NL2016935B1 - Method and device for controlling at least one electric apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and device for controlling at least one electric apparatus, comprising a calculator for calculating an expected power demand of the at least one apparatus for a certain time slot, commun ication means, for communicating the expected power demand to a power grid operator or transmission system operator and a controller, configured for supplying the pred icted amount of power to the apparatus.

Description

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The Netherlands

© 2016935 (21) Application number: 2016935 © Application submitted: 10/06/2016

BI PATENT (51) Int. CL:

H02J 3/00 (2016.01)

(Π) Application registered: (73) Patent holder (s): 20/12/2017 PEEEKS B.V. in Delft. (43) Application published: 04/01/2018 (72) Inventor (s): Egbert Wouter Joghum Robers in Schiedam. (w) Patent granted: Kaz Mare Vermeer in Delft. 1/16/2018 Jorrit Lucas in Rotterdam. (45) Patent issued: 31/01/2018 (74) Agent: ir. H.Th. van den Heuvel et al. in 's-Hertogenbosch.

© Method and device for controlling at least one electric apparatus (57) The present invention relates to a method and device for controlling at least one electric apparatus, including a calculator for calculating an expected power demand or the least one apparatus for a certain time slot, communication means, for communicating the expected power demand to a power grid operator or transmission system operator and a controller, configured for supplying the predicted amount of power to the apparatus.

NL BI 2016935

This patent has been granted regardless of the attached result of the research into the state of the art and written opinion. The patent corresponds to the documents originally submitted.

Method and device for controlling at least one electric apparatus

The present invention relates to a method and device for controlling at least one electric apparatus. In particular, the invention relates to controlling the least one electric apparatus dependent on the state of the electrical grid, that is, the amount of electric energy available on the grid compared to the energy demand at the same time.

An electrical grid in itself cannot store energy. At any time, the amount of electricity generated and put into the grid has equal to the amount of electricity drawn by energy consumers. If there is a shortage (the grid as a whole needs more electricity than what is generated) this can lead to a dropping or voltage in the grid, also called a brownout. Brown outs can damage equipment connected to the grid. Also, the whole grid or parts can experience blackouts: when this occurs the energy transport comes to a full stop and the grid has started up completely. If there is a surplus of electricity (i.e. more electricity is generated than what is consumed) this can lead to over voltage, which can also damage equipment connected to or part of the grid. Also these about voltages can result in tripping of safeguards, creating a black out. Surpluses or shortages also have other effects on the grid besides the voltage drops or spikes. The spinning mass present in generators connected to the grid experiences a larger resistance, as the load on the grid is larger than was intended. This leads the generators to slow down, which in turns leads to a lower frequency in the grid, as the rotational speed of these generators is tied directly to the grid frequency. This poses an additional reason to keep the grid balanced: some equipment uses this grid frequency as a time keeping mechanism.

Keeping stability of the grid is not easy, and the complexity of this task is increasing. Not only is the amount of generators and consumers running in the millions, but many of the consumers are not under any form of control by the parties responsible for keeping the grid stable: any individual can switch on or off their light, water heater , computer or other appliance. On top of this, the amount of electricity consuming assets is ever increasing, and due to the prices of photovoltaic panels dropping, the amount of electricity generated from control of utilities or grid operators is also increasing. Due to the increase in photovoltaic and wind generators driven by government incentives to promote clean energy generation the relative amount of uncontrollable generation compared to controlled generation is increasing: wind and solar is strongly depending on weather circumstances.

Most countries have an authority charged with the task to keep the national grid balanced, the national grid operator or Transmission System Operator (TSO). Using several types of reserves, the TSO can adapt the electric generation capacity to follow the instantaneous energy demand from its grid. The TSO forecasts the total electricity demand and supply one day ahead, in 15 minute intervals. These 15-minute time intervals are referred to as Program Time Units, or PTUs. In order to create the forecast, the TSO requires every party with a direct connection to the grid to send an Eprogramme, in which they describe their energy demand and supply for the next day. These programs have balanced: for every PTU, the expected amount of generated electricity has to match the expected electricity demand. A party required to send in such a program is called a Balance Responsible Party (BRP), which refers to the requirement or perfect balance in their E-programs. After collecting all programs from the BRPs, the TSO is able to forecast the electricity demand and supply for the next day.

During the following day, the TSO monitors the current electricity supply and demand. The power availability on the grid at any time is the amount of electricity that is generated (supply) minus the amount of energy that is used (demand). If more electricity is generated than demanded, there is an over-capacity. If less electricity is generated than demanded, there is an under-capacity. When any imbalance appears, the TSO takes measures in order to re-balance the grid as soon as possible.

Other authorities can have similar tasks. Examples of other authorities are: DSOs (Distribution System Operators), electricity generators, electric utilities, power exchanges, regulators or demand-response aggregators. The authorities usually have automated systems that perform these tasks automatically. So when we refer to the authority, we particularly mean their APIs, computer systems and / or control systems. This can be derived from context.

However the processes to balance the electricity grid can be painstaking and include manual labor, in particular as soon as the number of actors increases. It is a goal to take away the disadvantages of the prior art, in particular when the number of actors becomes large, for instance above 500 actors.

The invention thereto proposes an automated device for controlling at least one electric apparatus, including a calculator for calculating an expected power demand or the least one apparatus for a certain time slot, communication means, for communicating the expected power demand to a power grid operator or transmission system operator, a controller, configured for supplying the predicted amount or power to the apparatus.

The device according to the invention thus actually controls the energy use of an apparatus, and contributions to the grid balance, by matching the actual use to the predicted use.

But at a point there may be a situation where there is a surplus / over-capacity or a deficit / under-capacity of electricity in the electricity grid. This situation can be determined from indicators, which can be combined: The voltage of the electricity grid, the grid frequency, the phase shift of the electricity grid, price signals in the energy market, particularly a published imbalance price. Some of these signals (for example the imbalance price) have a time lag. To solve this the invention uses prediction to predict that signal. For this prediction models are used, in combination with the other indicators. These prediction models are trained with historical data. These models can be regression models.

In a preferred embodiment, the communication means are configured for receiving information on power availability on the grid; the controller is further configured for supplying more than the predicted power to the least one electric apparatus when there is public information on the situation of an over-capacity; and supplying less than the predicted power to the least one electric apparatus when there is public information on the situation or under-capacity.

This embodiment has the advantage that the device can compensate for an imbalance caused by other apparatuses on or off a site.

The communication means may for instance be configured for deriving the information on power availability in the electricity grid via the instantaneous energy price. This price is an indicator of the energy (im) balance of the grid.

The invention proposes an apparatus for optimizing electricity use for one or more electricity users. It controls controllable electricity apparatuses, such as cooling machines, electrical heating machines or pump systems. It uses energy measurement to predict the electricity use of the electricity users.

An advantage of this method is that energy cost can be lowered without actually lowering electricity usage. On a local level this is the case because parties that supply energy can benefit from the balance in the electricity grid and reimburse the energy user. On a macro level this is also true, because by balancing the electricity grid, there is more room for cheap, sustainable forms of electricity generation such as solar or wind energy, which will lower costs for electricity in the future.

An electricity user according to the present invention can be a site with an electricity connection and one or more controllable electricity assets. Also it can be a controllable electricity asset itself; this is an electric apparatus that has a (partially) controlled power consumption. Also an energy user can be an organization owning one or more of the above.

The way that the energy users are monitored can be for instance measuring the electricity use, measuring the amount of people that work at a location, measuring financial transactions, measuring maintenance or one or more electrical apparatuses.

In an embodiment of the present invention, in the device according to the invention, the calculator is configured for calculating the expected power demand or the least one apparatus based on indirect indicators, different than measured power demand.

The predictions of the energy use of an electrical asset may be an important factor in this invention. These predictions are made with forecasting models. These models can range from simple linear regression, but more powerful methods can be used, such as Exponential Triple smoothing: trend and seasonality corrected exponential smoothing (Winter's model), regression of Gaussian processes, neural networks, fuzzy logic and other machine learning or statistical techniques.

Preferably these predictions use other sources than just the energy monitoring to get better predictions such as: personnel roster, financial transactions, good received, goods shipped, Enterprise Resource Planning statistics, maintenance schedule or measurements from other energy users.

The method can also be used to predict other important parameters, because it has very good knowledge about energy use. Changes in the energy use can be symptoms or changing use, wear on machines or changes in the business that the energy user is in. Therefore the method according to the invention may be used the method to predict for example: Required resources, such as personnel, forklifts, money or maintenance to electric apparatus.

Also the method may be used to detect the situation at the energy user has changed. For example there are more electrical devices installed, or a machine has changed properties, changing the behavior.

An embodiment of the invention consists of a refrigeration machine on a site with a cold store warehouse. The refrigeration machine is at least partially controlled by a box that communicates to the cooling machine, giving set points for power or temperature, also the box gets information from the cooling machine, for example: various temperatures, power, currents, voltages, warnings, errors, or messages. The box also connects to a server that hosts the predictor. The server is also connected to power measurements or the site where the refrigeration machine is located. For example the entire site power or the power of major electricity users, including the refrigeration machine are measured in near-real time. The server hosts a controller that decides what the refrigeration machine should do. These decisions are communicated back to the box that gives set points to the refrigeration machine.

Besides the device mentioned above, the invention further relates to a method for controlling at least one electric apparatus, including the steps of calculating an expected power demand or the least one apparatus for a certain time slot, communicating the expected power demand to a power grid operator or transmission system operator and supplying the predicted amount or power to the apparatus.

In particular, the method may further include the steps of receiving information on power availability in the electricity grid, supplying more than the predicted power to the least one electric apparatus when there is an over-capacity communicated by the grid operator or transmission system operator , and supplying less than the predicted power to the least one electric apparatus when there is an under-capacity communicated by the grid operator or transmission system operator.

In an embodiment, the method comprises the step of deriving the information on power availability in the electricity grid via the instantaneous energy price, or the step of deriving the information on power availability from calculating the expected power demand or the least one apparatus based on indirect indicators, different than measured power demand.

In some occasions the electricity user has to prove that a certain amount of energy or a change in power is used or generated. This proof has been given to an authority, such as a TSO or a BRP. This is usually electricity meter data.

However, this proof may be tampered with. Current solutions are: Restricting amount of time you have to sacrifice the proof, in order to restrict tampering and / or a trusted 3 ^rd party That Measures and keeps records. According to the present invention, it is proposed that the latter has been replaced by a so called blockchain or similar distributed book keeping system. This way tampering of the records is prevented.

A blockchain is a distributed database that maintains a continuously-growing list of data records hardened against tampering and revision. It consists of data structure blocks which exclusively hold data in initial blockchain implementations, and both data and programs in some of the more recent implementations with each block holding batches of individual (trans) actions and the results or any blockchain executables. Each block contains a timestamp and information linking it to a previous block.

The blockchain can also be used to differentiate between two actors on a single measurement point, such as two energy suppliers on a single connection, two demand7 response aggregators in a (sub-) grid or even suppliers, aggregators and individual users in a more complex structure. In those cases, all the actions of each actor, agreements between the actors and regulation can be added into the blockchain.

In an embodiment the aforementioned authority can be partially or fully a blockchain.

In that case the authority would be a DAO (A decentralized autonomous organization).

A decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) is an organization that is run through rules and encoded as computer programs called smart contracts. A DAO's financial transaction record and program rules are maintained on a blockchain.

In an embodiment the blockchain is used in combination with smart contracts. Smart contracts are computer protocols that facilitate, verify, or enforce the negotiation or performance of a contract, or that make a contractual clause unnecessary. Smart contracts usually also have a user interface and often emulate the logic or contractual clauses. Clauses may thus be made partially or fully self-executing, self-enforcing, or both.

The aforementioned examples are for illustrative purposes only and do in no sense limit the scope of protection of the present invention, as defined in the following claims.

Claims (20)

Conclusions Device for controlling an at least one electrical device, comprising: - a calculator for calculating an expected power demand from the at least device for a certain time slot; - communication means for communicating the expected power demand to an authority, such as an electricity grid operator or transmission system operator; - a controller adapted to supply the expected amount of power to the device. Device according to claim 1, wherein: - the communication means are further adapted to receive information about the power availability on the electricity network; and where: - the controller is further designed for: o supplying more than the predicted power to the at least one electrical device when there is an overcapacity in the electricity grid; and o supplying less than the predicted power to the at least one electrical device when there is an undercapacity in the electricity grid. Device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the communication means are adapted to receive the information about power availability from an authority. Device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the communication means are adapted to derive the information about power availability on the electricity grid via an instantaneous energy price. Device as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, wherein the communication means are adapted to derive the information on power availability on the electricity grid by measuring voltage, frequency or phase shift of the electricity grid or any combination of these indicators. Device as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, wherein the calculator comprises a meter for measuring the energy consumption of the at least one electrical device, and wherein the calculator is adapted to determine the expected power demand based on the measured power demand. Device as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, wherein the calculator is adapted to calculate the expected power demand of the at least one device based on indirect indicators, different from the measured power demand. The device of claim 6, wherein the calculator is adapted to calculate the expected power demand of the at least one device based on one of staff roster, financial transactions, goods received, goods shipped, a maintenance roster. Device according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the calculator is adapted to calculate the expected power demand of the at least one device based on data from Enterprise Resource Planning software. Device as claimed in claim 6, 7 or 8, wherein the calculator is adapted to calculate the expected power demand of the at least one device based on data from another electrical device. Device as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, comprising a block circuit for registration. A method for driving at least one electrical device, comprising the steps of: - calculating an expected power demand from the at least one electrical device for a specific time slot; - communicating the expected power demand to an authority; - delivering the expected amount of power to the device. The method of claim 12, further comprising the steps of: supplying more than the predicted power to the at least one electrical device when there is an overcapacity; and supplying less than the predicted power to the at least one electrical device when there is an undercapacity. The method of claim 12, further comprising the step of receiving the power availability information in the power grid from an authority. The method of claim 12, further comprising the step of deriving the information about power availability in the electricity grid via an instantaneous energy price. The method of claim 12 further comprising the step of deriving the power demand information from calculating the expected power demand from the at least one device based on indirect indicators other than measured power demand. The method of claim 12 further comprising the step of deriving the power demand information from calculating the expected power demand from the at least one device based on one of staff roster, financial transactions, goods received, shipped goods, a maintenance roster. The method of claim 12 further comprising the step of deriving the power demand information from calculating the expected power demand from the at least one device based on data from Enterprise Resource Planning Software. The method of claim 12 further comprising the step of deriving the power demand information from calculating the expected power demand from the at least one device based on data from another electrical device. A method according to any one of claims 12-19, wherein the recordings are collected and / or kept in a block chain.