NextGrid is a new research and innovation project, aiming to improve grid companies’ operating centrals, in order to meet future demands for complex and automized grid operations.
To reach climate goals, society must be digitalized. NextGrid is readying the grid companies to meet a future with more variable and unpredictable power flow, in a grid getting closer to its capacity limit.
Therefore, our power grid must become “smart” through digitalization. Reaching climate goals is simply not possible without utilizing the grid better. Better grid utilization will have impact for both society and environment, enabling new green jobs quicker, while at the same time reducing nature encroachment and emissions.
Developing smart grid solutions
NextGrid is a project that is a part of the Green Platform, established to enable a research and innovation driven green transition of the economy. The project has been awarded 56,8 mNOK from the Norwegian Research Council to develop thorough solutions for the future operations of the distribution grid. The total value of the project is estimated to be 126mNOK. The main target of the project is a more cost-effective electrification and decarbonizing of society.
NextGrid will improve the operation centers of Norwegian grid companies for the complex and automized operations of the future. The new solutions that NextGrid is developing will help Norwegian industry actors to become global suppliers of smart grid technologies. - Gunnar Vist, project leader at Heimdall Power.
Combining technologies
Through NextGrid, the project partners will join together to develop thermal surveillance systems for the power grid, tools for operations planning and systems for data integration. The innovations that are developed in the project will be tested and verified through various activities. The catapult centre Sustainable Energy and the Smart Grid laboratory will be important in this phase, while the Norwegian Smart Grid Centre has an important role in the project when it comes to facilitating a joint effort towards global commercialization.
Automated operations for the green transition
NextGrid will develop tools and solutions to handle all these challenges, and make it possible for grid operators to do large scale advanced operations of the power grid. Flexibility resources plays an important role in the project. Examples of such resources, that can be very useful for grid operations, are EV-chargers, farming lights, floor heating and water heaters, to mention a few.
New working processes and tools in the operation centers is necessary to enable the green transition. In the future we will have more distributed renewable power production, electrification of transport and industry, and thereby the need for greater utilization of the power grid and more use of consumer flexibility to balance the power system. - Gunnar Vist, project leader at Heimdall Power.
NextGrid is led by Heimdall Power, along with researchers from SINTEF Energi and 16 other partners with competency within production of components, market platforms, data solutions, suppliers of software and DSOs.
Partners in the project are:
Heimdall Power, Kongsberg Digital, Agder Energi Fleksibilitet, Greenfox, Norsk Transformator, Hitachi Energi, Grenbird, BKK Nett, Fagne, Elvia, Sustainable Energy/Norwegian Catapult Centre, Norwegian Smart Grid Centre (Smartgridsenteret), NODES, NODES-tech, SINTEF Energi AS, Smart grid services cluster, Magtech & Pixii.
