R&D Nester is partner in INTERRFACE - 'TSO-DSO Consumer INTERFACE aRchitecture to provide innovative grid services for an efficient power system', a project awarded for financing by the European Union under the Horizon 2020 program. 

H2020 INTERRFACE H2020 project counts with the participation of 42 partners, from 15 countries (Belgium, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Germany, Slovenia, Greece, Finland, Bulgaria, among others), including ENTSO-E, five others ORT, 6 ORD, and several partners from industry.

The project has a duration of four years, starting in 2019 until 2023.

REN is a Consortium member, and R&D Nester it's involved as a third party from REN.

The project INTERRFACE main objectives are:

• Design, develop and exploit the interoperability of a pan-European network service architecture to act as an interface between the TSO and DSO and customers;

• Enable the integrated and coordinated operation of all stakeholders for the use and acquisition of common services. 

Project description:

With the growth of renewable energies, the growing interconnection of European networks, the development of local energy initiatives and the specific requirements in TSO-DSO cooperation as set out in different Network Guidelines and Codes, TSOs and DSOs face new challenges that will require greater coordination.

The European Commission has adopted legislative proposals on the energy market that promote cooperation between network operators as they engage in balancing, congestion management and ancillary services.

The measures encourage the acquisition of transmission and distribution services, recognizing that this will allow a more efficient and effective network management and increase the level of demand response and renewable generation capacity.

TSOs and DSOs now have to define the services they wish to acquire in collaboration with market participants and should identify ways of acquiring them in coordination.

Computerization is a key factor for the coordination and active management of the grid system, allowing TSOs and DSOs to optimize the use of distributed resources and to ensure a safe and profitable electricity supply, but also enables end users to become participants market, supporting self-generation and providing flexibility in demand.

To support the transformation, the INTERRFACE project will design, develop and operate an Interoperable Pan-European Network Services Architecture to serve as an interface between the electrical system (TSO and DSO) and customers, enabling smooth and coordinated operation of all interested parties in the use and acquisition of common services.

Leading edge digital tools based on blockchains and big data management will offer new opportunities for participation in the electric market, and thus engage consumers in the market structures proposed by INTERRFACE, which will be designed to tap Distributed Energy Resources.

These European project will develop the following Work Packages:

• WP1: Project Management and Quality Assurance

• WP2: SOTA (State-of-the-Art) Analysis/Assessment and End-user requirements

• WP3: Services and Market Design - INTERRFACE Architecture

• WP4: INTERRFACE IT platform development/ integration

• WP5: Pilot Deployment, demonstration and Evaluation - demo Area 1 (congestion management)

• WP6: Pilot Deployment and Evaluation - demo Area 2 (peer-to-peer trading)

• WP7: Pilot Deployment and Evaluation - demo Area 3 (pan-EU clearing market)

• WP8: Business Opportunities - cascade funding

• WP9: Exploitation, Dissemination & Communication

From these 9 Work Packages, REN and R&D Nester will contribute mainly on WP2, WP3 and WP9.

R&D Nester and REN were present in the recent kick-off meeting of the European project. The event happened on 16 and 17 January in Brussels. The meeting intended to initiate the activities of INTERRFACE, bringing together project's partners.

For more info http://www.rdnester.com/en-GB/fields_and_projects/projects/project_23___interrface/

This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 824330