Exploiting flexibility in power consumption to benefit all players in the energy market
A wide range of industrial and domestic applications are flexible with respect to power consumption. Exploiting this flexibility by shifting consumption can have a wide range of benefits for all parties involved in the generation, transmission, and use of electric power.
Our solutions ensure that the needs of the load are met while maximizing the flexibility that is available to the various players in the electricity markets, including the TSO and DSO, and balance responsible party.
By exploiting the available flexibility, it is possible to reduce peaks in consumption and avoid grid congestion, leading to savings in power generation and grid maintenance. The availability of additional regulation power can facilitate a higher penetration of renewable energy resources.
Contact the experts
Bernhard Jansen
IBM Research scientist
Fabian Müller
IBM Research scientist
Ulrich Schimpel
IBM Research scientist
Olle Sundström
IBM Research scientist
Flexible Load Management Solution
For common needs such as heating water, cooling buildings, and freezing goods there are restrictions on the temperature that must be maintained but otherwise there is a great deal of flexibility in when power is consumed to satisfy those restrictions.
The Flexible Load Management Solution has been developed to model and control flexible power consumption for a wide range of applications and make this flexibility available to all players in the energy market.
The optimization component accepts a wide range of grid, generation and load constraints and produces a consumption plan that either follows specified restrictions or which includes quantified flexibility that can be exploited in real time. A detailed load model characterizes the load's energy needs.
Smart Charging Solution
If electric vehicles (EVs) are charged in a naive fashion they may place a significant load on grid resources, possibly worsening existing peaks in consumption and creating local congestion. However there is considerable flexibility that can be exploited in EV charging. The required energy can be consumed at any time prior to the charging deadline.
The Smart Charging Solution has been developed to accurately model the EV and normal driving patterns so that maximum charging flexibility can be exploited.
The optimization component accepts a wide range of grid, generation, and EV/driver constraints and produces a charging plan for a fleet of vehicles. For each EV trips are predicted based on a detailed model of the battery and vehicle, along with historical information.