Smart management system for industrial heat pumps
Heat pumps do not use the management options available today, which can help ensure an energy cost efficient operation, where it interacts with the company's energy systems and the electricity grid. The project will gather relevant parameters that affect the heat pump's energy cost and thereby control the heat pump better economically and energy efficiently.
The purpose of the project is to develop knowledge about how to optimize the management of larger heat pumps, so that they perform best in a future energy sector, primarily based on renewable energy, and where higher energy prices can be expected, as well as overcapacity in energy networks.
The project will collect the experience through practical testing. The test will take place in 2 plants, which both have more than 4000 hours runtime. Here the managements system will be tested on how best to respond to external conditions such as energy cost and internal conditions such as energy balances, energy accumulation and the COP profile for the heat pump.
The results of the tests can be used by advisors, heat pump suppliers and operators regarding how to optimize existing and future heat pump installations in the industrial and district heating sectors.
The goal is to develop a generic controller that as an online service, optimize’ s the performance of industrial heat pumps and other industrial appliances.
The technology is developed as an aggregation tool for a pool of appliances and have achieved technical approval for delivery of Demand Response services. Optimization is conducted in accordance with both day-ahead (Nordpool) markets and online Demand side Demand Response (Systemydelser).
S.C. Nordic has continued investing in the technology, and it’s since been packaged for several dedicated appliances and being promoted in several countries. The technology and concept were awarded “Best Technologies to address UN’s 17 world goals” in 2021.
The joint vision of the consortium is to accelerate the transition into a dynamic and flexible energy market that can address the challenges of large energy consumers and maximize the use of renewable energy.
Leveraging in intersectoral, multidisciplinary and complementary technological assets and knowledge on customers´ requirements, networks, and routes to market, our ambition is to develop and demonstrate a technology that can aggregate all the energy sectors and optimize customer´s energy consumption depending on the energy demand profile, enabling costs savings and savings in general efficiency.
The initial market validation will be driven from large industrial heatpumps.
The project was managed as an Agile project with short iteraions. We decided to define the iterations to match the project phases, and not use predefined timeboxing. The average iteraions was 4 weeks.
The conclusions from the project:
- Offering an clip-on solution to existing installation does address the dependency of access to the controller and its software. But the quality of the meter information collected drops, and becomes questionable compared to the logging that the customers already operates with their SCADA system.
- A generic solutions is not a feasible since it cannot develop customer value.
- The protocol suite combined with recognised encryption and VPNs has been developed to a level, where industrial partners can accept integration. It’s the Commercial driver of the Technologies that carries the relevance.
The conclusions of the pilots:
- It is only possible to deliver real value for the customers if the technology is integrated with their existing controllers and SCADA system. Any attempt to override system settings will both fail and trigger system alarms
- It is vital that the technology is online for both day-ahead markets as Nordpool, and online markets managed by the TSO, I.e., Energinet.dk
- Large compressors, as in heating or cooling applications, is not a prime candidate for a lot of fast flexibility. Their physical design and inertia prevent them from reacting at a pace of fast demand response programs
- The clients must be given sufficient confidence of the technology offered, to even consider it. The potential losses from hacking or breaks down in the core activities FAR exceeds potential savings and revenue from Demand Response technologies
- The key to success lies in the commercials, not the technology.
Key figures
Category
Participants
| Partner | Subsidy | Auto financing |
|---|---|---|
| Nordisk Energirådgivning |
