The consortium

Brief profile

TenneT is a leading European transmission system operator. The company plans, builds, maintains and operates the high-voltage and extra-high-voltage grid in the Netherlands and large parts of Germany.

Objective

TenneT aims to make decentralised, small-scale flexibilities such as electric vehicles, home storage batteries and heat pumps usable for the grid by connecting data spaces across sectors. The aim is to create a scalable and secure market mechanism that enables the integration, control and remuneration of these flexibilities – for more efficient congestion management and lower overall costs.

Motivation

TenneT wants to cope with increasing demands in the event of grid congestion and actively support the energy transition. The use of decentralised, small-scale flexibilities can reduce dependence on large power plants, optimise grid costs and contribute to ensuring system stability. The project enables innovation and creates the basis for standardised, future-proof processes in a data-driven energy industry.

Project role

TenneT is the consortium leader for the project. The company is responsible for overall coordination and technical project management, and provides both expertise and infrastructure. TenneT is also responsible for design, piloting and evaluation in its own control area, manages communication with project partners and ensures compliance with technical and regulatory requirements.

Contribution

TenneT develops and pilots market-oriented call-off processes, designs the coupling and interoperability of data spaces, shapes the market design and monitoring, defines the regulatory requirements and manages the implementation of practical tests. In addition, TenneT contributes existing platforms, studies and its network, evaluates the results and derives concrete recommendations for action.

Brief profile

Avacon is one of Germany’s largest regional network operators and energy suppliers and a subsidiary of E.ON. The company sees itself as a partner for regional energy solutions in the areas of electricity, gas, water, heating, cooling, mobility and lighting. With its intelligent energy networks, Avacon reliably supplies more than one million customers with energy. Its supply area stretches from the Northsea coast to southern Hesse and from the Dutch border to Saxony-Anhalt.

Objective

In the DataFleX project, Avacon is implementing a large-scale pilot of market-oriented Redispatch 3.0 for the first time and integrating a congestion management tool for low voltage into its network. To this end, Avacon is using its smart model region of Lüneburg. In this way, the company is contributing to a new market design that integrates decentralised, small-scale flexibility throughout the entire process chain.

Motivation

Avacon wants to ensure that the energy transition remains affordable for everyone. Flexible tariffs can ease the financial burden on customers. At the same time, the so-called flex band enables Avacon, as a grid operator, to adapt grid expansion to actual conditions.

Project role

As a consortium partner, Avacon is involved in shaping the market design and linking the participating data spaces. The company is also testing practical implementation in a model region in order to identify success factors and possible obstacles.

Contribution

Avacon brings first-class expertise in energy industry processes and a modern, smart infrastructure to the project. It also supports the establishment of the flexband as a congestion management tool to ensure grid stability.

Brief profile

d-fine is a European consulting firm that focuses on analytical and quantitative challenges and the development of sustainable technological solutions. With over 1,500 employees with backgrounds in science and many years of practical experience, the company is able to deliver tailor-made, efficient and sustainable solutions. More than 500 customers from all sectors of the economy and the public sector benefit from these services.

Objective

Within the framework of DataFleX, d-fine is responsible for the IT-related design and implementation of the operational mechanism for calling up flexibilities.

Motivation

The flexibility retrieval mechanism is being developed jointly within the consortium. d-fine is contributing its extensive professional and technical expertise and testing the mechanism in practice. In addition, the project will result in attractive economic opportunities for all partners.

Project role

d-fine is responsible for managing several sub-work packages, both in terms of technical specification and IT implementation.

Contribution

d-fine brings in-depth energy market expertise and extensive experience in the implementation of complex IT projects using new and established technologies to the project.

Brief profile

The FfE – Forschungsstelle für Energiewirtschaft (Research Centre for Energy Economics) – is a non-profit association and has been a central institution for energy research in Germany for over 75 years. An interdisciplinary team of over 70 experts works on current and future-relevant issues in energy technology and energy economics with a practical focus. The focus is on the challenges of the energy transition and the development of sustainable energy systems.

Objective

In the project, the FfE is developing concepts for coupling existing data spaces and working on a market design for Redispatch 3.0 that integrates decentralised, small-scale flexibilities, minimises strategic bidding behaviour and enables secure grid operator coordination through monitoring and grid state forecasts.

Motivation

Rising costs for congestion management and the loss of fossil fuel capacities require the efficient use of decentralised, small-scale flexibilities. The newly developed market-based approaches and digital solutions are intended to tap into this decentralised potential and drive the energy transition forward in a cost-efficient manner.

Project role

As a scientific partner, the FfE is responsible for the methodological development of the use cases and the conception of the market design. In addition, it develops monitoring and forecasting models, coordinates workshops, carries out simulations and evaluates user acceptance in a field trial.

Contribution

The FfE provides key research results for the project. These include a robust market design, monitoring strategies for detecting strategic bidding behaviour, machine learning models for grid state forecasts and recommendations for action for operator models. In this way, the FfE is laying the foundation for the scalable integration of decentralised, small-scale flexibilities.

Brief profile

The FGH – Forschungsgemeinschaft für elektrische Anlagen und Stromwirtschaft (Research and Development Network in the Electricity and Power Industry) – has been a recognised pioneer and implementer of future energy technology topics in close cooperation with its member companies, customers and partners for over 100 years. The FGH is actively shaping the successful transformation of electricity grids as part of the energy transition. With research projects, software tools for grid calculation, disturbance analysis and redispatch optimisation, as well as comprehensive grid and system studies, it effectively and efficiently supports the work of German and European transmission and distribution system operators.

Objective

The FGH wants to ensure the integration of the developed data spaces and market concepts into the existing operational congestion management processes of transmission system operators.

Motivation

The DataFleX project aims to test initial interfaces to the flexibilities to be mapped in the future in the software tools used operationally by transmission system operators. On this basis, success factors and obstacles for later use in regular operation can be derived.

Project role

For the pilot phase, the FGH is developing methods and software tools that allow the models developed in the project to be evaluated using evaluation calculations.

Contribution

The existing optimisation software is being expanded so that decentralised, small-scale flexibilities and market effects can be mapped. On this basis, flexibility calls can be evaluated with the aid of evaluation calculations in terms of their grid utility and economic benefits (through possible redispatch savings).

Brief profile

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (Fraunhofer Society) is the largest organisation for applied research in Europe and is represented in the project by the following institutes and topics:
• Fraunhofer IEE (energy management, energy informatics, forecasts and grid studies)
• Fraunhofer FIT (data verification, data governance and economic evaluation)
• Fraunhofer IAO (integration of electromobility and real-world laboratories)
• Fraunhofer IOSB-AST (energy industry, flexibility, interoperability and data spaces)

Objective

Fraunhofer aims to link the existing data spaces of the energy and automotive sectors – energy data-X and Catena-X – and integrate decentralised, small-scale flexibilities into a market-based Redispatch 3.0. In addition, data-based monitoring and mitigation concepts are being developed to counteract strategic bidding behaviour.

Motivation

As a research institute, Fraunhofer aims to put the latest scientific findings into practice in order to make decentralised, small-scale flexibility secure, efficient and cost-effective. This should reduce grid congestions and system costs while increasing security of supply. In addition, data exchange across multiple data spaces will be demonstrated in practice for the first time.

Project role

Fraunhofer is responsible for linking the data spaces as well as identity and access management and data verification. Fraunhofer is also taking on tasks in flexibility aggregation and market design, with a focus on the design and development of a monitoring system.

Contribution

Fraunhofer is contributing existing real-world laboratories in the areas of electromobility, data spaces and platform connectivity, and is expanding these with research content and innovations from the project for practical implementation. This draws on experience from projects such as energy data-X, FACTORY-X, LamA, BANULA, idFlexNetz, DEER, ID-Ideal, InDEED and Redispatch 3.0. In addition, a laboratory installation is being set up to test communication and control processes.

Brief profile

Siemens AG is a leading technology company focused on industry, infrastructure and mobility. The company’s mission is to develop technologies that improve everyday life for everyone. By connecting the real and digital worlds, Siemens helps its customers accelerate their digital and sustainable transformation. This makes factories more efficient, cities more liveable and transport more sustainable.

Objective

Siemens’ overall objective in the project addresses the current challenges in managing available grid capacities. DataFleX enables the integration of decentralised, small-scale flexibilities into grid operation by linking existing data spaces across sectors. The project is developing a blueprint for an operational flexibility mechanism that will enable scalable control of these assets in the distribution grid for the first time.

Motivation

The commercial exploitation of the project results opens up strategic opportunities for Siemens to expand its digitalisation portfolio. The developed federated data space and the associated ecosystem can be seamlessly integrated into Siemens’ Xcelerator digitalisation and platform strategy. Proprietary platforms such as Electrification X, Gridscale X and Building X can be incorporated into DataFleX.

Project role

Siemens is leading work package 2, which implements the use case for integrating decentralised small-scale flexibilities as part of the IT implementation.

Contribution

Siemens is contributing to the project as a technology supplier for buildings, infrastructure and power grids. A particular focus is on the economic and technical exploitation of the project results.

Brief profile

TransnetBW is a transmission system operator that secures the electricity supply for around eleven million people in Baden-Württemberg and beyond. The company operates, maintains, optimises and expands the electricity grid in line with demand, thereby creating the infrastructure for the energy transition. The grid covers an area of 34,600 square kilometres and is available to all players in the electricity market on a non-discriminatory basis and at market conditions.

Objective

With DataFleX, TransnetBW will drive forward the integration of decentralised flexibility from electric vehicles, home storage systems and heat pumps into the transmission grid and tap into new potential for grid congestion management. To this end, scalable technical solutions and market design will be further developed. The aim is to demonstrate technical feasibility and utilise flexibility potential for the benefit of the grid – as a contribution to security of supply and an efficient future energy system.

Motivation

TransnetBW is already successfully operating projects in which decentralised flexibility from electric vehicles, heat pumps and PV home storage systems is systematically integrated into the energy system. In the DataFleX project, TransnetBW is linking previously separate data spaces across sectors and scaling this approach to a larger scale. This involves the use of the company’s own DA/RE redispatch platform and automated data exchange processes between aggregators and grid operators. The aim is to tap into new potential for redispatch and thus efficiently support the energy transition.

Project role

As a full partner, TransnetBW is responsible for large-scale piloting in the model region of Baden-Württemberg. The company is working closely with distribution system operators and aggregators. In addition, it contributes its expertise in the coupling of data spaces and the further development of market design.

Contribution

TransnetBW is piloting the fully automated, end-to-end use of decentralised flexibilities for redispatch in the model region of Baden-Württemberg. To this end, existing platforms are being used and rolling, plan-based processes from previous projects and studies are being further developed. In addition, TransnetBW is developing a scalable, tailor-made market design with complementary monitoring methods, working on concepts for the interoperability of data spaces and conducting a field trial to test decentralised machine identities (SSI).