Grid operators Elering and Energinet merge Estonian and Danish DataHub customer access

Estonian and Danish grid operators Elering and Energinet signed an agreement on Monday, to pilot test a data exchange system that enables cross-border operation of energy access services.

“We are entering the era of the Internet of Things, where different remotely controlled devices and sensors collect and process a large amount of information, provide a chance to process the data in a moments notice and a chance to monitor and control the energy consumption more effectively,” said Elering’s chairman of the board Taavi Veskimägi. “Estonia and Denmark lead the way in Europe in collecting and analysing of energy consumption data. If this international cooperation is successful, we can offer a working model, to simply and securely exchange data all over Europe.”

“Consumers should be at the centre of the future energy system, and it has to be just as easy to grant access to your data as it is to swipe your tablet. This is complicated at present, preventing consumers and electricity market players from enjoying the gains that are already possible.  It’s also hindering companies ready to offer future business models and innovative solutions that can pool flexible consumption and production from thousands of electricity consumers and autoproducers. And it’s making the green transition less effective,” Said the vice president of the Danish energy system operator Energinet Søren Dupont Kristensen.

Elering and Energinet have both successfully started their datahubs and now the two companies will explore, how to make the collected data available for the energy services operating in other countries.

The first tests will look into how to make the data collected in Estonia and Denmark available for energy services in other countries. The consumption data can only be moved if the consumer approves of it, so there is also a need for an international system, to keep track of the approvals. During the pilot project, supported also by Finland’s TrustNet project, the data will be exchanged through Elerging’s smart grid data exchange platform Estfeed and access rights are managed by blockchain based authentication and authorization system Sovrin.

Among other things, the international data exchange tests will provide valuable experience about creating international data exchange solutions all over Europe, which is home to more than 415 million consumers. The complexities of the movement of data is currently one of the biggest challenges of the merging of energy markets. “The wholesale markets are connected well in the European Union, but the retail markets are not. We need solutions that provide obstacle free exchange of energy data and services among member states,” said Taavi Veskimägi.

The potential of new solutions like this are substantial, starting from the consumer, who can potentially sell electricity from the battery of their electric vehicle or for utilities/producers to manage the energy resources more effectively taking into account the current prices of electricity and heating providers. By ensuring the free access of information, the system operators are helping to create new innovative solutions, which in turn help provide stable energy flows in a changing energy sector.

“Individually, the contribution of a single consumer is small, but if just a small percentage of consumtion becomes flexible, it creates the potential for growth in both efficiency and scale,” added Kristensen.

Read more on Energinet's webpage.

Photos of signing the contract and workshop are available here https://photos.app.goo.gl/Nt8hTCF78x0EVGEe2.