The piloting of the GLocalFlex project in Utajärvi has progressed rapidly during the spring and summer. The project is developing and testing local energy flexibility solutions, which aim to improve regional energy self-sufficiency and strengthen the role of municipalities and communities in a flexible electricity system.
GLocalFlex is an international EU project coordinated by VTT, which aims to develop a flexible and renewable energy electricity system. The project promotes the balancing of renewable energy production, storage and consumption through smart solutions. The key tool being tested is the open GLocalFlex marketplace developed by VTT, where energy consumption scheduling is done through automatic trading. The aim is to simultaneously generate savings from energy consumption scheduling and balance the load on electricity networks. The project also aims to create new business opportunities for the energy sector. The four-year project will implement six different pilots across Europe, one of which is located in Utajärvi, Finland.
The Utajärvi pilot consists of three different sites, through which various technological and operational opportunities for implementing energy flexibility are being mapped.
Utajärvi health center and inpatient ward
Utajärvi health center and inpatient ward, solar panels on the roof of the health center.
The health center’s electricity consumption from the transmission network can be optimized according to the production of the solar panels and the battery charge status, which allows the demand response market to offer a corresponding reduction or increase in electricity use and sell the resulting flexibility to the market. Data transmission connections were made operational during the summer and the first measurement data will be read at the turn of August and September. Later in the autumn, a control system developed by VTT will provide demand response to the GLocalFlex marketplace based on flexibility forecasts. The site will replicate the solar energy production forecasting services of project partners CTIC and CSEM. More about the partners at the end of the press release.
Municipal rental houses (8 apartments)
For the rental houses, demand response can be generated by optimizing the heating cycles of the two large (8,000 liters in total) electrically heated hot water heaters in the property. The property’s hot water heaters are connected to Ouman’s OuFlex automation system, which allows the status of the hot water heaters to be monitored and adjusted within safe limits. This way, the property will have enough heating and hot water for use as usual even during the flexibility periods.
Measurement data is currently being collected and VTT will begin testing the system control and CSEM’s flexibility assessment service during the heating season. The site will provide important information on the energy flexibility potential of hot water heaters.
Utajärvi Sangin Village Association building
A 38 kW Bosch ground source heat pump and a 700 liter hot water heater were installed in the building in May. The technical implementation of the data transfer connections is underway. The first measurement data will be collected in September and the development and testing of the site will take place during the heating season. VTT and Mainflux Labs are responsible for the technical implementation of the Utajärvi pilot. VTT is responsible for the control, operation, market integration, and testing of the flexibility forecasts of the Utajärvi sites, as well as the creation of a demand response platform and marketplace at the level of the entire project. Mainflux Labs is responsible for the collection and storage of data from the Utajärvi sites. The data collected in the pilot sites will be connected to the energy flexibility forecasting services developed by international partners (CTIC and CSEM), which enables the utilization of scalable and comparable data in future applications. The municipality of Utajärvi is actively involved in the project in the role of developer and learner. In accordance with GLocalFlex, the goal is to create models that can be applied both locally and more widely, allowing municipal actors to participate in energy market flexibility and develop their own energy self-sufficiency.
For the Utajärvi pilot, Utajärvi Business Park Ltd (Utajärven Yrityspuisto Oy) will participate in the project together with a project worker.
Personal information:
Project coordinator (VTT): Klaus Känsälä, Principal Scientist
Technical manager of the Utajärvi pilot (VTT): Rosa-Maria Alaraasakka, Research Scientist