Sabina

Ref.
Ares(2018)4099906 - 03/08/2018
H2020-LCE-01-2016-2017
Next generation innovative technologies enabling smart grids, storage and energy
system integration with increasing share of renewables: distribution network
SABINA
SmArt BI-directional multi eNergy gAteway
Starting date of the project: 01/11/2016

Duration: 48 months
= Deliverable D1.1 =
Market-based requirements for the SABINA solution
Due date of deliverable: 31/12/2016

Actual submission date: 13/01/2017
Responsible WP: Lorraine Caldwell, SMS

Responsible TL: Lorraine Caldwell, SMS
Revision: V2.0
Dissemination level
PU Public x
Restricted to other programme participants (including the Commission
PP
Services)
Restricted to a group specified by the consortium (including the Commission
RE
Services)
Confidential, only for members of the consortium (including the Commission
CO
Services)
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 731211.
H2020-LCE-01-2016-2017 GA number: 731211
SABINA
AUTHOR
Author Institution Contact (e-mail, phone)
Lorraine Caldwell SMS Lorraine.caldwell@sms-plc.com
James Sharman SMS james.sharman@sms-plc.com
Yves Stauffer CSEM yst@csem.ch
Carlos Fernández Bandera UNAV cfbandera@unav.es
Eva Lucas UNAV elucas@unav.es
Frederik W. Johansen INS fwj@insero.com
Jaume Salom IREC jsalom@irec.cat
Amelia Alvarez SCHE amelia.alvarez@schneider-electric.com
Paco Ramos SCHE francisco.ramos@schneider-electric.com
Antonis Peppas NTUA peppas@metal.ntua.gr
Konstantina Papakonstantinou NTUA konstantina_papakonsta@metal.ntua.gr
Sebastiano Toffaleti DSME sebastiano.toffaletti@digitalsme.eu
Lenka Bajarová AMI bajarova@amires.eu
DOCUMENT CONTROL
Document version Date Change
V0.1 06/01/17 Advanced draft
V0.2 09/01/17 1st update to draft following full proof read
V0.3 10/01/17 2nd update of advanced draft following proof read
V1.0 11/01/17 Final version approved by the Project Manager and
the Coordinator
V2.0 03/08/2018 EU acknowledgement and disclaimer included, list
of authors extended
VALIDATION
Reviewers Validation date
Work Package Leader Lorraine Caldwell N/A
Project Manager Lenka Bajarová 11/01/2017
Exploitation Manager Lorraine Caldwell 09/01/2017
Coordinator James Sharman 10/01/2017
DOCUMENT DATA
Keywords
Point of Contact Name: Lorraine Caldwell
Partner: SMS
Address: Prennau House, Cardiff CF23 8XH
Phone: +44 (0)77 3832 1173

E-mail: lorraine.caldwell@sms-plc.com
Delivery date 13/01/2017
DISTRIBUTION LIST
13/01/2017 V1.0 All partners, EC

03/08/2018 V2.0 EC
DISCLAIMER
Any dissemination of results reflects only the authors’ view and the European Commission Horizon 2020 is
not responsible for any use that may be made of the information Deliverable D1.1 contains.
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Executive Summary
SABINA is an EU funded H2020 research and innovation project that aims to develop new technology and
financial models to connect, control and actively manage generation and storage assets to exploit synergies
between electrical flexibility and the thermal inertia of buildings.
SABINA focuses on energy storage and maximising the use of flexibility. Excess electricity from renewables
can be converted to heat or cold and stored using buildings’ thermal inertia (or other storage mechanism).
Provision for aggregation at district level will be provided to maximise the effect of SABINA.
This document describes the findings of a comprehensive but non-exhaustive literature review and a limited
market survey of aspects within a varying and rapidly changing market place. An overview of the current
market landscape is provided together with an assessment of how it could develop in future and where the
SABINA solution could fit in to address emerging market needs.
Current and future European policies regarding flexibility markets are discussed. A selection of existing
companies who offer solutions partially similar to SABINA, research projects addressing comparable
solutions and projects where SABINA could be deployed are analysed to understand where SABINA could fit
within different markets.
A summary of opinions and perspectives from relevant industry actors are also presented.
In order to ensure that SABINA has the potential to be commercially viable thus encouraging a wide market
uptake, a set of guiding principles have been developed and these are summarised in the concluding section
of this document.
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................... 5
1.1. Task objectives ......................................................................................................................................................................... 5
1.2. Methodology ............................................................................................................................................................................. 5
1.2.1. Literature Review.......................................................................................................................................................... 5
1.2.2. Market Survey ................................................................................................................................................................. 5
2. SABINA Whole Concept................................................................................................................................................ 6
2.1. Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................................. 6
2.2. Objectives ................................................................................................................................................................................... 6
2.3. Current Market Landscape.................................................................................................................................................. 8
2.4. Future Market Demand ..................................................................................................................................................... 13
3. SABINA System Components .................................................................................................................................. 14
3.1. Thermal Inertia Model ....................................................................................................................................................... 14
3.1.1. Objectives....................................................................................................................................................................... 14
3.1.2. Current Technology and Market Landscape ................................................................................................... 14
3.1.3. SABINA and Future Market Demand .................................................................................................................. 15
3.2. Building Level Management ............................................................................................................................................ 17
3.2.1. Objectives....................................................................................................................................................................... 17
3.3. Guarantee Quality of Supply ............................................................................................................................................ 21
3.3.1. Objectives....................................................................................................................................................................... 21
3.4. District Level Aggregation and Management ........................................................................................................... 23
3.4.1. Objectives....................................................................................................................................................................... 23
3.5. Novel Remote Terminal Unit ........................................................................................................................................... 28
3.5.1. Objectives....................................................................................................................................................................... 28
3.6. Business Model ..................................................................................................................................................................... 29
3.6.1. Objectives....................................................................................................................................................................... 29
3.6.2. Review of Current Market Models Applicable to SABINA ......................................................................... 29
3.6.3. SABINA and Future Market Models .................................................................................................................... 30
4. Market Survey.............................................................................................................................................................. 32
4.1. Objectives ................................................................................................................................................................................ 32
4.2. Methodology .......................................................................................................................................................................... 32
4.3. Results and Discussion ...................................................................................................................................................... 33
5. Conclusions ................................................................................................................................................................... 34
6. Degree of Progress ..................................................................................................................................................... 35
7. Dissemination Level .................................................................................................................................................. 36
8. Appendix A .................................................................................................................................................................... 37
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1. Introduction
This is the first deliverable of work package 1 “system specifications and requirements” and is associated
with task 1.1 “analysis of system requirements including market survey”.
1.1. Task objectives

The objective of this task was to build an awareness of commercial opportunities for deployment of the
SABINA solution to ensure a wide market uptake and consequently maximise the impact of the benefits.
To address this need a desk top literature review of current and potential future market landscapes was
carried out, supplemented by a short market survey.
The research and market survey was undertaken for both the SABINA concept as a whole and for the
individual components within the SABINA project to ensure that the various benefits of SABINA can be
maximised.
1.2. Methodology
The content of this report has been delivered by findings of two methods; a literature review and a short
market survey.
1.2.1. Literature Review
An initial comprehensive but non-exhaustive desk top literature review was undertaken to understand
existing companies offering similar technologies, research projects exploring similar areas and current
incentives that could contribute to the commercialisation of SABINA.
Findings are presented in Sections 2 and 3.
1.2.2. Market Survey
A concise summary of SABINA and a template of questions were agreed by all partners, these can be found in
Appendix 1. Target groups were agreed and short interviews were carried out with individuals spanning the
target groups. Further details of this exercise are discussed in Section 4 of this document although findings
from the survey were also used to inform Sections 2 and 3.
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2. SABINA Whole Concept
2.1. Introduction
During the last decade, Europe has increased the installation of large renewable energy systems such and
wind and solar farms. These systems are set up in a decentralised manner, and they generate energy that is
subject to the right weather conditions, regardless of the amount of power used on the network.
As long as the proportion of these sources of renewable energy is not too high, conventional power stations
can absorb the variations in generation due to changes in sun and wind. But to integrate ever more
renewable energy, solutions with regard to demand flexibility are needed. These could involve, for instance,
removing surplus energy from the network and storing it in buffers, or matching power use with the
available generation.
SABINA is an EU funded H2020 research and innovation project that aims to develop new technology along
with financial models that will connect, control and actively manage thermal and electric networks using
generation and storage assets in order to exploit synergies between electrical requirements and the thermal
inertia of buildings, whilst allowing aggregators to provide flexibility and balancing services to the grid.
SABINA will aim to maximize the usage of variable renewable energy sources by converting excess electrical
energy to heat or cold and storing it using buildings’ thermal inertia (the system will be compatible with
other storage mechanisms). Provision for aggregation at district level will be provided to maximise the effect
of SABINA.
The above will be achieved by the development of the following:
• Automatic identification of the thermal inertia of buildings using a minimal set of temperature
sensors.
• Building consumption and production prediction algorithms.
• Management algorithms for district and end user based renewables integration optimisation.
• An aggregation tool for electric and thermal to provide services to network operators and parties
responsible for balancing.
• A novel generation of 'Remote Terminal Unit' capable of advanced sensing and communication
capabilities.
SABINA will guarantee the quality of supply at all times in distribution networks that have a high
penetration of distributed generation through optimal control of grid-feeding invertors and promote a novel
business model that favors deployment at a wide scale with reduced CAPEX and OPEX costs and thus
facilitate more renewable energy integration. The proposed system will be compliant with current norms
and standards whilst identifying gaps and preparing recommendations for standardization bodies.
2.2. Objectives
The main objective of SABINA is to provide a beyond state of the art technological solution that brings
services to the medium and low voltage grid and will be on the market within five to ten years. SABINA
focuses on energy storage and synergies between electric and thermal networks and is inherently
compatible with demand-response.
This main objective, will be reached by addressing the following specific transdisciplinary (technical,
business and normative) objectives (current TRLs are indicated in brackets):
• Develop methodology for automatic identification of the thermal inertial of buildings with a
precision of 95% with a minimal set of temperature sensors and in less than 2 weeks. (TRL 3)
• Develop building consumption and production prediction algorithms (including renewables) that
automatically adjust to buildings’ specificities and predict with a precision of 95% over the horizon
of 24 hours (1hour granularity). (TRL 4)
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• Develop management algorithms for district based and end-user based renewables integration
optimisation that shall allow an increase of renewable penetration of at least 25%. The algorithms
will find the optimal (maximise renewable usage while guaranteeing user comfort) operating point
of the power to heat/cold appliances (such as heat-pumps or chillers) as well as the set-point of the
thermal sub-station. (TRL 3)
• Guarantee quality of supply (as per relevant standards such as EN50160) at all times in distribution
networks with high penetration of distributed generation with optimal control of grid feeding
inverters. (TRL 2)
• Develop and implement the aggregation tool for electric and thermal to provide services to the
networks operators (power grid and heat grid) and balancing responsible parties (power market).
(TRL 3)
• Develop and promote the usage of a novel generation of Remote Terminal Unit capable of advanced
sensing and communication capabilities and its functionalities in the distribution network. (TRL 3)
• Prove the functionality of the whole system through testing in laboratory conditions and validation
at two testing sites under real conditions.
• Promote a novel business model that favours the wide scale deployment of SABINA to lower costs
(CAPEX and OPEX) both for end-users and grid managers, thus facilitating more renewable energy
integration. (TRL 3)
• Ensure compliance of the proposed system with current norms and standards; identify normative
gap and prepare eventual recommendations for standardisation bodies.
Figure 1: SABINA specific objectives
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2.3. Current Market Landscape
2.3.1. Flexibility and Demand Response
Currently only the UK, France, Ireland and Belgium enable both Demand Response and independent
aggregation. Belgium and France have both defined the roles and responsibilities around independent
aggregation and in 2015 the UK committed to clarifying the roles of aggregators. Despite the barriers
remaining today, in 2013 Europe was almost entirely shut to Demand Response and today consumers have
the opportunity to participate in Demand Response programs in multiple Member States in accordance with
the requirements of the EED. Europe’s energy market is unique, and there is the opportunity to create
unique solutions, combining competitive market structures with the decarbonisation agenda.
The publication “Demand Response Status in EU Member States” 2016 by The European Commission’s Joint
Research Centre (JRC) 1 describes, in detail, progress of Member States towards opening markets for
demand response. The document suggests the status of each Member States can be divided into roughly
three groups; these are presented in Table 1 below.
Table 1: Status of Member States towards opening markets for demand response according to the JRC
Country Status
Portugal
Spain
Italy
Croatia
The Czech Republic
Bulgaria
Cyprus
Malta First - Member States who have yet to seriously engage with Demand
Greece Response reforms. Obligatory provisions of the relevant EU Directives
Hungary may have been transposed in name but not in fact.
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Poland
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Austria
Denmark Second - Member States are in the process of enabling Demand Response
Germany through the retailer only. This is an important choice – due to the fact
Netherlands that the customer will not be offered a clear value for their flexibility -
Sweden rather they will receive this bundled with their electricity bill.
Finland
Belgium
UK Third - Member States that enables both Demand Response and
France independent aggregation.
Ireland
In November 2016 UK’s Government and Ofgem published A SMART, FLEXIBLE ENERGY SYSTEM - A call for
evidence setting out their thinking in a number of key areas. The full document can be found on Ofgem’s
website2. A couple of points have been extracted that are relevant to SABINA’s role within the future UK
market.
1 http://iet.jrc.ec.europa.eu/energyefficiency/node/9147
2 https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/smart-flexible-energy-system-call-evidence
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• Government and Ofgem are committed to ensuring the energy system works for people and
businesses. A smarter and more flexible system offers significant benefits for consumers and the
economy. This can help to ensure the UK has a secure, affordable and clean energy system now and
in the future, while helping to enable growth in all parts of the country.
• A smart energy system is one which uses information technology to intelligently integrate the actions
of users connected to it, in order to efficiently deliver secure, sustainable and economic electricity
supplies. Smart technologies will be an important source of future flexibility. ‘Flexibility’ refers to the
ability to modify generation and/or consumption patterns in reaction to an external signal (such as a
change in price, or a message).
• Security of supply is vital. A smart system can deliver energy security at a lower cost than would
otherwise be the case. As new smart technologies and solutions emerge, the System Operator and the
energy market will have a more diverse range of options for balancing supply and demand. This will
need innovation in technologies, business models and consumer offerings. Equally, a smart system
could face new risks, because it will be more complex and more driven by data and communication
technologies. It is essential that a smart system remains a secure system.
• For markets and competition to work effectively, smart technologies and new business models need
to be able to compete fairly with more traditional solutions.
• Aggregators have a role to play in delivering smart technology and processes. They enable
consumers to offer flexibility by providing an intermediary role.
The National Grid in the UK launched a Power Responsive campaign in June 2015 and set out how they saw
their balancing services evolving over the next five to ten Years. Existing balancing services offered are
summarized in Section 3.4.2; the National Grid believes significant participation in these markets is likely to
remain at least five years away. This timescale fits in with the commercialisation target of SABINA,
suggesting this kind of smart technology will have a high future market demand.
2.3.2. Existing technologies and solutions
Few companies were found to address all objectives that the SABINA project wishes to achieve; this is
understandable due to the low TRL of the complete solution. A relevant selection of existing companies who
offer solutions partially similar to SABINA, research projects addressing comparable solutions and projects
where SABINA could be deployed are summarised and referenced below.
Goteborg Energi - Gothenburg 3, 4, 5, 6
Goteborg Energi are western Sweden’s leading energy company and manage Gothenburg’s large district heat
network. They have collaborated with Chalmers University on a 4 year project entitled Smart energy
networks – connections between smart grids and smart district heating networks.
Integrated within the Celsius Smart Cities program the Gothenburg heating network connects the north and
south of the region and extends over 410 kilometers with a total of 1200 kilometers of pipeline. With its 19
production sites distributed throughout the region, the heating network serves 90% of Gothenburg
collective dwellings within the urban area and 20% of individual houses. It provides about 0.3 Mtoe of heat.
The heat price is modulated according to four choices. These range from the rental of the exchanger (the
choice made by most housing tenants) to purchasing it, with two intermediate options.
The Gothenburg heating network uses half the heat recovered from the incineration of waste and refineries,
as well as biofuels and heat pumps installed in wastewater. More than 80% of its energy mix comes from
renewable sources or energy recovery.
One of the assignments of the project was to investigate the use of buildings as thermal energy stores. Back-
up boiler plants that use fossil fuels are often used in order to satisfy peaks in power demand. These plants
3http://www.chalmers.se/en/projects/Pages/Smarta-energin%C3%A4t-%E2%80%93-koppling-mellan-smarta-eln%C3%A4t-och-smarta-
fj%C3%A4rrv%C3%A4rmen%C3%A4t.aspx
4 http://www.goteborgenergi.se/English/Products/District_heating
5 https://eu-smartcities.eu/content/celsius-smart-district-heating-and-cooling-solutions
6 Evaluation of buildings’ suitability as thermal energy storage in a district heating system - J Elebo, D Petersson 2013
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are less efficient and less environmentally friendly than base load plants. In an effort to reduce the need for
back-up boilers, a share of the buildings in the network could be used as thermal energy stores. This would
allow the time of heat delivery to be shifted, thereby reducing peaks in demand, resulting in a more even
load with the potential to be more readily satisfied by base load plants. To facilitate this, simple technology
would be installed to control the buildings’ heating systems based on outdoor and indoor temperature
sensors.
Conclusions of the pilot study showed that there is potential for using buildings as thermal energy stores.
However, before large scale implementation further tests and analysis would need to be performed in order
to adjust the control strategies for each building and to find the optimal reduction in peak load that each
building would be capable of providing. Further installations have been undertaken and the latest
conclusions are that it is technically possible and economically profitable - but lacks a solid business model.
Literature shows a high potential for using thermal energy storage in buildings but the fact that all buildings
are different makes it difficult to find standard solutions, and storage systems often need to be designed and
optimised on a building to building basis.
The Smart Energy Networks project has shown that implementing thermal energy storage in buildings can
have a positive effect on the energy efficiency and/or thermal comfort of a building through one or a
combination of: reduction in heating or cooling demand, peak load reduction for heating or cooling, CO2
emissions reduction and reduction in excess indoor temperatures. Thermal energy storage should therefore
be viewed as a technology that both is and will be playing an important role in our buildings and as a
technology that is necessary to help in increasing the share of renewable energy used for heating and cooling
of buildings.
Linear Intelligent Networks Research Project 7
Linear is a Flemish Smart Grid project that focused on solutions to match residential electricity consumption
with available wind and solar energy, an approach referred to as ‘demand response’. The project explored
the role of energy storage of thermal buffers in smart grids.
The thermal energy storage concept disconnects heat production from its use by storing energy in thermal
buffers. Using a thermal buffer enables a heat pump to produce heat (and so consume electricity) at
moments when there is a surplus of renewable electricity, either for immediate use for space heating and/or
domestic hot water, or for storage for later use in buildings or buffers.
The project outcomes suggested that for future massive implementation and continued operation of thermal
energy storage concepts it will be crucial to have low-cost control systems, standard communication
protocols and interfaces available commercially. Today, a thermal buffer is often a passive component
integrated into the control system of the boiler, CHP or Heat Pump. In future scenarios, it is likely that a
smart control device will steer the heating system and thermal buffer and decide which heat source is most
appropriate based on current market conditions.
The project investigated two remuneration models:
• Capacity Fee
• Dynamic Tariffs
Note that with a capacity fee, the users did not need to be aware of which type of control was active. The
Linear pilot project demonstrated that a capacity fee system works well from a user perspective. In contrast
users found that dynamic prices and the requirement to respond to them was too invasive, too much effort,
and too complex which resulted in response fatigue and only very limited behavioral changes.
QCoefficient 8
QCo is an American based company providing a smart grid engine that integrates HVAC operations in both
individual buildings and portfolios of buildings.
7 http://www.linear-smartgrid.be/en/research-smart-grids
8 http://qcoefficient.com/
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Taken from their website: By integrating building operations with energy markets, QCo’s proprietary
software leverages a building’s thermal mass, environmental data, carbon emissions and electric market
prices to:
• Reduce HVAC energy use and expense up to 30 percent;
• Improve electric generation efficiency and environmental performance; and
• Introduce demand elasticity into grid markets.
For building owners and managers – QCo executes a strategy designed to maximise efficiency and tenant
comfort while also reducing costs, extending equipment life, and supporting corporate sustainability goals.
QCo proprietary modeling utilises both building structure and infrastructure data and building operations
information to provide site-specific performance predictions. QCo proprietary software then applies
optimisation techniques to the model to help determine the most economical operation for each day, as a
function of hourly local weather, carbon emissions at the source, fan and chiller efficiencies and real-time
electric market prices.
QCo’s proprietary modeling captures the performance and electric demand of building HVAC systems, and
then evaluates temperature-setting strategies that shift HVAC electric consumption to take advantage of
lower night-time/early morning temperatures and electric prices. By eliminating the need for buildings to
purchase energy during daytime peak hours at higher peak-rate prices, QCo’s proprietary HVAC
optimisation software on average achieves 10% energy savings, 20% energy expense savings and up to 30%
peak demand reduction.
BuildingIQ 9
BuildingIQ is an American based company that offers the solution, Predictive Energy Optimization™ (PEO).
Taken from their website PEO is designed to improve the energy efficiency of large, complex buildings,
whether commercial, public, or academic. Running as a software-as-service (SaaS), PEO optimises around
system efficiency, occupancy comfort, and lowest cost. Energy reductions in HVAC consumption in the range
of 10-25% are typical, with reductions climbing to as high as 40% during operational peaks. The service
utilises the full capabilities of the 5i platform, learning from and adapting to the building and BMS over time.
At the core of the solution are sophisticated algorithms, which automatically learn and model the building’s
thermal characteristics and usage patterns. The system then adapts to changes in internal or external
conditions. As a result, there is no need for engineers to laboriously document or update the technical details
of every component of a building’s HVAC system, which is usually required to implement a sophisticated
energy optimisation solution.
BuildingIQ uses advanced artificial intelligence algorithms to learn about a building’s energy characteristics.
This capability is referred to as Learning by Listening and it significantly reduces the time needed to deploy
a solution. After the initial system is deployed and operational, the solution continues to listen and learn and
continues to improve the building’s performance.
Noda Smart Heat Grid 10 11
Noda Intelligent Systems is a Swedish company founded in 2005 to develop intelligent systems for energy
efficiency and system-wide energy optimisation for both energy companies and property owners.
Noda Smart Heat Grid is a platform for linking customers and district heating suppliers. By combining
traditional engineering with modern IT technology, Noda technology optimises production strategies,
energy efficiency and reduces emissions throughout the entire energy chain for district heating customers.
The system coordinates substation power output and links this with operational production conditions.
Normally, district heating is entirely controlled by demand and energy companies can only affect the supply
temperature and pressure holding facilities. Noda Smart Heat Grid creates a third level of freedom by
enabling the operational control of demand in real-time.
9 https://buildingiq.com/products/predictive-control/buildingiq-platform/
10 http://www.noda.se/en/main
11 http://www.noda.se/en/smart-heat-building
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Noda Smart Heat Grid operates in several places around Sweden as well as actively working with energy
companies, automation companies and building owners to create more efficient district heating systems
across several European countries. One of the largest plants is operated in collaboration with Karlshamn
Energi AB. Karlshamn has one of the largest intelligent district heating networks in the world. Noda
Intelligent Systems is used by around a hundred of the largest buildings in the network, all continuously
collaborating to enhance operational conditions for production and distribution, saving energy for the
building owners. The district heating network in Karlshamn receives a base load from nearby industrial
surplus heat which covers most of its heat demand.
Noda Smart Heat Building uses sensors to continually measure the indoor temperature, as well as utilising a
mathematical model that predicts the impact of various different scenarios; Noda Smart Heat Building
employs a self-learning and adaptive model to continuously calculate the energy balance of the property,
making it possible to combine several climatic zones within the same building.
DEPsys 12
DEPsys is a leading Swiss technology company. Taken from their Website GridEye - DEPsys is a secure,
resilient and adaptive real-time control platform for the management of low voltage grids. Its connected
smart modules measure network parameters and take expert actions to guarantee network quality and
optimization of energy flows, both in connected as well as micro grid environments.
By providing an easy deployment, paired with unprecedented modularity and scalability, GridEye introduces
a more practical way to respond to and manage the complex needs of the power grid in the presence of
numerous renewable energy sources, storage systems and micro grid architecture.
GridEye features a decentralized control algorithm, removing single points of failure, heavy data
communication and the need for a heavy computing infrastructure. Its control is model-less, thus
guaranteeing simple installation and operation, as well as lower CapEx and OpEx.
Star Renewable Energy 13
UK firm Star Renewable Energy has launched what it calls a groundbreaking sustainable heating system for
heating homes and businesses across an entire city in Norway. Star's Neatpump is a renewable energy heat
pump that extracts heat from seawater, air or any industrial waste stream, such as air conditioning or large
scale cooling processes. This waste heat is captured, compressed, boosted and recycled to provide hot water
at up to 90°C for heating buildings on a massive scale. The project was completed in January 2011, and has
since delivered over 15MW of heat for the Drammen community of 60,000 people. It was the world's largest
district-wide natural heat pump system.
This kind of project could use the smart technology that SABINA would offer.
Cornwall New Energy
Cornwall New Energy is a dedicated business assist project that will support the shift towards a low carbon
economy in all sectors across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly in south west UK. The project aims to develop
the local energy market and ensure that enterprises and communities will benefit from more local
ownership and operation of energy generation and supply.
The project will help bring greater long term confidence to the market around local energy supply,
renewable generation and use, development and adoption of new and emerging low carbon technologies –
and draw these components into a more integrated, collaborative local energy market in the region.
The project will create mutually beneficial relationships between local producers, suppliers and energy
users. It aims to facilitate small scale, local renewable energy generation and supply becoming the norm, not
the exception; and for more innovative SMEs to enter and expand in the high growth Low Carbon
Environmental Goods and Services (LCEGS) sector. It will also provide a major contribution to increasing the
proportion of energy generated locally, delivering economic, social and environmental benefits for the
region.
This project has the potential need for smart technology system such as SABINA.
12 http://www.depsys.ch/products/
13 http://www.neatpumps.com/about-us.aspx
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2.4. Future Market Demand
The Commission wants the EU to lead the clean energy transition, not only adapt to it. For this reason, the EU
has committed to cut CO2 emissions by at least 40% by 2030. EU’s proposals have three main goals: putting
energy efficiency first, achieving global leadership in renewable energies and providing a fair deal for
consumers.
In order to better accommodate the rising share of renewables, wholesale markets have to further develop
and in particular provide adequate rules allowing shorter term trading to reflect the necessities of variable
generation. Renewables producers will be able to earn revenues from the market, including system service
markets that are required to maintain grid stability and security. By introducing trading closer to the time of
delivery well-integrated short-term electricity markets will also reward flexibility in the market for
generation, demand or storage. 14
Consumers are the drivers of energy transition. New technologies like smart grids, smart homes,
increasingly competitive roof-top solar panels and battery storage solutions make it possible for energy
consumers to become active players on the market. The Renewables Directive will enable consumers to self-
consume renewable energy without facing undue restrictions, and ensure that they are remunerated for the
energy they sell into the grid. 15
Flexibility needs to be added to Europe’s power system to accommodate an increasing share of variable
power generation from renewable sources. Indeed, service quality issues start to arise on the grid when this
share in electricity consumption reaches 10%. To meet the EU’s targets for reduction of greenhouse gas
emissions this share should rise to 30% by 2030 and up to 50% by 2050. The cost of this transition and the
necessary measures to guarantee stable and continuous supply are a major political concern.
The SABINA project responds to this by targeting the cheapest possible source of flexibility: the existing
thermal inertia in buildings and the coupling between heat and electricity networks it enables. This coupling
requires accurately estimating the thermal inertia of many buildings. SABINA’s partner the University of
Navarra has created a breakthrough, automatic method for this estimation, which shall be scaled up,
validated and integrated in a complete management system through this project.
This system will operate on two complementary time horizons:
• One day: aggregation and management at the district level of the electric and thermal flexibilities,
and conversion and storage of the excess electrical energy to thermal energy in the freely available
building inertia.
• Seconds to minutes: local control of inverters feeding renewable electricity to the grid, with optimal
parameters automatically determined at the district level. Research partners will develop novel
control and optimisation algorithms, and integrate and evaluate the system in lab and operational
settings.
The SABINA solution is compatible with both new and existing buildings; it is planned to be deployed within
five years of the end of the project.
14 http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-16-3987_en.htm
15 http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-16-4009_en.htm
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3. SABINA System Components
3.1. Thermal Inertia Model
In order to incorporate a larger portion of energy derived from variable Renewable technologies, SABINA
aims to use the thermal inertia of buildings to allow excess electrical energy to be converted to thermal
energy. The ability to accurately determine the thermal inertia of a building or the building behavior in free
oscillation will allow the maximum utilisation of flexibility within the whole system by exploiting the ability
to predict the amount of energy required to keep the building within its comfort zone under all
circumstances.
3.1.1. Objectives
The main objective of this component of SABINA is to develop the methodology to automatically obtain a
calibrated simulation model (that will at a later stage be used as a prediction model by the management
algorithm) that matches the building’s actual thermal behavior and energy consumption.
This main objective will be achieved by the following activities:
• Development of a high quality thermal model to allow the controller to benefit from the thermal
inertia of the building.
• Automate the calibration of the model based on a few sensors and short measurement time.
• Preparation of a common simulation environment for all partners based on standard tools.
• Development and improvement of automatic building thermal identification method.
• Development of a full simulation model based on calibrated building models.
The simulation tool used will be EnergyPlus which will be adapted for the specific needs of SABINA.
3.1.2. Current Technology and Market Landscape
As described in Section 2.3 the following are currently offering / researching the synergies between thermal
and power networks using smart algorithms to understand buildings’ characteristics:
• Goteborg Energi
• QCoefficient
• NODA Smart Heat Building
• Linear project
Further projects such as the EU project Energy IN TIME (EiT)16 project go beyond existing building control
techniques, developing an integrated control and operation approach that will combine state of the art
modelling techniques with the development of an innovative simulation-based control technique. This will
have the overarching objective of automating the generation of optimal operational plans tailored to the
actual building and users requirements. This approach will reduce system inefficiencies and contribute to
improving building energy efficiency and comfort.
The target for Energy IN TIME will be existing non-residential buildings which present the greatest scope for
improvement due to the variety and quantity of facilities and equipment covered and the operational
management models used in them. A control tool will be implemented in the building energy management
systems to be automatically and remotely operated. The methodology will be defined for existing buildings
and for its implementation in new buildings since its initial commissioning.
The building calibration approach used by the Energy IN TIME project is described in the research paper
Development of Calibrated Operational Models of Existing Buildings for Real-Time Decision Support and
Performance Optimisation D Coakley et al. and followed a three-tier calibration approach, which aimed to
eliminate noise and discrepancies at the lowest levels (i.e. zone and system component level), before
16 https://www.energyintime.eu/
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attempting to tackle whole building model performance evaluation (i.e. at plant level). The approach built on
existing best practices for model calibration, using evidence-based model updates combined with sensitivity
analysis to guide the entire process.
Other research undertaken at the University of Warsaw by W Bujalski et al. 17 looked at using a simplified
model for simulation of buildings’ behavior for the operational optimisation of district heating systems.
Evolution of energy markets and developments in IT have resulted in new challenges for operational
optimisation in modern district heating networks. Among the solutions which can help in such optimisation,
thermal load shifting through the use of inertia of buildings has been identified as one which requires
additional research. Two mathematical models for simulation of transient behavior of buildings connected to
DH systems were described, and the more simplified model was validated by comparing results. Bujalski
stated that some innovative ideas, for example utilising the thermal inertia of buildings, had not been
explored due to legal regulations for example controlled tariffs for end users in Poland, which do not allow
setting variable prices of heat depending on time of the day.
Older (2011) 18 literature states simulation of an existing building is a difficult task, as older buildings are
often poorly documented and the condition and efficiency of the plant may be unknown. Metering is usually
scarce and a breakdown of significant energy users can be impossible to attain. Attempting to accurately
model such a building can be an expensive and often futile exercise. However, the act of modelling can
identify many areas within the building’s operation where improvements can be made. The fully refurbished
building can be modelled to predict its final expected energy performance; however, this is most useful
where a replacement of significant mechanical and electrical systems is planned. Computer simulation of
existing buildings can assist the refurbishment to achieve a desired energy performance. It can be useful in
assessing the merit of various pieces of equipment and can identify the most effective upgrades.
3.1.3. SABINA and Future Market Demand
In order to fully benefit from the freely available thermal capacity of buildings, a high quality thermal model
needs to be developed. In order for it to be easily usable within the SABINA package, the model shall be
automatically identified based on a minimal set of sensors and require minimal user input.
It will be based on the two following points:
1. An algorithm for preserving thermal history has been developed to solve the initial thermal energy of the
model. The thermal history of the building is preserved with information from the building automation
system (BAS otherwise known as Building management system BMS) system or the external sensors if
needed. A recent publication from the University of Navarra has proved the effectiveness of this new
algorithm 19. In this article the algorithm has to deal with problems linked to the standard implementation
shown in Figure 2 and because of that and despite the good results (40% of improvement from a good base
model), the algorithm is not working at full capacity. In SABINA the algorithm will take full advantage of the
new implementation that is proposed also shown in Figure 2.
2. A new calibration environment has been developed called Modular Artificial Neural Networks (MANN)
that has been proved at experimental level to reduce the time taken to find calibrated parameters (more
than 95% time saving 20). Within SABINA, this concept will be improved and made more robust to reach
TRL6.
These two novel methodologies will be at the basis of the SABINA project. Finally, the methodology will
result in a high-quality model based on temperature information that is easy to capture and cheap from the
point of view of installation. Indeed, information from BMS, if available, can be easily be incorporated into
the calibration process. The models can be generated through two or three weeks of monitoring. Using the
free oscillation advantage reduces the number of parameters needed and use of temperature sensors
reduces the investment as these are cheap and easy to install making this process suitable for large scale
deployment.
17 OPERATIONAL OPTIMIZATION IN DISTRICT HEATING SYSTEMS USING THERMAL INERTIA OF BUILDINGS Authors: Michał Leśko, Wojciech
Bujalski
18 http://www.sustainabilityhouse.com.au/uploads/web/ExistingBuildings_Ecolibrium_Oct2011.pdf
19 Ruiz, G. R., Bandera, C. F., Temes, T. G. A., & Gutierrez, A. S. O. (2016). Genetic algorithm for building envelope calibration. Applied Energy, 168,
691705.
20 Carlos Fernández Bandera. Artificial Intelligence as an inspiration for Building Energy Models. Phd-thesis. University of Navarre; 2016.
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Figure 2: Building model calibration loop - standard vs. SABINA
The developed high quality methodology of producing accurate calibrated building energy models could be
used for a variety of future applications such as the following:
• Demand for the integration of electric and thermal networks as more electrification of heating
becomes predominant. Electrical heating allows higher integration of Renewables.
• Predicting thermal inertia would lead to being able to predict the amount of heat or cooling required
along with the prediction of renewable supply, enabling the exploitation of demand response
requirements.
• Building performance optimisation – lowest energy use, lowest energy cost whilst maintaining
acceptable indoor environments.
• Model based control, model utilised as a guide to operation of the building.
• Model used in building automation system for real time control.
• Ongoing commissioning of new buildings.
• Diagnostic aid to understand where the building would benefit from further commissioning.
• Compare cost effectiveness of future energy conservation measures or renewable energy generation
installations.
• Predicting the thermal inertia of a building simply and cost effectively by using a few temperature
sensors could lead to an uptake of the use of the IPMVP Option D.
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3.2. Building Level Management
In order to move forward with smart grids and increase the integration of renewables at local levels whilst
exploiting the synergies between the thermal and power grid technologies, the area of complete building
level management needs to be developed.
3.2.1. Objectives
The main objectives of this section of SABINA are as follows:
• Development of algorithms for management at building level to allow massive integration of
renewables.
• Development of algorithms which enhance synergies between electric and thermal usage.
• Develop production and consumption forecasting algorithms.
• Development of building aggregation algorithms that link with the district level aggregator.

A high proportion of companies utilise building level management software to enhance energy and facility
management. These companies and systems could be potential areas where the model predictive building
management algorithm developed within the SABINA concept could be utilised. Below is a small selection of
the companies who currently offer commercial building management systems.
Neurobat 21
Taken from their website Neurobat's unique products are fitted with ingenious, state-of-the-art technology.
The technology and a unique algorithm for optimising all kinds of HVAC equipment are the cornerstone of
their high-tech products.
The key element is a model-predictive control system capable of optimising the hot water flow temperature
for heating installations in all types of property. Unlike most commercial heating controllers, which typically
compute the flow temperature as a function of outdoor temperature, Neurobat uses its own forecast of local
climatic conditions to achieve near-perfect indoor comfort while simultaneously cutting energy costs.
Neurobat requires no prior parameterisation thanks to its adaptive, self-learning building model. By
regularly sampling the indoor and outdoor conditions, the Neurobat building model is able, after around two
weeks, to predict the indoor temperature for the next 24 hours with a better than 0.1 degree standard error.
Neurobat products are not heating controllers in the strictest sense of the word. They can be more
accurately described as modules to support existing heating controllers by delivering high-accuracy flow
temperature values to the main controller. Depending on the type of main controller, the optimised flow
temperature can be implemented directly (via a header pipe in the building) or indirectly (by modifying the
outdoor temperature measured by the main controller). Customized chip solutions for heating controllers
round out Neurobat's product portfolio.
The patented technology was developed with the support of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), the
Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI), and leading research teams at the Centre Suisse
d’Electronique et de Microtechnique SA (CSEM), Neuchâtel, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
Lausanne (EPFL).
GridSense 22
GridSense controls electrical equipment such as heat pumps, boilers, charging stations for electric vehicles
and batteries autonomously and in a decentralised way. It uses artificial intelligence to gauge, learn and
anticipate user behavior and uses this information to ensure optimised, efficient energy consumption within
the building. With this smart energy, a conventional house is transformed into an energy-efficient smart
21 http://www.neurobat.net/en/technology/
22 https://www.gridsense.ch/en/home.html
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home. Through intelligent switching of loads, GridSense also contributes to the development of a smart grid,
thus helping to level out network load and supporting achievement of energy transition goals.
Demand Logic 23
Demand logic a UK based company who install a small device in buildings which collect data from the
existing building management system (BMS). In a typical building, boilers and chillers can be triggered into
running by any one of many hundreds of smaller devices which ask for hot or cold water or air. Finding
which device is behaving badly can be difficult yet this is how a vast amount of energy is typically wasted.
The Demand Logic system is able to sort and search all the devices and find the ones that are making
excessive demands on the plant.
Figure 3: Energy and asset management tool
Smart Carbon Control 24

Smart Carbon Control (SCC) is a UK based company and is a specialist in
data collection, collation and presentation, with particular expertise in
the asset and energy management sectors. Their modular approach
allows for the controlled integration of individual or multiple modules of
building management.
SCC specialise in a Remote Energy Control Module allowing energy
managers to control the major energy consuming equipment within an
estate remotely through the internet. Matching equipment run times to
occupancy, minimising boiler run times with pre-set temperature ranges
and optimising holiday time operation.
Figure 4: SCC modular approach to
building and asset management
Larger companies such as Siemans and Schneider also offer solutions to monitor measure and optimise
assets at a building management level 25 26:
23 https://www.demandlogic.co.uk/learn-more
24 http://www.smartcarboncontrol.com/energy-management/modules
25 http://www.buildingtechnologies.siemens.com/bt/global/en/campaigns/desigo/pages/default.aspx
26 http://www.schneider-electric.com/b2b/en/solutions/system/s4/building-systems-smartstruxure/
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The simpler existing commercial products currently available suggest there is a market demand for the
smart building management technology that SABINA aims to develop.
SABINA will develop a management algorithm that will find the optimal operating point of the electric to
heat/cold appliances (for instance heat pump or chiller) as well as the set-point of the thermal sub-station (if
available). The management algorithmic development will be carried out in a Matlab environment coupled
to the thermal inertia model developed within SABINA (see 3.1.3).
The building management algorithm will be in charge of controlling the electricity used to produce heat (or
cold) at building level. If additional storage elements for thermal energy (water tank) or electric energy
(batteries) are present, these will also be controlled by this algorithm. The algorithm will use predicted
thermal consumption/production and predicted electric consumption/production. It is important to note
that the grid constraint input corresponds to limitations sent by the district level aggregators. These can for
instance favour the use of the thermal grid or limit the injection of electricity on the electric grid.
The algorithm will take into account historical information from the data platform regarding the optimal
operation of a portfolio of heat pumps. The management algorithm will find the best technical system
operating model based on grid constraints and building status (production and consumption). During this
optimisation process, the building flexibility (i.e. how much more or how much less electricity or district
heating the building can accept) without penalising user comfort is also computed. The forecasted
information over a 24-hour period will be sent to the aggregator tool to enable flexibility models to be
utilised.
Figure 5 presents an overview of the anticipated building management tool.
Figure 5: Building management overview

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SABINA will exceed current state of the art technology in the following ways:
• SABINA optimises the heating and/cooling and renewable production in a single function. This
allows full exploitation of the renewable production potential.
• SABINA relies on the precise thermal inertia model described in 3.1.3.
• SABINA will rely on renewable forecasting coupled to consumption forecasting to optimally handle
renewable production. This management is coupled to the thermal management.
• SABINA will interact with the district aggregator by sending them the expected electric and thermal
power (and flexibility). The aggregator will provide intelligence on incentives to allow for optimum
usage of the electric and thermal grid at district level.
As previously stated several European countries are moving toward demand response services where the
level of predicted information generated by the SABINA system will be invaluable to this future market.
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3.3. Guarantee Quality of Supply
3.3.1. Objectives
The objective of this module within the SABINA project is the development of algorithms to compute
inverter parameters to guarantee local grid stability under high penetration of renewables.
Current state of the art, grid-feeding PV inverters have control capabilities which enable them to provide
grid services. In particular, to maintain local voltage within accepted ranges, they can adjust active power
injection or reactive power exchange as a function of local conditions under different approaches. In most
practical cases to date, only limited capabilities are used such as a set, non-unity power factor when installed
power reaches a certain value27.
When active controllers are used, they are simple, proportional controllers whose parameters are arbitrarily
set to non-optimised values. The reason is that optimising the control parameters require a complete model
of the distribution network to which the inverters are connected. The necessary information is rarely
available at the low-voltage level. It is also a time-consuming effort, which should be done again each time
the network is modified through changes in grid components or addition or removal of generators or loads.
An alternative approach would be the direct control by a network management system (e.g. distribution
system SCADA) of active and reactive power exchanged by grid-feeding inverters. This approach, although
investigated in R&D projects 28, has limited potential for deployment due to the heavy secured
communication infrastructure it requires and the management burden it puts on distribution system
operators.
Demand-side management needs to be complemented by other measures if the local impact of distributed
generation is to be handled in all situations, including at times of rapid variations due to passing clouds or
wind gusts. In SABINA this will be done by using the ability of a grid-feeding inverter to change the
exchanged amount of active and reactive power as a function of local conditions.
The current practice is to set fixed, location-independent parameters for these controllers, which leads to
avoidable voltage deviations and line losses. The sensing, communication and computing infrastructure of
SABINA will be used to build a supervision layer for inverters in participating feeders, which will optimise
the control parameters of these inverters so as to maintain voltage levels within an acceptable range while
minimising line losses. These parameters will adapt over time to changes in the structure of the local
network, including the addition of new inverters.
To ensure grid-feeding inverters are optimally controlled, the SABINA infrastructure will be used to build a
local supervisory layer which will include the following activities:
• Collection of smart-meter and inverter data (voltage, active power) through the gateway.
• Estimation of the impedance and reactive power flow in the low-voltage distribution network.
• Computation of control parameters (e.g., droop, dead band) for inverters connected to the low
voltage distribution network by minimization of voltage deviations and line losses.
• Regular update of the control parameters of individual inverters through the gateway
SABINA will go beyond the state of the art by using the robust infrastructure put in place for demand-side
management to calculate up-to-date, optimal control parameters for grid-feeding inverters. This way, it will
combine the strength of simple, local control in terms of robustness and dynamics, with the performance in
terms of line losses and voltage control that a direct control by an advanced SCADA can provide.
Since the RTU is intended to be the platform for decision at the sub-station level, SABINA aims to implement
the developed supervisory layer for grid-feeding inverters on this unit as far as its computing power allows.
27 UL, China Electricity Council, and China Electric Power Research Institute, ‘Comparative study of standards for grid-connected PV system in China,
the U.S. and European countries’, US China Energy Cooperation Program, Beijing, China, Jul. 2013.
28 M. Brenna, E. D. Berardinis, L. D. Carpini, F. Foiadelli, P. Paulon, P. Petroni, G. Sapienza, G. Scrosati, and D. Zaninelli, ‘Automatic Distributed Voltage
Control Algorithm in Smart Grids Applications’, IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 877–885, Jun. 2013
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This will minimise communication requirements and distribute computation. The computing platform of the
aggregator is a backup solution for implementation at least in the first pilot phases.
The European Commission fact sheet - Achieving global leadership in renewable energies published in
November 2016 as part of the EU’s package of clean energy measures states 29:
“Renewables producers will be able to earn revenues from the market, including system service markets that
are required to maintain grid stability and security. By introducing trading closer to the time of delivery well-
integrated short-term electricity markets will also reward flexibility in the market both for generation, demand
or storage.”
Gridsense 30 also suggest integrating renewable energy and other distributed energy sources into smart
grids, often via power inverters, is arguably the largest “new frontier” for smart grid advancements.
Inverters should be controlled properly so that their integration does not jeopardize the stability and
performance of power systems and a solid technical backbone is formed to facilitate other functions and
services of smart grids.
The above statements indicate future market demand for the developed SABINA technology in the area of
grid stability will be high.
29 http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-16-3987_en.htm
30 https://www.gridsense.ch/en/about-us.html
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3.4. District Level Aggregation and Management
The increased renewable generation leading to the wide spread integration of distributed generation
requires flexibility within any electrical system. One way to increase this flexibility is to use the potential of
demand response services. In order to activate the full range of customers in demand response services, a
new market intermediary actor is needed to aggregate the resources in an adequate technical and
economical format. These actors, so called “aggregators”, can act as flexibility providers to support security
of supply considering network, generation and consumer constraints.
3.4.1. Objectives
The main objectives of this work package within SABINA are:
• Promote the usage of aggregators for small scale buildings.
• Increase potential of renewable integration by taking into account building flexibility.
• Exploit synergies between electric and thermal networks.

The EU Demand Response market is still in its early development phase and as a result is quite fragmented.
Each Member State has a different regulatory framework and progress is not similar when it comes to
opening up electricity markets to customer participation. This is a problematic development in the context of
the aimed harmonised Internal Energy Market. In only six countries has demand response market reached
the level of commercial viability, according to the Smart Energy Demand Coalition’s (SEDC) latest mapping.
In most of the countries, the development of demand response is “seriously hindered” or even remains
illegal.31
In many European countries, regulators and TSOs have been improving the programme requirements of
their different balancing products to enable demand side resources participation (e.g. in Austria, Belgium,
Finland and France). Positive dialogues have also been established between TSOs and service providers to
improve the definition of baseline methodologies.
It is now widely accepted across the energy industry that energy flexibility and demand side response are
essential for modern energy markets with the need to manage demand in order to use energy more
sustainably and to integrate increasing levels of intermittent renewable energies.
Growing renewables capacity is opening up the potential for network instabilities due to intermittency while
at the same time opening the potential to use the inherent flexibility in this capacity for network balancing.
Especially at the business and residential levels which has been little exploited so far, if the flexibility can be
aggregated over sufficient numbers of buildings and/or homes, it can offer a viable new balancing source
with economic value.
With new entrants coming into the market offering such aggregation services, there is an opportunity for a
standard model, especially for use across a region such as Europe. To fill this gap the Universal Smart Energy
Framework (USEF), which was developed in the Netherlands for the Dutch market, is proposed. This
framework has already been reviewed by other EU projects such as MAS2TERING which presents a
literature review of prosumer flexibility market models within its D6.132.
The Marketmodel 2.033 (MM2.0.) was initiated by the national TSO, energinet.dk. The consortium together
with the TSO and the Danish Energy Association are working to develop market models where aggregators
can aggregate flexible consumption of power and offer it into the reserve markets through a Supplier and
Balance Response Party. The flexibility potential currently has a weak business case and the larger potential
identified in the earlier phases of MM2.0 initiative was within back-up generators (emergency installations
at hospitals, waste water treatment plants etc.), buildings, and industry.
31 Mapping Demand Response in Europe Today 2015 - Smart Energy Demand Coalition (SEDC)
32 http://www.mas2tering.eu/papers-documents-tools/
33 http://www.energinet.dk/SiteCollectionDocuments/Engelske%20dokumenter/El/Market%20model%202%200_Energinet%20dk.pdf
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The UK was one of the first EU countries to offer flexibility services and the following section summarises
the main mechanisms open to demand-side response providers in the UK (taken from the The Energyst
publication Demand Side Response - Turning inertia into inertia 2016 Report 34):
• SHORT TERM OPERATING RESERVE (STOR) STOR helps Grid manage longer duration capacity
shortfalls. It is largely provided by generation rather than turndown DSR. Providers are given four
hours’ notice and must be able to deliver for a minimum of two hours, three times a week if
necessary. STOR payments have declined in recent years as more providers entered the market.
• DEMAND-SIDE BALANCING RESERVE (DSBR) DSBR was created to help mitigate winter peak
capacity shortfalls ahead of the opening of the capacity market. A simple service, it requires
providers to turn down consumption or switch to back-up generation at four hours’ notice for at
least one hour.
• CAPACITY MARKET The capacity market was created to ensure security of supply over the winter
peak. It is open to all forms of generation and DSR. There is also a transitional arrangement (TA)
auction, which has been reengineered so that it will only be open to turn down DSR providers.
Capacity market contracts allow for provision of other balancing services, so long as providers
deliver what they are contracted to deliver in the capacity market when called upon.
• DEMAND TURN-UP (DTU) Demand Turn-Up is a new service designed to help Grid cope with excess
generation at times of low demand, i.e. summer. DTU pays providers to increase demand or turn-
down onsite generation. The notice period is longer than other forms of demand-side response and
providers must be able to respond for at least two hours. It is currently a manual service but will
likely become automated.
• FREQUENCY CONTROL BY DEMAND MANAGEMENT (FCDM) FCDM is usually provided by large,
intensive power users when a power station or interconnector goes down. An automated service, it
interrupts electricity supplies within two seconds of grid frequency dropping below a certain
threshold, and providers have to be able to sustain delivery for 30 minutes. FCDM is a high value
service.
• STATIC FREQUENCY RESPONSE Static Frequency Response is triggered when grid frequency drops
below a certain threshold, usually if a power station drops out. It encompasses primary frequency
response, which requires assets to respond in 10 seconds, and secondary frequency response, where
assets must respond within 30 seconds. They must be able to sustain output for up to 30 minutes.
Interruptible processes and diesel generators on hot standby can be suitable assets. Static Frequency
Response is a high value service.
• DYNAMIC FREQUENCY RESPONSE Dynamic Frequency Response keeps the grid stable in both
directions – when frequency is too high or too low. As such, providers have to monitor grid
frequency in real-time and flex consumption or generation up or down accordingly. Providers have
to deliver within two seconds for up to 30 minutes, but in most cases, the duration of response is a
few minutes. Dynamic Frequency Response is a high value service.
• ENHANCED FREQUENCY RESPONSE (EFR) Enhanced Frequency Response is the fastest dynamic
frequency response service. Providers have to deliver in under a second. The first four-year contracts
were issued in August this year, the vast majority to be delivered via battery assets. Providers have
to sustain delivery for a minimum of 15 minutes in either direction. It is the highest value frequency
response service.
• PEAK CHARGE AVOIDANCE Avoiding peak charges on the transmission and distribution networks
also constitutes demand response. Reducing transmission costs is known as Triad avoidance.
Companies turn down consumption or switch to onsite generation over what they think will be the
three highest winter demand periods. If they manage to accurately predict and avoid those peak
periods, they can significantly reduce the transmission element of their bill. Distribution peak
charges, known as ‘red zones’, vary by distribution network but during weekdays largely fall in the
late afternoon and evening, regardless of season. Companies that can reduce loads or switch to onsite
generation during those periods can significantly reduce distribution network charges.
A contact list of Commercial Aggregation Service Providers within the UK is available from the National Grid
website. 35 Currently there a several large well know energy companies such as EDF and E.ON registered on
34 Demand Side Response - Turning inertia into inertia 2016 Report

35 http://www2.nationalgrid.com/UK/Services/Balancing-services/Demand-Side-Response/
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this list, but there are also a number of smaller recently formed companies that are operating in areas where
the SABINA solution could be deployed. Below gives a short summary of two such companies.
Openenergi 36
Openenergi formed in 2011 and has been working with National Grid and Dynamic Demand, a unique,
patented technology solution, offering demand response services to customers throughout the UK. Dynamic
Demand harnesses small amounts of flexible energy demand from every day equipment and provides a
platform to maximize revenue and deliver long-term sustainable benefits without affecting business
performance. Dynamic Demand provides a Firm Frequency Response (dynamic and static) service to
National Grid. This frontline Demand Response service helps to balance electricity supply and demand in
real-time, 24/7, 365 days a year.
Openenergi also promote the idea that Dynamic Demand provides sub-second metering data on the
operation of loads which is accessible online through an interactive, customisable portal. It’s portal enables
the customer to monitor, manage and compare the performance of their sites and assets at the click of a
button. It provides powerful business intelligence which can help to reduce operational costs and identify
energy savings.
Origami Energy 37
Origami Energy utilises a technology platform enabling management of distributed energy assets. The
company has developed technology to monitor, communicate with and control a large distributed network
of energy generating, energy using and energy storing assets connected to the electricity grid.
The company manages the capacity and modifies the flows of power at physical sites of generation as well as
energy demand and electricity storage by providing a marketplace where the supply and demand of
electricity is matched more evenly in real-time. This is intended to reduce strain on the grid and allows users
of the technology to better utilise their energy assets.
Origami Energy secured initial funding of £4m in summer of 2014 to develop the concept and fund field
trials. These started in September 2015 and they have successfully demonstrated they can use the
technology solution to safely control assets and deliver valuable commercial services.
Origami offer services to enable Triad Management, Firm Frequency Response, Demand Side Response and
energy storage. The company has secured further investment from existing shareholders in April 2016.
The objective of this deliverable is to provide a set of software tools enabling the SABINA aggregator to
maximise the potential revenue at the power market, e.g. describe and quantify the available energy
flexibility from a given portfolio of heat pumps based on the flexibility description developed as part of the
toolset for the aggregator at the heat pump interaction level. It is composed of three activities:
• The development of a toolset for aggregator at the market interaction level. The objective of this
activity is to provide a tool that enables the aggregator to maximise the potential revenue at the
power market from a given portfolio of heat pumps based on the flexibility description developed as
part of the toolset for the aggregator at the heat pump interaction level.
• The design of a toolset for aggregator at the heat pump interaction level. A key task of the aggregator
is to forecast the flexibility of the controlled portfolio taking into account the current state of the heat
pump and forecasts of external conditions e.g. weather. Another key feature for the aggregator is to
dispatch heat pumps from the portfolio in an optimal manner. These two actions will be done by
aggregating the flexibilities provided by the building management algorithms within SABINA.
• The design of a toolset for the aggregator at the electrical devices interaction level (electrical storage,
renewable generation, electrical vehicle). As described before, the aggregator must forecast the
flexibility of the controlled portfolio; this flexibility could be based on thermal devices (i.e. heat
pump) or on other flexibility sources such as electric vehicles or battery storage. These alternative
sources of flexibility will be exploited by this toolset in order to enhance the thermal-electrical
36 http://www.openenergi.com/
37 http://www.origamienergy.com/
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interaction when fulfilling contractual obligations to the power system. Information about flexibility
from the heat pump interaction level will be combined with the forecasted electrical consumption in
order to maximise the flexibility availability.
Currently, aggregator tools for large scale aggregation of flexibility from small scale buildings are not
widespread and lack maturity. This is reflected by the absence of interaction between electric and thermal
networks. In order to bring aggregators to the next level, two types of algorithms will be targeted in SABINA:
• Technical aggregator algorithm, which primarily focuses on the aggregation and control of the
flexibility from electric boilers installed at combined heat and power plants. However, as renewable
energy plays an increasing role in both power production and district heating, and as power and
heating produced from coal, oil and natural gas become less dominant in the energy system,
aggregation of flexibility from the consumption side will be increasingly more important in order to
balance the power consumption to the power production. This aggregator will be tested on the
Danish test sites and the NTUA test site.
• Market participation aggregator algorithm, where the operation of the aggregator will be based on
electricity markets participation, benefits from the aggregation of flexibility from the consumption
side will be exploited by participating not only to balance the power consumption but also to offer
prosumers the possibility to participate in the electricity markets. Prosumers will receive incentives
to offer their flexibility to the aggregator depending on market behavior and the system’s needs.
Different market rules will be tested on the IREC laboratory test site.
Tools for aggregation of flexibility from the combined power and heating system across several small scale
buildings are needed in order to enable the consumption side to offer flexibility (electric and thermal) to the
existing markets for flexibility and ancillary services, and to optimise operation of heat pumps, ventilation
and cooling in buildings, DERs and RTUs. The intended interaction with the aggregator tool and its
environment is presented in Figure 6.
Figure 6: Interaction between aggregator tool, buildings, managers and RTU
The SABINA solution will be designed to be compatible with existing systems and shall not impose new
restrictions. All necessary elements will be provided to the district manager / utility in order to generate the
necessary demand response signals.
A similar approach could be applied to district heating38, 39, 40. However, given the low penetration of
renewable production (electric) at district heating level and the lack of bidirectional thermal sub-stations (at
building level) that would allow building produced heating into the grid, this will not be tested in SABINA
38 Enso Ikonen et al., Short term optimization of district heating network supply temperatures, ENERGYCON 2014 May 13-16, 2014 Dubrovnik,
Croatia
39 Maria Pia Fanti, A District Energy Management Based on Thermal Comfort Satisfaction and Real-Time Power Balancing, IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON
AUTOMATION SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, VOL. 12, NO. 4, OCTOBER 2015

40 OSKAR HILDING, Analysis and development of control strategies for a district heating central, CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY202009
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pilot sites. Nevertheless the underlying algorithmic development is fully compliant with it and shall be tested
in simulation.
In publications by UK Government and Ofgem 41 and EURELECTRIC (The Union of the Electricity Industry)
key messages presented are:
• The growing share of variable generation in Europe is increasing the need for flexibility in the
electricity system.
• Flexibility on the demand side could be used by market players to optimise their portfolio as well as
by system operators for balancing and constraints management purposes
• Aggregators have a role to play in delivering smart technology and processes. They enable
consumers to offer flexibility by providing an intermediary role.
• Aggregation offers smaller customers the opportunity to exploit their flexibility potential.
The aggregator toolsets that will be developed in the SABINA project could potentially exploit the emerging
market for flexibility services as the role of aggregators develops in countries across Europe.
41 https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/smart-flexible-energy-system-call-evidence
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3.5. Novel Remote Terminal Unit
3.5.1. Objectives
Development of a RTU that is compliant with the new functionalities of electric networks (monitoring,
decentralisation, aggregation).
Numerous manufacturers supply remote terminal units for use in grid application and this is not a new
technology. Schneider Electric has been providing remote terminal units (RTUs) for a wide range of Smart
Grid applications since the late 1990s. Their equipment is specifically designed for utility applications and
with the idea that, as we migrate into the future, the biggest changes will be in the ability of the equipment to
perform faster and smarter.42
In order to promote the usage of a novel generation of Remote Terminal Unit (RTU) and its functionalities in
the distribution network new functionalities will be developed. The complexity of smart grids and by
extension the distribution network is continuously increasing due to the arrival to the market of new actors
such as Distributed Energy Resources (DER), the electric vehicle, microgrids, etc.
Different control approaches have been proposed, from the classical centralised strategy, initially designed
for the radial distribution systems, to the decentralised strategy. Nowadays, an important trend in the
context of the decentralised approach is the distributed intelligence concept and the development of
intelligent and autonomous control strategies. On the other hand, the role and functions of the aggregator as
new entities in the electricity market and as intermediaries between the utility operator and the home users
are still under discussion in different countries. At the same time, aggregators do not have direct information
in their area of influence in the distribution network which prevents them from making agile decisions
relating to the control of Low Voltage flexibility.
In order to overcome these limitations, SABINA will take advantage of the privileged position of the RTU as
the main brick of the ICS (Industrial Control System) of an electrical substation. The RTU will play an
important role as the first intelligent device after sensors and actuators in the distribution network. SABINA
will develop new functionalities at this level providing new measurements useful for the new scenarios
where direct communication with the aggregator will be tested.
SABINA RTU based sub-station architecture will be defined according with the system defined during the
early stages of the project and taken as a reference for an ICS (Industrial Control System) of an electrical sub-
station where the following levels are present:
• Front End: concentrate data from the field and carry out communication interface between field and
embedded HMI
• Field site: a sub-system that hosts the acquisition system
• Supervision of PV inverters for optimal control
The RTU will be adapted in order to communicate with the aggregator by using the most suitable
mechanisms depending on the type of messages and their characteristics (events, alarm, etc). In addition, a
database and signals will be built into the RTU in order to provide a high level of information from the
perspective of the sub-station i.e. Power quality (THD, sag, swell), MV network monitoring & control
(voltage, current, frequency, Power, Power factors and Energy counters). This modification will be carried
out by Schneider Electric.
42 http://www.schneider-electric.com/en/product-subcategory/6040-smart-rtu--rpac-and-data-logger/?parent-category-id=6000
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3.6. Business Model
Aim of this section is to develop a new business model in order to facilitate the commercialisation of the
SABINA project.
3.6.1. Objectives
The objective of SABINA is to propose a new business model that breaks current barriers (Heat Pump (HP)
costs, distrust in HP efficiency, and complexity of HP seen from an end user perspective). Develop, design
and describe a new business model for sale of heat from heat pumps and the ability for heat pumps to
interact with the power system.
3.6.2. Review of Current Market Models Applicable to SABINA
The basic principle of the business model is based on the fact that building owners are reluctant to replace
oil and gas burners with heat pumps. In short, the ownership of heat pumps is associated with a perception
of a large investment, uncertain operating expenses and technical barriers. To overcome this hurdle the
asset and maintenance responsibility would lie with the supplier with heat being sold to the building owner
at an agreed contract tariff.
The asset owners would then look to optimise the consumption of the operation of the heat pumps and
where possible take advantage of aggregated flexibility in order to benefit from any demand response
service incentives available.
When analyzing current business models, one needs to review the role of Energy Performance Contracting
(EPC) alongside prosumer flexibility market models and in conjunction with any available demand side
response service incentives.
As stated previously the EU project MAS2TERING presents a literature review of prosumer flexibility market
models within its D6.143, covering models developed by USEF 44, ENTSO-E 45(Association of European
Transmission System Operators for Electricity), EURELECTRIC 46 and The Smart Grid Task Force 47
Examples of existing financial mechanisms open to demand-side response flexibility services have been
presented in Section 3.4.2.
Below are examples of EPC models generally associated with energy saving / renewable generating projects
presented by the European Commission Joint Research Centre48:
In recent years there has been an increased interest in the provision of energy services to achieve energy
and environmental goals. In particular, some new companies providing energy services to final energy users,
including the supply and installations of energy efficient equipment, and/or the building refurbishment,
have started to operate on the European market.
What characterises these companies, defined as Energy Service Companies (ESCOs), from the traditional
energy consultants or equipment suppliers is the fact that they can also finance or arrange financing for the
operation and their remuneration is directly tied to the energy savings achieved.
Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) is a form of ‘creative financing’ for capital improvement which allows
funding of energy upgrades from cost reductions. Under an EPC arrangement an external organisation
(ESCO) implements a project to deliver energy efficiency, or a renewable energy project, and uses the stream
of income from the cost savings, or the renewable energy produced, to repay the costs of the project,
including the costs of the investment. Essentially the ESCO will not receive its payment unless the project
delivers energy savings as expected.
The approach is based on the transfer of technical risks from the client to the ESCO based on performance
guarantees given by the ESCO. In EPC ESCO remuneration is based on demonstrated performance; a measure
of performance is the level of energy savings or energy service. EPC is a means to deliver infrastructure
improvements to facilities that lack energy engineering skills, manpower or management time, capital
43 http://www.mas2tering.eu/papers-documents-tools/
44 https://usef.energy/Home.aspx
45 https://www.entsoe.eu/Pages/default.aspx
46 http://www.eurelectric.org/
47 https://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/topics/markets-and-consumers/smart-grids-and-meters/smart-grids-task-force
48 http://iet.jrc.ec.europa.eu/energyefficiency/european-energy-service-companies/energy-performance-contracting
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funding, understanding of risk, or
technology information. Cash-poor, yet
credit worthy customers are therefore
good potential clients for EPC. Figure 7
illustrates this concept.
A very frequently used type of contract
in Europe is the ‘chauffage’ contract,
where an ESCO takes over complete
responsibility for the provision to the
client of an agreed set of energy
services (e.g. space heat, lighting, Figure 7: EPC Concept
motive power, etc.). This arrangement
is an extreme form of energy
management outsourcing. Where the energy supply market is competitive, the ESCO in a chauffage
arrangement also takes over full responsibility for fuel/electricity purchasing. The fee paid by the client
under a chauffage arrangement is calculated on the basis of its existing energy bill minus a percentage saving
(often in the range of 5-10 %). Thus, the client is guaranteed an immediate saving relative to its current bill.
The ESCO takes on the responsibility for providing the agreed level of energy service for lower than the
current bill or for providing improved level of service for the same bill. The more efficiently and cheaply it
can do this, the greater its earnings: chauffage contracts give the strongest incentive to ESCOs to provide
services in an efficient way.
A BOOT model may involve an ESCO designing,
building, financing, owning and operating the
equipment for a defined period of time and then
transferring this ownership across to the client. This
model resembles a special purpose enterprise created
for a particular project. Clients enter into long term
supply contracts with the BOOT operator and are
charged accordingly for the service delivered; the
service charge includes capital and operating cost
recovery and project profit. BOOT schemes are
becoming an increasingly popular means of financing
CHP projects in Europe. Figure 2 shows the
relationships between parties in a BOOT contract
Figure 8: The BOOT Model

3.6.3. SABINA and Future Market Models
By introducing a new business model, Insero (or any other company) can act as a Heating Supplier offering
building owners with an oil / gas burner conversion to a heat pump that would be owned and operated by
the Heating Supplier. Building owners sign an operating and service agreement with the Heating Supplier.
Hereafter the Heating Supplier sells heat to the building owner provided by the heat pumps.
The SABINA model will encourage end users to replace older systems with heat pumps by providing the
necessary financial incentives and flexibility aggregation for the trading and balancing services as an
additional financial leverage. The heat pumps are equipped with a separate power meter that enables energy
measurements for smart grid services.
The heat pumps can be used to e.g. ensure the security of supply for TSO’s and DSO’s in the power system
when handled in a flexible manner by an aggregator. This can bring added benefit to the business case and
allow a swift market penetration of the new solutions developed in SABINA. The aggregator will allow
several small scale distributed units to be an active and integrated part of the energy system (heat and
power). Further heat pumps will ensure less CO2 emissions, increased energy efficiency and enable
integration of more renewable energy.
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SABINA proposes a novel business model, which is based on the same principles as for district heating but
with the difference that the heat pump is located directly at the customers’ premises. The core of the
business model is the sale of heat and mandatory maintenance of heat pumps to building owners.
It requires the development of an aggregator role that is able to control the operation of heat pumps and act
according to the building’s expected energy consumption and storage capacity, indoor climate
measurements and forecasts, local weather, etc; SABINA addresses these tasks. The flexibility from heat
pumps can add value for several market actors in different situations. TSOs and DSOs have the responsibility
to ensure the security of supply and must react to imbalances or constrains in the network by the
procurement of balancing services in terms of capacity and energy. Balancing responsible parties have
obligations to balance planned consumption to avoid imbalance costs. Finally, a district heat operator can
optimise the operation for several heat units in the system based on the fuel prices, e.g. costs for electricity
to run the heat pumps.
Figure 9: SABINA high level concept as part of the existing energy market
Throughout this document references have been made by varying governing bodies that flexibility within
the electricity market is necessary for the integration of large scale renewable energy technologies. The need
for the exploitation of the synergies of building’s thermal and electric systems has been expressed. The
SABINA business model proposed addresses these requirements. It should be noted that when exploring
business models it is essential to take note of differing European energy markets and development of a
commercial framework that can be adjusted to these varying needs must be considered. This will be
considered in more detail in Task 7.4.
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4. Market Survey
4.1. Objectives
The objective of the market survey was to gain an understanding of how specific target groups in relevant
sectors think SABINA could fit into the future market landscape.
4.2. Methodology
A concise summary of the SABINA project and a template of questions were agreed by all partners (See
Appendix 1). The questions acted as a guide to ensure consistent feedback to this qualitative market survey.
Figure 10 presents the actors within the target market that SABINA could exploit.
Figure 10: Example actors within the SABINA target market
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4.3. Results and Discussion
In total 14 interviews were carried out; interviewees included end users, UK aggregators, ESCO, suppliers
and energy consultants. Findings and references from this survey have been used throughout Section 3. A
summary of opinions and perspectives from the interviewees are presented below:
• Management of distributed sources of load flexibility is needed to provide grid balancing services
and to optimise energy consumption and production at the local level. This could be achieved
through development of an “aggregator” role.
• Aggregation is not fully developed in most EU countries which limits the immediate benefit of this
aspect of SABINA, but coupled with energy savings, preparing buildings for aggregation of energy
supply in the future would be beneficial for service providers. EU market insight suggests that
potential already exists in some markets (F, B, UK, Finl. and Irl). However it was felt that for the
business case to be commercially viable, it would be important to bundle the flexibility offer with
other elements like energy savings, building optimisation etc.
• Current opportunities surrounding smart grids and control of assets tend to focus on power only;
there is a need for solutions that integrate and take advantage of the synergies of both power and
thermal networks. There is currently much innovation surrounding heat networks, and a common
theme was that the concept of SABINA integrating heat and power used in conjunction with the
infrastructure of a heat network could bring about greater dissemination of localised smart grids.
• Storage is expected to play a large part in the future energy markets, therefore there is a need to
capture and store renewable energy and to combine the heat and power sector to increase the
amounts of renewable energy entering grids.
• High levels of interest were reported in enabling buildings to become active players in the power
market. It was felt that going forward this could be important because ~40% of energy consumption
is consumed by buildings and the thermal inertia of buildings is significant in countries that have
stringent building regulations.
• Perception exists that building inertia may not be a commercially viable method of storage. It was felt
that currently, to get the desired results from this method of storage would involve high levels of
complex engineering with high associated costs. Challenging this view will be one of the key
objectives of SABINA.
• A significant portion of the interviewees expressed an interest in the calibrated simulation model
and felt this application could be used extensively within the building energy sector.
• Market potential for SABINA is increased by the fact that SABINA has the potential to be deployed in
the residential sector as well as commercial sectors.
• The development of new business models will be crucial to the success of SABINA, especially if
synergies between the heat and power system are to be exploited and services provided to both end-
users and TSO/DSO's.
• The vast difference in market conditions and regulations between different European countries was
a key theme throughout the interviews; therefore adaptation of the business model to local market
conditions will be crucial to the successful commercialisation of SABINA.
• Overall, the results of the survey suggested businesses would be interested in using the SABINA
technology is it was supported by a viable commercial model where end users would not have to
provide capital investment.
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5. Conclusions
Literature review and market survey activity has been used to provide a necessarily high level assessment of
relevant aspects of a varying and rapidly changing market place. In order to ensure that SABINA has the
potential to be commercially viable thus encouraging wide market uptake, the following guiding principles
should be considered:
• High potential exists for the use of thermal energy storage in buildings. However, the fact that all
buildings are different makes it difficult to find standard solutions, and storage systems often need to
be designed and optimised on a building by building basis. SABINA needs to address this and come
up with a standard approach that can be easily adapted to varying building types.
• Methods of keeping the costs of generating calibrated thermal simulation models should be
investigated as there is a perception that calibrated models are not cost effective. SABINA should
exploit this by addressing ways to promote the commercial advantages of understanding a buildings’
thermal inertia as an alternative to traditional thermal simulation.
• SABINA should explore how well storage using building thermal inertia works with different types of
heating and cooling delivery mechanisms.
• Smart aggregation at the building level would need to be widely available to differentiate SABINA
within the existing market.
• Literature suggests capacity incentives and aggregated remote control of energy consuming assets
are preferred rather than relying on end users to act for demand response services. SABINA should
look to make the control of as many assets as possible remotely accessible.
• Vastly different market conditions and regulations exist between different European countries;
therefore adaptation of the business model to local market conditions will be crucial to the successful
commercialisation of SABINA.
• Suitable business models should be developed that allow simple adaptation for the varying demand
response service incentives emerging from different countries.
• Business models should consider heat pump deployment at both building and district level to
understand the pros and cons of installing numerous smaller heat pumps verses centralised large
scale heat pumps.
• Business models should be extended to consider alternative storage methods such as batteries.
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6. Degree of Progress
This document is in line with the work proposed in the DoA.
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7. Dissemination Level
Public
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8. Appendix A
SABINA Summary
SABINA is an EU funded H2020 research and innovation programme that aims to develop new technology along with financial models that will connect, control and actively manage
thermal and electric networks using generation and storage assets in order to exploit synergies between electrical requirements and the thermal inertia of buildings, whilst
allowing aggregators to provide flexibility and balancing services to the grid.
SABINA will aim to maximise the usage of variable renewable energy sources by converting excess electrical energy to heat or cold and storing it using buildings’ thermal inertia (the
system will be compatible with other storage mechanisms). Provision for aggregation at district level will be provided to maximise the effect of SABINA.
The above will be achieved by the development of the following:

1. Automatic identification of the thermal inertia of buildings using a minimal set of temperature sensors
2. Building consumption and production prediction algorithms
3. Management algorithms for district and end user based renewables integration optimisation.
4. An aggregation tool for electric and thermal to provide services to network operators and parties responsible for balancing.
5. A novel generation of 'Remote Terminal Unit' capable of advanced sensing and communication capabilities
SABINA will guarantee the quality of supply at all times in distribution networks with high penetration of distributed generation with optimal control of grid-feeding invertors and
promote a novel business model that favours deployment at a wide scale with reduced CAPEX and OPEX costs and thus facilitate more renewable energy integration. The proposed
system will be compliant with current norms and standards whilst identifying gaps and preparing recommendations for standardisation bodies.
Name:
Contact Details:
Company:
Sector:
Category (Supplier / Aggregator / End User etc.):
Q1 What is your opinion of the market potential of the SABINA concept as a whole?
Notes: SABINA aims to reach the market in 5 to 10
years
Q2 Which aspects of SABINA are of most interest to you / your sector?

Notes:
Q3 Do you think SABINA addresses current market needs?

Notes:
Q4 Are you aware of any gaps in regulation and / or standards that may limit the application of the SABINA solution?
Notes
Q5 Do you know of /utilise any similar technology?

Notes:
Q6 Please describe what you believe to be the key market opportunities for Sabina
Notes:
Q7 Would your business be interesting in using/funding this kind of system?

Notes:
Q8 Where would SABINA fit within your business/industry?

Notes
Further Comments
Notes
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Starting date of the project: 01/11/2016

Due date of deliverable: 31/12/2016

Responsible WP: Lorraine Caldwell, SMS

Phone: +44 (0)77 3832 1173

13/01/2017 V1.0 All partners, EC

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1.1. Task objectives

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Figure 1: SABINA specific objectives

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Figure 2: Building model calibration loop - standard vs. SABINA

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3.2.2. Current Technology and Market Landscape

Figure 3: Energy and asset management tool

Smart Carbon Control 24

Figure 5: Building management overview

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3.4.2. Current Technology and Market Landscape

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34 Demand Side Response - Turning inertia into inertia 2016 Report

Figure 6: Interaction between aggregator tool, buildings, managers and RTU

AUTOMATION SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, VOL. 12, NO. 4, OCTOBER 2015

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Figure 8: The BOOT Model

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Figure 10: Example actors within the SABINA target market

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The above will be achieved by the development of the following:

Q2 Which aspects of SABINA are of most interest to you / your sector?

Q3 Do you think SABINA addresses current market needs?

Q5 Do you know of /utilise any similar technology?

Q7 Would your business be interesting in using/funding this kind of system?

Q8 Where would SABINA fit within your business/industry?

WP1, D1.1, V2.0

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