ElectraFlex, more flexibility

Electra Caldense, Energy Web and Bamboo Energy announce the ElectraFlex project to provide more flexibility to the electrical grid.

The strategic collaboration will leverage Energy Web’s EW-DOS open source software and Bamboo’s SaaS platform to offer flexibility services to Electra Caldense’s distribution network including battery storage, electric vehicles, photovoltaic solar plants and industrial companies. Electra Caldense also joins the Energy Web Foundation as a new member.

Caldes de Montbui, Barcelona and Zug, Switzerland — February 23, 2021— The Catalan electricity grid operator Electra Caldense Distribución and the marketer Electra Caldense Energía, together with Energy Web and Bamboo Energy, have announced the launch of the joint initiative ElectraFlex. This initiative will focus on the deployment of a digital platform that will allow Electra Caldense to use the flexible capacity of the assets connected to its electricity grid. Other partners in the project are the Basque energy storage company CEGASA, the provider of charging points for electric vehicles Vega Chargers and the industrial clients Top Cable and Recam Laser.

As Oriol Xalabarder, CEO of the Electra Group points out: “We are very pleased to join Energy Web and Bamboo Energy in this fantastic project together with the other partners and we are convinced that we will generate the innovation and knowledge necessary to face the challenges of the energy transition, both as a 100% renewable energy trading company and also as operators of the electrical distribution system “.

Founded more than 100 years ago, Electra Caldense is an operator of the Spanish electricity grid distribution system that currently serves more than 12,400 customers in the north of the province of Barcelona. In recent years, Electra Caldense has undertaken a series of innovation projects, such as participation in the RIS3CAT Energy Community. Electra Caldense is the main coordinator of the NAenCAT project at RIS3CAT, which aims to become a benchmark for smart grids by providing distributed systems of sensors, remote control and automation. The new ElectraFlex pilot project will take these efforts even further, leveraging open source digital technologies.

ElectraFlex is the world’s first decentralized flexible power distribution platform that is tailored to the specific needs of a distribution system operator (DSO). This multi-faceted flexibility platform will use Energy Web’s EW-DOS technology to assign digital identities to all connected assets and participants in the flexibility market. This will allow them to self-register for these energy markets and offer services to Electra Caldense, as well as the Spanish electricity system operator (REE), on behalf of their owners.

The ElectraFlex pilot project will also implement the Bamboo Energy software solution for demand aggregation, in order to manage and optimize the flexibility of demand for two industrial companies, Top Cable and Recam Laser, together with a photovoltaic park with CEGASA batteries. In a second phase, a bidirectional electric vehicle charging station from Vega Chargers will be added.

“Electra Caldense is becoming an example of innovation for European network operators”, says Jesse Morris, Commercial Director of Energy Web. “They are showing how residential, commercial and industrial customers – as well as their energy assets on the grid – can become truly integrated parts of a dynamic, low-carbon electrical system.”

Xavi Bou, Deputy Director of the Electra Group, adds: “The combination of an energy aggregation platform and blockchain technology will allow us to expand the scope of our services by offering innovative solutions to our clients in Spain. In this way, we will be able to promote the concept of transactional energy not only to give more flexibility to the demand of the markets, but also, in short, in the energy transactions between peers (P2P) within the renewable energy communities or other ecosystems. “

Within the framework of the ElectraFlex project, Energy Web will develop and implement the EW SunSpec gateway, an open source toolkit for single board industrial computers that will allow any Distributed Energy Resource (DER) that complies with the SunSpec Modbus specification to have its own identity. digital in EW-DOS. “These gateways will be integrated into Bamboo Energy’s demand aggregation software to model the resilience of each energy asset and enable the best strategy to maximize the value of its asset portfolio,” says Alex Gomar, CEO of Bamboo Energy. SunSpec is a business alliance of about 100 solar energy and storage companies from Asia, Europe and North America. Energy Web and SunSpec Alliance announced a strategic alliance in August 2020.

The ElectraFlex pilot project started in January 2021 and is expected to end in late July 2021.

In addition, since February 17, 2021, Electra Caldense has officially joined the Energy Web Foundation as a new member. Electra Caldense will host a validator node on the Energy Web blockchain and will take an active part in the largest energy blockchain ecosystem in the world together with other electricity companies, network operators, renewable energy developers, corporate energy buyers and many others.

About Electra Caldense Distribución (DSO)

Electra Caldense Distribució is an operator of the electricity distribution system founded in 1917 and since then, it has guaranteed the electricity supply to more than 12,400 users in 10 municipalities in the Vallès Oriental and Occidental regions (Barcelona), among other regions of Catalonia.

For more information, visit: https://electracaldensedistribucio.com/es/

About Electra Caldense Energía (energy marketer)

Electra Caldense Energia is an energy trading company that is part of the Electra Group, which supplies certified 100% green energy to more than 12,800 subscribers, including residential and industrial customers.

For more information visit: https://electracaldenseenergia.com/es/

About Energy Web

Energy Web is a member-driven, international non-profit organization with the goal of accelerating the customer-centric, low-carbon energy transition by harnessing the potential of open source digital technologies. Its decentralized Energy Web operating system (EW-DOS) allows any energy asset, owned by any customer, to participate in any energy market. Energy Web Chain, the world’s first enterprise-grade and public blockchain tailored to the energy sector, is the foundation of EW-DOS technology. The Energy Web ecosystem is made up of leading power generation companies, network operators, renewable energy developers, corporate power buyers, and leading telecommunications and IoT companies, among others.

For more information visit: https://energyweb.org

About Bamboo Energy

Bamboo Energy offers a customized and flexible SaaS solution to independent aggregators and energy trading companies, which enables the flexibility of distributed resources to be efficiently managed. Bamboo Energy improves the performance of aggregators using artificial intelligence, sophisticated mathematical models, and cloud computing. At its core, it relies on the combination of advanced machine learning techniques to predict the flexibility of your client portfolio and market conditions, robust mathematical modeling and optimization algorithms for optimal portfolio management and behavior analysis. . These features are not present in any other energy aggregation software solution on the market.

For more information visit: https://bambooenergy.tech/

About CEGASA Energía

Cegasa was founded in 1934 and since our origin we have always been a company related to the electrochemical accumulation of energy. We are manufacturers of Zinc-air Industrial Batteries, Lithium-Ion Batteries, and solutions for energy storage. Our products are developed and manufactured entirely in Europe. CEGASA presents a wide catalog of batteries in different formats and in different energy ranges. Lithium-Ion is the rechargeable technology with the highest performance in density and cycles. Added to the fact that it does not need any type of maintenance, they make it the best cost-performance solution. CEGASA designs and manufactures products and solutions based on Lithium-Ion to respond to the needs of energy accumulation, applied to industrial traction, mobility, stationary and renewable systems.

For more information, visit: www.cegasa.com

About Vega Chargers

Vega Chargers is a company specialized in the design of direct current (DC) fast chargers for electric vehicles. At Vega Chargers we work every day to make possible a more sustainable present and future in terms of mobility. To do this, we analyze the needs of our customers and provide flexible and scalable charging solutions for electric vehicles, ranging from conception and design to manufacturing and distribution. In addition, we develop comprehensive software systems that, together with our charging stations, are the perfect pairing to accelerate the adoption of the electric vehicle.

For more information, visit: www.VegaChargers.com