Workshop material

Photos

See photos from the workshop here.

Speakers

Read about the speakers here.

Visual resume

See visual resume here.

Welcome

Jakob Illeborg Pagter, the Alexandra Institute & Ivan Damgård, Aarhus University, Department of Computer Science

EcoGrid EU – Demonstration of a market model for integration of flexible demand and distributed generation

Preben Nyeng – Energinet, download presentation  

The European EcoGrid project will demonstrate a real-time market model on Bornholm with the aim of including flexible electricity demand and small-scale generation in the wholesale markets for electricity and balancing power. The market model is designed for the future electricity system with significantly increased needs for energy balancing due to intermittent renewable generation. The presentation will briefly introduce the project and the market model and highlight the impact on the overall market structure, and market roles, in a future widespread implementation.

The importance of market design and regulation to a virtual power plant (VPP)

Ivan Kristian Pedersen – DONG, download presentation 

DONG Energy has developed Power Hub, a virtual power plant (VPP) capable of delivering energy and reserves from a portfolio of distributed energy generation and consumption assets. Some assets have capabilities to participate in the markets on their own, others have not. The presentation will touch upon the challenges and opportunities for aggregators like the VPP when trying to build a sustainable business for both the commercial operator of the VPP and the asset owners.

Coffee/tea break

Can the development of a smart grid increase competition in the retail market for electricity?

Lauge Rasmussen – Danish Competition and Consumer Authority, download presentation 

The Danish retail market for electricity is to a large extent characterised by weak competition and inert consumers. However, the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority (2011) concludes that there is a large potential for economic benefits through increased innovation, strengthened competition and a more effective use of the resources in the electricity sector through energy savings and an adjustment of flexible electricity consumption to fluctuations in the wholesale electricity price.

Strong competition and active consumers are necessary in order to utilize the potential for economic benefits for society.

The development of a smart grid in Denmark is among other things expected to promote the development of technological products which automatically adjust the flexible part of a household’s electricity consumption e.g. dishwashing to a period with an abundant supply of wind generated electricity. These products will also be able to automatically cut all electricity consumption during the night, during vacation, etc.

The technological development will provide the retail companies with a vast opportunity to offer retail consumers a new combination of electricity and smart technological household products which can increase the consumers’ comfort, create energy savings etc. Accordingly, the consumers are expected to become more active which will increase companies’ incentive to innovate and become more effective.  

Thus, the development of a smart grid in Denmark is expected to increase competition in the retail market for electricity.

Consumer Freedoms, Intelligent Demand Response, and the Disaster of Retail Electricity Competition

David Hirst – Inventor and Consultant, download presentation 

Current Smart Grid concepts all involve consumers losing freedoms, as well as privacy, to what have become in the UK Vertically Integrated Large Energy Companies (or VILES). So far, their only route to profit has been from confusing tariffs and opaque markets, with no discernible gain from innovation, but substantial socialised costs of creating the perception of competition.

Yet the need to influence flexible demand is crucial to balancing variable renewable generation on an electricity system. The past culture of centralised control of despatchable plant no longer works. Flowcost metering, measuring the cost of electricity with variable, dynamic, future pricing, in conjunction with intelligent autonomous appliances (and electric vehicles)  offers an approach that delivers this – without loss of freedoms. Retail competition makes such innovation impossible.

Lunch

Group work

2-4 groups working on questions emerging from morning sessions

Wrap up in plenum

Drinks/snacks and networking