Real-life demonstration of flexibility provision by local energy communities: An IoT platform

Paper in proceeding, 2025

The transition to renewable energy sources introduces new challenges, such as congestion in distribution networks. One effective solution to address this issue is the deployment of flexibility. Local Energy Communities (LECs), composed of distributed energy resources (DERs), represent a valuable source of flexibility. This paper presents real-time demonstrations of flexibility provision by LECs. To implement the flexibility provision framework (FPF), an IoT-based integration platform has been developed, incorporating various functionalities such as prediction tools, optimization tools, and device control systems. In the FPF, flexibility is traded in dayahead market, while a rolling horizon optimization is used to deliver the flexibility in real-time. The  demonstrations were conducted at the Chalmers campus testbed, with the smart boiler (SB) located at Greece and the Azelio thermal energy storage (TES) real-time simulator connected through the IoT platform, virtually. The results of these demonstrations showed that the LECs were able to deliver the promised flexibility in real time. While the battery energy storage (BES) and followed the setpoints precisely the SB and TES followed the setpoints with minor error. By sharing practical insights and real-world experiences, this paper contributes to the successful transition of the energy system and provides valuable guidance for future projects aiming to operationalize flexibility and enhance grid resilience.