Nobel Grid is a project that contemplates the development of technological solutions to promote the integration of distributed renewable energy sources while maintaining the stability of the distribution network. The European project Nobel Grid in which Eureca participates wants to democratise the energy market, bringing it closer to the consumer.
The objective of Nobel Grid is to develop, implement and evaluate advanced tools and services that use information and communication technologies for electric cooperatives and other nonprofit entities. It will allow for the active participation of final consumers and the flexibility of the energy market with new business models for entrepreneurs and energy service companies.
The project will also undertake the design of low-cost smart meter systems capable of offering detailed billing and enabling consumers to choose the best rates from different electricity companies and to learn more about their consumption.
Likewise, the project will seek to create standards and best practice that allow it “to overcome the barriers to the actual implementation of smart grids, such as legal, financial or cultural,” said ETRA technology director Antonio Marques Moreno.
We all use electricity, but most of us have not stopped to think about how it works or where it comes from. The framework of systems and processes that are generated so that we can light a light bulb is too complex for most consumers, who are generally a passive subject in the energy generation and distribution chain.
The project wants to change that so we all have a greater understanding of usage so that we can alter our behaviour. The initiative is made up of 21 institutions from 11 European countries, Nobel Grid will develop new tools and business models that will improve the efficiency of energy distribution networks but will also promote the participation of the final consumer as a fundamental part of the energy cycle.
Thus, one of the proposals of this transversal initiative is the development of the EMA (Energy Monitoring and Analysis) App, which will give the final customer more decision power. The application is designed so that consumers and small producers of renewable energy can monitor our energy consumption in real time and receive recommendations that help us make better use of energy. Through this app, consumers can program home consumption based on the price and availability of green energy.
The Nobel Grid project, involving the Eurecat technology center (member of Tecnio), was showcased at the 8th Ministerial Conference on Clean Energy in Beijing, which was held in the Chinese capital from 6-8 June 2017.
The European Commission’s Executive Agency for Innovation and Networks chose Nobel Grid as one of only two projects that they brought to the event to show the very best of European energy innovation. For more information on the project you can visit their website: http://nobelgrid.eu/