REFlex

The challenge

With the increasing penetration of renewables, the need for flexibility in the energy market is bound to rise. Different utilities are trying to address this flexibility need by installing more storage capacity in the grid. This is cost-intensive and resources intensive process. Moreover, the more energy-intensive machines such as Electric Vehicles and heat-pumps are bound to increase in Europe, as every country is striving hard to meet the Paris 2015 agreement. Installing large energy storage systems at the distribution and transmission level, works but it still leaves the opportunity of managing energy flexibility at the base level, i.e., through consumer end on the residential side. The project aims at addressing the energy flexibility problem by actively involving residential consumers.

The solution

The solution is to create plug-and-play hardware, integrated with a mobile app, that monitors energy usage patterns of residential consumers. The energy flexibility will be offered through bundling consumers with similar energy usage patterns. The formed bundles/ or groups of users will be provided with incentives for energy flexibility that they offer. Moreover, the plan is to allow for socializing features within the groups to increase the sense of belongingness and community bond amongst people, along with collectively contributing towards lower carbon dioxide emissions.