Kongsberg Digital to lead innovation project for increased grid utilisation

December 20, 2021

Kongsberg Digital and project partners have been awarded funding from the Norwegian Research Council, Enova and Innovation Norway for a two-year project where the goal is to make better use of existing network capacity by enabling the use of flexibility in grid operations. The flexibility system will be based on KDI’s digital twin for grid operators, Kognitwin Grid.

The project, named FlexOps, is based on the hypothesis that grid operators, nationally and internationally, lack a support system to assess when, where and for what purpose flexibility in the power system is available and should be used. By using flexibility in the operation of the network, one can postpone or avoid costly investments in builing out the grids. Flexibility will also solve the urgent need for increased capacity in the network much faster than builing new grids.

“With the electrification of the energy systems, the pressure on the power grid infrastructure has increased considerably, and the need to increase the capacity in the grid is pressing. In order to accelerate the electrification and enable the green shift, it is important to utilize the existing networks as efficiently as possible. Digitization is a key enabler here, and we are very pleased that the Norwegian Research Council, Innovation Norway and Enova have given us support to develop this together with our project partners,” says Lasse Jamt, Head of Renewables and Utilities in Kongsberg Digital.

The project partners in the project are the grid operatiors Tensio, Elvia and Mørenett, the technology supplier Pixii, The Norwegian Smartgrid Centre, and SINTEF Energy. The project, which has been awared 11.8 million NOK, will start in January 2022, and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2023.

Based on KDI’s digital twin
The project will develop a software for grid operators which will enable them to use flexibility in grid operations. The software will be based on KDI’s digital twin, Kognitwin Grid. Today, there are only a few solutions for using flexibility on the international market. None of them are based on a digital twin, as the FlexOps project will do.

“We believe that a digital twin of the power grid is a very good starting point for predicting the need for flexibility and putting it in context. The combination of a digital twin to identify problems and the use of flexibility as a solution is the core of the innovation in this project. In that sense, the project is also very interesting for the international market,” Jamt concludes.