Community DSO Project

Smart communities have a role to play and taking control as the grid manages increasingly complex systems and intermittent generation.

Northern Powergrid (NPg) have instigated an UK industry-first demonstrator project to develop and trial a future framework for Community Distribution Operation - empowering communities to have greater control over their energy and assets.

Between 2024-2026, the Community DSO project* will develop and trial different approaches to identify how communities and local stakeholders can best work together, with their local DNO, to deploy Smart Local Energy Systems. The project seeks to enable communities to pursue their own decarbonisation agenda and have greater control over their own energy and assets.

What we did

As part of the project to develop and trial a replicable model for decentralised energy systems for communities, SMPnet deployed two grid management products from its Omega suite. 

The architecture for the Community DSO project integrates with the local substation to optimise the local network, interacting with market-based solutions and behind-the-meter (BTM) optimisation, creating a seamless and efficient energy ecosystem. The Omega suite will interface with metering points, communicating with the NODES marketplace, and coordinating with behind-the-meter optimisation platforms provided by ev.energy and CleanWatts, managing flexibility allocation, network operation and timing decisions for flexibility requirements at the last mile of the network in coordination with the upstream network’s needs.

SMPnet deployment includes:

• Autonomous Real-time Flexibility Coordination to minimise the need for manual interventions by the DSOs
• Integration of DERs, including solar PV, batteries, and EV chargers.
• Precise, physics-based assessments of grid conditions to deploy flexibility solutions efficiently.
• Grid optimisation to avoid congestions and improve grid performance and local energy use.
• Provision of market integration tools to enable flexibility trading on platforms like NODES.
• Real-time monitoring, forecasting, and reporting through Omega’s advanced analytics and digital twin capabilities

What we will show

SMPnet’s two-year deployment within the Community DSO Framework is expected to show enhanced grid resilience via real-time flexibility coordination solutions. Grid reliability will be improved by efficiently managing low carbon technologies (LCTs)  and Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) and addressing constraints at both local and upstream levels.  

The project is expected to lead to increases in:

• Decarbonisation Progress: By integrating renewable energy sources and supporting local energy generation, the project will reduce carbon emissions and advance net-zero goals
• Community Empowerment: Local energy initiatives will gain more control over their energy systems, promoting independence and incentivising sustainable practices
• Scalable Model for DSOs: A replicable framework will be created for implementing Community DSO systems, providing a roadmap for widespread adoption and regulatory adjustments
• Economic Benefits: New revenue streams for community members and stakeholders will emerge through participation in flexibility markets, while grid operators can defer costly infrastructure upgrades.

Summary

The Community DSO approach is intended to capture the potential for flexibility from individual consumers at the lowest voltage level of the distribution network.  Once complete, this project will create a blueprint for how smart communities can play a role as the grid manages increasingly complex systems and intermittent generation, feeding energy into every system level.

*This first Community DSO network trial has been awarded to the Condor Consortium, led by Electric Places CIC.  The collaboration involves several key partners which includes SMPnet, NODES, Cleanwatts, ev.energy, Energise Barnsley, Whitley Bay Big Local and Knaresborough Community Energy and partners TNEI, and LCP Delta.