Energy industry first for real-time flexibility coordination

SMPnet is deploying its autonomous power grid software in a milestone project on Northern Powergrid’s Community DSO project as part of the Condor Consortium.

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 UK-based grid management software company SMPnet, flexibility marketplace NODES, Cleanwatts, ev.energy, Energise Barnsley, Whitley Bay Big Local and Knaresborough Community Energy.

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. SMPnet’s 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.

This is the first time software will allow real-time flexibility management of the grid and heralds an exciting development for the energy industry.

Paul Glendinning, Director of Energy Systems at Northern Powergrid said,

“This project aims to simplify and encourage decarbonisation in local communities; minimising the barriers and maximising the incentives.  It is a bold, yet achievable, innovation project and one that will see modifications to DNO’s roles; becoming a responsive facilitator of customers’ needs”.

SMPnet CEO and Co-founder Anastasios Rousis commented,

“We are thrilled to partner with Northern Powergrid in their pioneering Community DSO project, marking a transformative step towards decentralised and community-empowered power grids. For the first time, a fully autonomous, real-time power grid management software, like our Omega suite, is being deployed to coordinate flexibility across the network. This project represents a world-first, closing the loop between grid management, market-based flexibility, and local assets actively contributing to system stability. Our involvement reflects SMPnet’s ongoing commitment to advancing real-time grid management, and we are excited to demonstrate the Omega suite’s capabilities within NPg’s network, ultimately helping to reshape the energy landscape.”

SMPnet CCO, Stefanos Anagnostopoulos added,

“The Community DSO project is a prime example of how collaboration between energy innovators can unlock new opportunities for both consumers and the grid. By enabling localised grid management, we are helping to lower costs, reduce carbon emissions, and build a more resilient and sustainable energy infrastructure. We look forward to working closely with Northern Powergrid and other partners to deliver tangible benefits to local communities”.

The Community DSO project aims to enable communities to pursue their own decarbonisation agenda and have greater control over their own energy and assets. Increasing the control that communities have over energy flow will strengthen local energy independence and incentives for local decarbonisation, delivering cost and carbon savings. The outputs of this project will provide a blueprint for communities to adopt the Community DSO approach easily and at scale, as well as distributing industry insight and understanding about the effectiveness and performance of this approach.

Read more about the project in Northern Powergrid's project press release here.

Pictured above (L-R): Dimitrios Tzelepis, CTO & Co-Founder, SMPnet, Anastasios Oulis Rousis, CEO & Co-Founder, SMPnet, Georgia Wilde, Innovation Project Manager, Northern Powergrid; Peter Stevens, Senior Project Manager, Electric Places; Paul Glendinning, Director of Energy Systems, Northern Powergrid; Jane Watson, Community Engagement Lead, Northern Powergrid; Chris Goodhand, System Flexibility Operations Manager, Northern Powergrid. Photo credit Northern Powergrid.

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