Deploying the ICT architecture of a residential demand response pilot

The Flemish project Linear was a large scale residential demand response pilot that aims to validate innovative smart grid technology building on the rollout of information and communication technologies in the power grid. For this pilot a scalable, reliable and interoperable ICT infrastructure was set up, interconnecting 240 residential power grid customers with the backend systems of energy service providers (ESPs), flexibility aggregators, distribution system operators (DSOs) and balancing responsible parties (BRPs). On top of this architecture several business cases were rolled out, which require the sharing of metering data and flexibility information, and demand response algorithms for the balancing of renewable energy and the mitigation of voltage and power issues in distribution grids. The goal of the pilot is the assessment of the technical and economical feasibility of residential demand response in real life, and of the interaction with the end-consumer. In this paper we focus on the practical experiences and lessons learnt during the deployment of the ICT technology for the pilot. This includes the real-time gathering of measurement data and real-time control of a wide range of smart appliances in the homes of the participants. We identified a number of critical issues that need to be addressed for a future full-scale roll-out: (i) reliable in-house communication, (ii) interoperability of appliances, measurement equipment, backend systems, and business cases, and (iii) sufficient backend processing power for real-time analysis and control.