Intelligent remote control for heat pumps

In the ForskEl project ”Intelligent Remote Control of Individual Heat Pumps” a break through direct control for heat pumps has been developed. It has been demonstrated in four houses that it is possible to consume electricity optimized according to spot prices without compromising comfort. A VPP control has been developed to control many heat pumps as one. Algorithms are calculating the expected electricity demand in the individual houses and hours on the basis of the thermodynamic characteristics ie. heat loss, time constant and ability to accumulate heat in a tank or the house structure, number of residents, heating habits, local weather forecasts for sun and outdoor temperature and the resident’s requirements to indoor temperature and a band that the temperature can vary within.
In the light of expected heat demand and spot prices an optimized plan for the operation of the individual heat pump is calculated to buy electricity at NordPool. After trading the plan is updated every hour on the basis of the actual heat demand. Also, calculation of the flexibility of the heat pumps gives the possibility of delivering regulation power.
The project has supported the development of a standard regarding remote control of intelligent electricity demand.