Your opportunity to make money out of people’s electric cars and solar panels

The energy balance of the electricity system must be constantly maintained – that is, the amount of electricity generated and fed into the national grid must be equal to the amount of electricity consumed from the grid at any given moment.

The naturally occurring imbalances, called systemic deviation, must therefore be compensated in real time.

Where it gets complicated is that we are increasingly moving from predictable fossil-fuel powered generation to volatile renewable energy generation, coinciding with the rapidly advancing electrification of society.

This fundamental shift, and the distribution of energy resources like micro production assets, electric vehicles and energy storages may at first look like insurmountable energy management problems. However, the change is also creating new opportunities and business models for energy service providers.

This is made possible by the deregulation of the market, which allows energy data to be collected in datahubs that all market participants can use. Examples of working datahubs already exist in the Nordic countries, and changes in legislation allow this also in Czechia from late 2024.

A reshuffle of the market

So far, grid balancing has mostly happened in the high to medium voltage parts of the grid. In the future, there may be significant potential for flexibility by using equipment connected to the low voltage level.

This means assets installed in households and commercial buildings, such as photovoltaic systems with battery storage, heat pumps, air conditioning, electric cars, direct heaters, hot water storage tanks (boilers) etc.

The number of these devices is increasing rapidly. While individually they have relatively low electrical capacity, their aggregation into larger functional groups called aggregation blocks make them attractive flexibility market participants.

What is needed is actors called flexibility aggregators.

New revenue streams for new actors

Flexibility aggregators are a new type of commercial entities that enable even very small electricity producers and consumers (flexibility providers) to get involved in the market by providing grid backup and support.

In practice, the aggregator combines hundreds or thousands of little energy assets into large-enough entities – at least 1 MW each – to participate in the flexibility markets.

Everyone will make money

The individual household or other micro producer is compensated for allowing the use of their asset by the aggregator.

The aggregator is compensated by the Transmission System Operator (in Czechia, ČEPS) that in turn avoids imbalance penalties imposed by the energy regulator.

One obstacle, however, must be overcome before this win-win-win situation can be realized – how to ensure data transfer between the aggregator and the individual assets?

Tietoevry's DES – the information highway connecting all devices

Tietoevry DES, Distributed Energy Solution, is a secure web-native automation suite for the management and control of grid-connected devices. With DES aggregation and Virtual Power Plant capabilities, data on the capacity of a large number of assets can be used for balancing.

Overall, DES provides the tools and technologies needed to manage the network more effectively and efficiently.

By complementing the current energy production infrastructure with a large network of small energy generation, consumption, and storage points, with real-time monitoring, advanced analytic and control capabilities, DES helps create a more flexible, resilient, and sustainable energy system that meets the needs of consumers and supports the transition to a low-carbon economy, while at the same time reducing costs associated with grid balancing, investments, and TSO services.

Main features of DES

Data management

DES has all the capabilities needed to store, use, analyse and visualize large amounts of data coming in from various IoT platforms, cloud services, third-party solutions, and physical devices. It is also possible to relay data to third-party systems, such as end user applications, through data APIs.

Asset registry

DES can document and digitalize assets and their relationships to their owners, locations and to other assets.

VPP creation

DES includes a holistic management solution for Virtual Power Plants. Customers’ micro production, real-time consumption control, and electricity storage such as home batteries or electric vehicles can be aggregated to form a virtual power plant.

Data analytics

DES offers advanced data analytics, gathering data in real time from connected devices and processing that data in conjunction with data from other sources. AI improves forecasting and reporting.

DES pilot project with SolidSun Group

In anticipation of the changes in legislation, Tietoevry is launching a pilot project with the SolidSun Group.

The SolidSun Group is a leading player in the Czech photovoltaic market and at the same time a supplier of electricity. It meets all requirements for active participation in the balancing services market.

The key to providing flexibility is the ability to monitor and manage individual aggregation elements. This is made possible by the SolidSun Group's Sunberry control unit, which is a standard part of the photovoltaic power plant supplied to the residential sector.

This groundbreaking pilot includes around 250 households, together providing 1 MW of balancing capacity, a requirement by ČEPS. This fact will make the results directly applicable to the national grid.

Business benefits

Using DES improves grid flexibility, enhanced customer engagement, regulatory compliance, and cost savings. DES helps create a more efficient, resilient, and sustainable energy system that meets the needs of customers and supports the transition to a low-carbon economy.

How to get on board?

If you are interested in the flexibility aggregation business, get in touch. Let’s plan your journey into new revenue streams together!

For further information, please contact jan.uherek@tietoevry.com