Project initiators: Port of Amsterdam, OneUp and Technolution
Location: Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Period: 2018
How can an industrial energy system such as the one in the Port of Amsterdam be designed as autonomously, sustainably and locally as possible? This question was examined by Port of Amsterdam, OneUp and Technolution in the Prodock Innovation Lab.
Fritzy (a refrigerator), Sunny (a solar panel installation), Batsy (battery storage) and Netty (grid connection) are the autonomous players in a test environment. Each of these friends has its own “agent based logic”: they communicate through social media and they can engage with “new friends” via open interfaces: Ethereum smart contracts and the Energy Flexibility Interface (EFI).
The strategy
Port of Amsterdam wondered how local industrial energy management could be organised among a number of local industrial players and what this should look like. This led to the development of ‘Fritzy & Friends’, the test facility at the ProDock innovation centre. The project was carried out in conjunction with two suppliers, OneUp and Technolution.
The following main characters played their parts in this test setup:
- Fritzy – a refrigerator, representing timer-suitable energy consumption;
- Sunny – solar panels, representing energy generation that cannot be planned;
- Batsy – a battery system, representing energy storage that can be planned;
- Exxy – a trader in the energy markets, representing unlimited market access that can be planned;
- Netty – the local power grid, representing a grid operator and measuring company.
They interact and trade with each other through an open local market platform. The interaction between Fritzy and his friends is always visible on a dashboard in the test setup.
Relevance for FAN
We believe that effective local market-oriented cooperation can only be successful if it is scalable and provides a level playing field with low barriers to entry for new players. A transparent architecture with open interfaces is important in this respect. This is in line with FAN’s philosophy and more specifically with FAN’s Energy Flexibility Interface (EFI), which was used in the Fritzy & Friends test setup.
A glimpse into the future
Port of Amsterdam, OneUp and Technolution would like to use Fritzy & Friends as an innovative playground to further develop the dialogue and co-creation with the sector. Port of Amsterdam has recognised that it has much in common with FAN and its philosophy.
We think that, together, we will be able to offer effective support and a practical framework for industrial micro grids. We look forward to doing research projects with knowledge institutes, hackathons with technology partners and to giving demonstrations to policy makers, said a spokesman of Port of Amsterdam.
More information?
If you would you like to find out more about Fritzy & Friends, please contact Wilbert Prinssen, director of Energy & IoT at Technolution, wilbert.prinssen [at] technolution.nl.