumer remuneration based on a properly adapted Performance Measurement and Verification methodology.
Ultimately, optimize cooperative-operated microgrids and DER portfolios using appropriate optimization algorithms embedded in the FLEXCoop Global Demand Manager.
A tool for prosumers
The FLEXCoop solution will enable Prosumers to
Increase their awareness and knowledge of their consumption patterns
Increase their local intelligence via the Energy Management and Control Decision Support framework that locally optimises demand response.
Optimise self-consumption by leveraging cost-effective storage solutions.
Obtain the best energy deal through access to suitable open infrastructures (i) FLEXCoop Decentralised Energy Resources Registry (ii) FLEXCoop open and transparent marketplace
A smart solution based on 'Big Data'
FLEXCoop will establish an “open” big data management framework.
To achieve this, the project will develop an innovative suite of tools, services and applications based on end-to-end interoperability between energy networks, building energy management systems and end-consumer devices towards establishing an “open” big data management framework.

Thus FLEXCoop will deliver, the FLEXCoop Open Smart Box (OSB) device for energy management at the house level and a platform, enabling interoperable communication among a variety of heterogeneous sources and collection, processing and management of consumers data.
The tool suite
The following tools will enable REScoops to take the role of aggregator

The Middleware
The Middleware acts as a central communication hub between all components and allows a heterogeneous software landscape.
The Open Smart Box
The OSB gathers ambient sensor information and usage data which are then used by the forecasting and profiling components. These components enable the FLEXCoop system to determine the flexibility that can be offered for each household without reducing the comfort of the inhabitants.
The Prosumer Visualisation Toolkit
The Prosumer Visualisation Toolkit enables the Prosumer to monitor the status of its connected DERs as well as its current contracting options and demand response events triggered by the Aggregator.
The Visualization Aggregator Toolkit
The Visualization Aggregator Toolkit provides views, specific for the Aggregator role. It supports the Aggregator by its task to balance demand and production and visualizes the contractual offers to the Prosumers.
The Open Marketplace and the DER Registry
The Open Marketplace and the DER Registry are the background services that enable contracting and DER device handling inside the FLEXCoop architecture. All connected DERs report their status to the DER registry. The Open Marketplace is the core component for contracting. It combines the available flexibility options with the connected DERs into contracts between Aggregator and Prosumer.
Supporting cooperative aggregators
FLEXCoop offers an end-to-end interoperable demand response framework
How It Works
...from the smart plug for flexible devices to the best suited location in the network!

1
Prosumer
Connected devices like heat pumps or electric vehicles are equiped with controls and can anticipate/delay/cancel their consumption. These smart appliances provide flexibility
At the home level, the OSB gathers the information from connected devices and send it to the Aggregator.
2
Aggregator
At district level, the cooperative plays the role of Aggregator.
It gathers information from all its Decentralised Energy Resources (DER) and calculates the overall amount of flexibility that it will be able to use or sell. A marketplace enables prosumer to choose among more than one Aggregator.
3
Flexibility users
The aggregated flexibility is then used or sold by the aggregator. This flexibility can be sold to different system actors:
- the Distribution System Operator (DSO) for congestion management;
- the wholesale market where demand response can be highly valorised when little energy is available;
- the TSO who should ensure that consumption equals production at all time in the grid and can use demand response to balance the system.
What is Demand Response?
Valorising consumers flexibility in the energy transition

The energy transition sees the multiplication of decentralised energy resources (mainly wind turbines and solar panels). New generation appears where there were only consumers before. Moreover the availability of these resources depends on weather conditions.

In this context, the capability of energy consumers to modify their consumption according to the status of the grid is more and more valuable. Being able to decrease (or increase) your consumption upon request may help stabilise the grid, may support the network congestion management, or simply help source electricity at the right time, when it is cheaper and cleaner. Here is how:
1. Adapting to the availability or shortage of renewable energy. (consuming when there is sun and wind). i.e. adapt to the quantity of energy. This happens when consumption is pushed towards the hours of energy production

2. Maintaining the overall grid stability (frequency and voltage) - by consuming less when frequency or voltage drops. i.e. support the quality of electricity

3. Reducing the need in infrastructure investment by avoiding ‘peaks’ (an electric cable – like a water pipe – should be as big as the maximum flow it will receive; reducing the consumption peaks enables to reduce investment in the infrastructure) i.e. optimise the use of the infrastructure
The European Commission defines Demand Response as "the change of electricity load by final customers from their normal or current consumption patterns in response to market signals, including time-variable electricity prices, or incentive payments, or in response to acceptance of the final customer's bid alone or through aggregation, to sell demand reduction or increase at a price in organised markets." (Electricity Directive Proposal).

Demand Response correspond to this set of activities enabling consumers to adapt their consumption to make a better use of our energy system by reducing our needs for infrastructure and consuming clean energy when it is available.