FOR MORE INFORMATION: NEWSLETTER #01 2015 · 2015. 6. 13. · mechatronics and enertronics fi elds. Mecatronics combines the funda-mentals of mechanical , electrical, power electronics

CHIEF EDITOR: SANTI MARTÍNEZ FARRERO EDITOR: BERNT A BREMDAL

«SMART RURAL» MEANS CATCHING THE FUTURE, BRINGING URBAN ELECTRICAL QUALITY TO RURAL AREAS. THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT THIS PROJECT WILL DO.

NEWSLETTER #01 2015ALSO AVAILABLE ON: FOR MORE INFORMATION: WWW.SMARTRURALGRID.EU

The Smart Rural Grid Project is ending its first year. Read all about the state of progress.Get to know some of our key people and their work. The European Association of Independent Utilities supports the project. The person behind the Digital Grid, Professor Rikiya Abe is following us. Read more inside.�

INTRODUCTION:

CONTENT:

The Smart Rural Grid Newsletter is an official publication of the Smart Rural Grid Project, www.smart ruralgrid.eu. The project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, techno-logical development and demonstration under grant agreement no. 619610. Note that the content in this newsletter expresses the sole opinion of the project and not the EU Commission.

ALSO AVAILABLE ON: FOR MORE INFORMATION: WWW.SMARTRURALGRID.EU

«Fun Facts» about the project

Santi Martinez is the CEO of Estabanell y Pahisa Energia (EYPESA) and project leader of the Smart Rural Grid project.

EYPESA has a network of over 1.100 km from Camprodon to Granollers in Catalonia and services more than 56.000 power customers. The company operates two substa-tions where it connects to the trans-mission network at 220kV, distrib-uting electricity through more than 800 secondary substations. EYPE-SA combines the roles of Distribu-tion Systems Operator (DSO) and retailer, in the electricity domain. As telecom operator it provides dark fi ber and PLC based telecommuni-cations. The main business activity is electricity distribution, but since the last ten years it has collaborated with several technological sectors to test and develop new telecommu-nication technologies over the MV grid using PLC (Power Line Com-munications). Together with ZIV Communication and other partners in Work Package 4 EYPESA will continue to push frontiers in this area too. Mr. Martinez is a rare type of leader who combines a business

oriented mind and determination with a translucent vision and a good portion of personal charisma. That is also why all project members address him simply as “ Santi”.

With a university degree in business administration and in marketing and with a career background from high-tech companies like Phillips he is the guarantee that the research work conducted in the project has a sharp business edge. In 2014 he has held alone or together

with EYPESA’s smart grid expert, Ramon Gallart, more than 14 key note speeches in different forums across Europe. His dedication to the project is outstanding and his restless effort a key asset to the progress of the project. •

Read more about EYPESA here: www.estabanell.cat

• People from Spain, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Austria and UK are members of the project team.

• The IDPR can operate in 4 modes.

• More than 20 presentations about the project has been held in 2014 across all of Europe.

• Two external companies have already shown interest in commercial exploitation of key results.

• Our website has been visited 8591 times.

• Spaniards, Americans and Norwegians are the three nationalities that show most interest in our project.

• 38% of the visitors call again.

• 460 tweets have been produced.

• 151 followers on Twitter.

• The largest energy audience reached with one tweet counted 13461.

CEO and project leader Santi Martinez (to the right) in a typical setting in 2014, moderating a panel at Utility Week after introducing the Smart Rural Grid concept.

NEWSLETTER #01 2015 PAGE 2



The most central element in the Smart Rural Grid concept is the IDPR.

The IDPR is a power router, a device that can be used to con-trol the energy fl ow for differ-ent purposes. It can be applied for residential low power

applications as well as in multi- megawatt transmissions. The power transferred can range from several watts to gigawatts. An essential aspect of the IDPR is what is called energy packet transmission. The idea of energy packets has been derived from the ICT-domain where the concept of data packets was invented to manage data transmis-sion in computer networks. A router like the IDPR can communicate with similar routers and exchange energy between cells in a controlled manner along regular transmission lines.

A power router like the IDPR can contain a complete network area with consumers and distribut-ed production and storage. The IDPR can also improve the power quality from the energy provided by renewable sources. It will increase the renewable power share in the electricity system, thus preventing

cascading outages, accommodating identifi able tagged electricity fl ows, and recording those transactions. These functions can also support electricity trading in novel ways. Moreover, it is able to use stored en-ergy to compensate the fl uctuation of output power in tactical ways.

Four different modesThe Smart Rural Grid concept re-quires that the IDPR is able to oper-ate in four different modes. In mode 1 the network cell controlled by the IDPRs is connected to the main medium voltage grid. In this state the routers are subordinated central control and cannot form a grid. Operation in planned island mode is called Mode 2. In this case an IDPR takes charge and the cell is discon-nected from the main grid. Mode 3 is similar to mode 2. In both cases the pilot network is disconnected from the medium voltage grid. When there is a blackout as a result of an external grid failure, the IDPRs ensure that the pilot network in the cell restarts. In particular, when the electrical network has to restore the service, it is relevant to manage the way how to ramp up the voltage in order to avoid the inrush phenome-non of the transformers, which can bring down the system again. In this operation mode the IDPRs are forming a grid and one of the IDPRs is the master. The rest are slaves. Mode 4 is based on the isolation of the internal failure and the resto-ration of all medium voltage grids without the faulted part.

First prototype readyThe fi rst IDPR prototype is now ready to be tested and the man leading the development team, Professor Andreas Sumper is very positive about the result. Simula-tions carried out have shown very encouraging results. They show very much what is to be expected.

Professor Sumper is confi dent: “It has been proved that the power fl ows between the different branch-es and cells can be fully controlled. Simulation results show that the concept is plenty applicable. Furthermore, the experimental measurements prove that this kind of device can be used”. Early results were published at the IEEE ISGT conference in Istanbul last fall.

CITCEA-UPCDr. Andreas Sumper is associate professor at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) in Barcelona and with the re-search organization CITCEA. Created in 2001, CITCEA-UPC belongs to UPC and is devoted to research, innovation and tech-nological transfer to the industry. The group activity is focused on mechatronics and enertronics fi elds. Mecatronics combines the funda-mentals of mechanical , electrical, power electronics and computer engineering. Enertronics is the synergistic combination of electronic signal and power, computing and control systems. •

Read more about CITCEA-UPC here: www.citcea.upc.edu



Although an expressed aim of the Smart Rural Grid project is to create a profound impact on the energy business and its players it is also important to create a firm bearing for social development.

Text: Santi Martínez Farrero:

It should be pretty obvious that electric energy underpins the entire society and any change related to this will influence the way towns, cities and nations develop. A technology divide is often referred to as the gap between different demographic groups and regions that have easy access to modern technology, and those that have not. In the 20th century the telephone and TV created a technology divide. A recent form of technological divide that has created a division between countries and people stems from digital technologies that often have had a disruptive impact on society.According to Wikipedia a digital divide is an economic and social inequality according to categories of persons in a given population in their access to, use of, or knowl-edge of information and commu-nication technologies (ICT). The technology divide that was caused by the telephone and TV during the past century was rooted in socio-economic and cultural differences. Not everybody could afford these things. A similar divide came with the introduction of the Internet. This was referred to by the Clin-ton administration in Washington DC as the First Digital Divide. This was linked to digital illiteracy and lack of Internet access. The divide emphasized the difference between rich and poor countries. But it also drew a line between young and old people. The first decade of the 21st century introduced a new kind of gap. Those who had access to ro-bust broadband services and could

be connected 24 hours a day did not only consume information, but started to produce their own. They would also interact continuously with others. In this group uploads soon surpassed downloads. However, those with costly, temporary access remained consumers and excluded from the inner circle of net-based socialisation. This phenomenon has been called the Second Digital Divide.

A new splitNowadays we are facing the possibility of a new split between those that have and those that have not, caused by the inception of the Smart Grid. We call this the Third Digital Divide. The Third Digital Divide will differentiate between the citizens able to make use of the services provided by the digital en-ergy society, and the ones beyond the boundaries of the Smart Grid. If the Third Digital Divide occurs it will be geographically related. If smart grid technologies are not suited to the needs of the rural areas and remains a city oriented push then we will see a development where people in urban and city areas in the future will enjoy benefits unavailable for those living in the country side. If the Third Digital divide is likely to put social advances in rural areas to a halt and accelerate migration of people to well-supported urban areas. The reason is, of course, that advanced ICT technologies define the difference between the existing grid and the Smart Grid. As soon as the ICT part is in place it can also support a number of different services within diverse areas such as media, entertainment, health care and education. This opens up for unprecedented possibilities, but also for a breakdown of costs that makes investments in smart grid solutions more attractive. The Smart Rural Grid project is concerned with

such issues. By developing a smart grid solution for the areas beyond the cities the Third Digital Divide can be bridged.

Stakeholders beyond the energy domainStakeholders that represent users beyond the energy domain are therefore of significant interest. The Smart Rural Grid project has opened a series of debates with stakeholders representing two principal domains that can help to even out the divide. One group represents the health sector and the other the education system. It is essential to understand their needs in terms of digitalization, and the expected impact if broadband asso-ciated with smart grid development is deployed. When members of the project consortium approached physicians in an urban hospital it was learned that doctors here are more concerned about the mobility of patients than about distance. Packed streets in densely populated regions can be a challenge. How-ever, in rural areas remoteness is a prime concern. As a consequence project management is currently setting up a meeting with one of the main hospitals in the Pyrenees, the one at Puigcerdà. Already, it has been established that medical personnel highlights the potential of social systems and net based telephone systems like Skype for long distance interactions with pa-tients or their family. The possibility of using Facebook on-demand has been stressed, since this can boost the support groups for patients suffering from depression or any mental illness related to loneliness. Tele- and ICT-based medical moni-toring can be enhanced by bringing high capacity broadband into rural areas. New ways of teaching can be introduced with proper ICT support. On-line studies, for instance, require



The fi eld demonstration in the project will take place in the area of Vallfogona de Ripollès which is situated in Catalonia in Spain, one and a half hour drive from Barcelona.

Two hours travelling further north-west will take you to Andorra. The village is beautifully set among the hills that create a green edge below the majestic Pyrenees. This little municipality constitutes a typical rural area in Catalonia and as such it has much in common with similar places in other counties.

The coastline of Ireland, the moun-tains of France, Switzerland and Austria, the Karpatian region of Poland, the Baltic states and most of Scandinavia and Finland – all share some of the topographic and demographic characteristics of Vallfogona Vallfogona de Ripollès. A successful fi eld test here will be relevant for an extensive part of Europe. The population of Vallfog-ona de Ripollès with its hundred inhabitants or so has high hopes for the future and is determined to create an area where also next generations can live and prosper.

A smart rural grid can introduce to Vallfogona de Ripollès and similar areas, not only a stable and sus-tainable supply of energy, but cater for new services supported by the same ICT infrastructure that con-trols the energy fl ow. It can help the inhabitants become local produc-ers by means of solar energy and

other sources that can be operated locally. To put it short, people under-stand that social development can follow technological developments if the opportunity is seized. Already the municipality of Vallfogona can offer superb facilities for families

with children. A modern school and excellent sports amenities centrally placed among the stone and brick houses of this picturesque village leave an impression of old traditions blended with modern assertiveness. Add friendly and determined inhab-itants and you have a recipe for effi cacious future development. •

Follow this lovely communityon Twitter, connect with @Vallfogona.

suffi cient capacity as content will be multimedia based. Contact with the e-entertainment community has also been established. They have similar needs in order to reach people in more remote areas. An exploitation strategy should be adopted whereby

new services for stakeholders in such regions can be combined with a smart grid development. A syndi-cated approach whereby modern ICT in energy supply offers the foun-dation for a suite of services that can bring down costs and increase

the revenue potential, but beyond all bring amenities to the rural areas which are guaranteed in cities and urban areas by other means. If so, we believe that the Third Digital Divide will be bridged. •



Dr. Rikiya Abe is a professor and Presidential Endowed Chair of Electric Power Network In-novation by Digital Grid at the University of Tokyo in Japan.

Professor Abe is a well-known educator, scientist and speaker. He has had a signifi cant infl u-ence on energy systems devel-opment over

the years and has been featured at many distinguish events, including the World Economic Forum and technical meetings like IEEE and ISPE International. In 2012 he was featured in the IEEE Spectrum, a world leading magazine on the latest technology news. Professor Abe has pioneered the Digital Grid. The Digital Grid is constituted by several cells, which are connected to each other asynchronously, via IP addressed converters. The Smart Rural Grid is relating to this concept

through the development of its intel-ligent power router.

We are honored to have Professor Abe as a member of our TAG. He is a great supporter of the Smart Rural Grid and his encouragements mean a lot. With his permission we publish a quote about the Smart Rural Grid that he made at the end of last year:

“Conventional grid architecture was designed more than one hundred years ago. It expands gradually and supplies reliable electric power to almost half of the world. For the rest of the world, however, 1.3 billion people have no access to the electricity and 2 to 4 billion people has very weak access to the grid. The Smart Rural Grid concept is becoming very important for the people who live in these weak grid and off-grid areas.

Yet, this concept may become important in advanced countries, too. In Japan, a new feed-in tariff program was introduced in 2013

and 70 GW PV installation plan was approved in almost one year. This amount was more than 40% of Japanese maximum demand of 160 GW. It is very diffi cult to accept such unstable PV power in the current grid. Power companies refuse assessment for the moment. We should develop a Smart Rural Grid architecture which can absorb PV power and divide from the main grid by means of a power router. We developed Digital Grid concept, which is similar to Smart Rural Grid. We think this offers a good solution to the problem. •

See also this video on Professor Abe’s vision for the Digital Grid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhoEvA9JTkM

Smart Rural Grid reports published in 2014DATE TITLE OF REPORT

23/04/2014 D1.1 Quality Plan,

5/5/2014 D2.1 Specifi cation of electrical network suitable for the device installation.

5/5/2014 D2.2 Specifi cation of the operation environment.

5/5/2014 D8.1 The Project Web Site.

16/05/2014 D1.2 Risk management and contingency plan

30/6/2014 D3.1 IDPR Conceptual Design.

1/7/2014 D2.3 Specifi cations for a resilient electrical operation.

31/7/2014 D2.4 Data and values specifi cations, managing procedures, v1.

31/7/2014 D4.1 Specifi cations of PLC and Wireless Transmission System.

26/9/2014 D5.1 Database concept: Database for managing controllable assets and grid topology.



The KISTERS Group is a market leader with over 25 years of experience in energy and water management solution.

The group headquarter is in Aachen, Germany. And its global footprint is strengthened by 12 subsid-iaries located in Europe,

US, Australia, New Zealand and China. The Australian operation are supported by two local subsidiaries in Canberra and Hobart.

The Group currently consists of ap-proximately 600 employees world-wide. Kisters’ has several hundred energy utility customers spanning from thermal and renewable genera-tors to energy retailers, from ESCOs to network companies, from system operators to aggregators. For those who love advanced software that

massages masses of data, predicts and controls, KISTERS is a compa-ny to watch.

In the Smart Rural Grid project Kisters is spearheading Work Package 5 (WP5) that seeks new solutions for data and energy man-agement (EMS) in Smart Grids. WP leader is Dr.ing. Volker Bühner.

The goal of WP5 is to develop novel software that will suit the Smart Rural Grid concept. “All individual parts of the concept, like the IDPR, batteries, loads and generators are integrated and controlled as an orchestra”, says Volker.

This requires a common database model to allow elements to commu-nicate. Here KISTERS have pur-sued significant extensions of the Common Information Model (CIM). As a European leader in the field Volker and his group is also devel-oping several new forecasting algo-rithms and novel optimization meth-ods for the project. Says Volker in

his usual temperate manner, “If grid assets like the IDPR are the mus-cles of the SRG the EMS elements developed in WP5 must be the brain where all actions have to be coor-dinated. In fact this constitutes the part where technology and markets link up. The quality of forecasts and optimized schedules are crucial for the economic success of a Smart Rural Grid.”

The CIM data base model for the Smart Rural Grid has been defined. Currently Volker & Co.is working on the forecast prototype. First tests have already been carried out on records from the two DSO’s in the project. A toolbox for the optimiza-tion has also been created and grid areas for forthcoming verification have been defined. In August this year software development will be completed and ready for full scale validation. •

Read more about Kisters here: www.kisters.eu



A robust communication infra-structure is essential if remote operations are to be effective.

The intelligent power router (IDPR) that controls the energy flow close to the terminal points in the distribu-tion net cannot be an isolated de-vice. It needs to report and receive commands from a control centre. Both for the demonstration in the project and in future aplications the control centre can be located several hundred kilometers away from the devices it needs to control. The dominant trend in smart grid developments so far has focused on urban areas. PLC technologies that allow communication signals to be transmitted across the electricity network have proven its worth for this. In city areas bandwith, rather than range has been the prime concern. But as 24% of the Euro-pean population live in rural areas this must be reconsidered. A PLC technology that focuses on robust-ness and geographical distance rather than transmission capacity may be the starting point for the implementation of successful Smart

Grid operations in rural areas where remoteness demand wide range communications.

This is exactly what ZIV is working on together with its partners in Work Package 4 and the man leading this important effort is Fernando “ Ferran” Castro. Ferran is the technical manager for ZIV Communications with over 26 years of experience in the design of PLC systems for both transport and distribution lines. ZIV Communications, founded in 1967 as DIMAT S.A., is a Spanish manufacturer with a complete range of PLC communication systems, digital protection and control equip-ment for high, medium and low voltage electric power networks. This should cater for that the com-munication effort in the Smart Rural Grid project is in very good hands. Ferran is very enthusiastic about the future prospects of the novel com-munication technology developed in the project. Though the challenge is tough Ferran can report that a series of channel measurements have given light on the impairments that the PLC system will have to

overcome. Also the Quality of Ser-vice requirements of the IDPR have been defined. Ferran concludes that the prototype of the PLC and the wireless systems are being devel-oped and intended to be finished in July 2015.

“We now look forward to the conclu-sion of the laboratory tests. We are really eager to carry out field tests in the power lines in the Vallfogo-na area and connect the different devices that are emerging from our R&D.” •

Read more about ZIV Communications here: www.communications.ziv.es/



CG Power Systems Ireland Ltd., Automation Systems Division, is the leading partner in Work Pack-age 6 (WP6). WP6 is con-cerned with the

interoperability between the different parts of the SRG system that will be fi eld tested towards the end of the project. CG Power Systems is a leading supplier of control and automation solutions, services and products for monitoring and control of power transmission and distribu-tion across various market sectors, predominantly power utilities and renewable generation. Part of the work in the Smart Rural Grid project is carried out by people from its sis-ter company in the UK, CG Automa-tion Systems (CGA) UK Ltd.

CGA is well suited for the work

in WP 6 with its long track record from hardware design, construction and integration. To head the CGA team and take charge of the WP6 effort the project is lucky to have a seasoned project manager aboard, a true British gentleman with the name of Steve Channon. The work that Steve and his team are under-taking is very important. WP6 is a key stage in the demonstration and viability of the Smart Rural Grid pro-ject. Its goal is to prove the validity of the design concepts in the lab and ultimately in the fi eld as part of the Work Package 7. The ability to fully exploit the SRG concept will be greatly enhanced by the quality of the testing and the results obtained, whether these be anticipated or non-anticipated.

To ensure this, integration work must take place in different phas-es and at different levels to create a robust system where all the components are validated. This includes the IDPR, electrical switch-

ing elements at the lower system levels and the Energy Management System and the SCADA structure higher up.

Steve can report that the WP6-group is currently concluding the System Integration and Validation Plan. He also states that advances have been made in defi ning the specifi c architecture of the system in order to specify the precise interfac-es between the individual com-ponents. WP6 has identifi ed that system security considerations have even more infl uence on the devel-opment effort than perhaps antici-pated. It is really a key requirement to be carefully considered as part of communications and protocols. •

Read more about CGA here:www.cgglobal.com/ie/

«Smart rural» meanS catching the future, bringing urban electrical quality to rural areaS. thiS iS exactly what thiS project will do.

We inventthe Smartrural Grid

www.Smartruralgrid.eu

the Smart rural grid project aims to develop the smart rural grid and explore the best ways to make the transition from the current rural distribution networks to the new using novel smart grid technologies and associated business concepts.

our viSion:

to develop an intelligent distribution power router (idpr) .

to develop new technologies for plc over electricity distribution networks.

to develop a robust communication network to connect idprs with each other.

to develop a data and energy control system that manages different micro-production units and idprs.

to integrate all the novel features into one, single platform.

our miSSion:

this project has received funding from the european union’s Seventh framework programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no. 619610.

alSo available on:

for more information:

www.Smartruralgrid.eu



In a communiqué provided to the SRG Newsletter, GEODE – the Association of local Energy Distributors across Europe – expresses its support of the Smart Rural Grid Project.

The Brussels based organization welcomes the project initiative and emphasizes that the project also offers a great opportunity for sharing expertise and knowledge among our network of members across Europe! GEODE therefore provided support to the first project workshop in Brussels in May 2014. GEODE actively to organize the event. About this, the communiqué received states: “The project was presented to a highly interested audience of local DSOs from all over Europe!”

GEODE has been a discussion partner around the key objectives of the project since 2012 and believes in the project’s potential to bring for-ward innovative electricity infrastruc-tures and to develop new services and business models for local and rural grids! GEODE is glad to have brought together 2 of its member DSOs – Estabanell Energia and Stadtwerke Rosenheim – partici-pating in what became a successful application process for European funding projects – what “an adven-ture” for a local DSO!

GEODE further states that it is convinced that the fundamental changes that are ongoing in Eu-rope’s energy landscape – integra-tion of renewables, increasing rate of various sources of distributed generation, deployment of smart meters and smart grids, energy efficiency, development of flexibility markets, demand response etc. – will require active involvement of actors such as DOSs at local level. The Smart Rural Grid Project

being focused on the needs and visions for the future of local DSOs’ presents an innovative approach taking particular conditions for rural energy networks into account. This approach will tackle challenges such as allowing DSOs to operate networks more efficiently. It will bet-ter integrate local renewable energy sources and interconnecting pro-sumers. Moreover GEODE firmly expresses that a successful project will help “to increase and maintain the quality of energy supply through the set-up of resilient energy is-lands”. The Brussels based organi-zation also emphasizes the benefits that will arise from exploring syner-gies between electricity and telecom networks in the way the project has set out to do. Indeed GEODE is very specific when confronted with what it thinks is of greatest interest for GEODE and its members:

• The local dimension – think globally, act locally!

• The benchmarking effect – sharing knowledge and expertise among GEODE Members across Europe

• The innovative approach for DSOs bringing intelligence to the – local & rural – grids!

• To show how DSOs – regardless of their size - make the energy markets work!

The communiqué ends with a compliment to the project owner, the Catalonian utility headed by Santi Martinez: “We from GEODE are proud to have members such as Estabanell Energia and are looking forward to continue this fruitful coop-eration of ours!“•

For more information on GEODE: www.geode-eu.org

Project leader Santi Martinez together with Secretary General of the GEODE, Carmen Gimeno.

Documents

FOR MORE INFORMATION: NEWSLETTER #01 2015 · 2015. 6. 13. · mechatronics and enertronics fi elds. Mecatronics combines the funda-mentals of mechanical , electrical, power electronics