The main target of the REEFLEX project is to develop a set of services and solutions to increase the participation of energy consumers in demand side flexibility markets. These services and tools will be deployed on four different demo sites along Europe such as Greece, Bulgaria, Switzerland and Spain. Each demo-site offers a unique environment due to its own regulatory landscape, consumers behavior, and energy markets, which ensures variability of scenarios to be considered in the project.
Implementing a Measuring and Evaluation Methodology
Partners of the REEFLEX project have been working since the beginning of the project on defining the methodology for evaluating services and the increase in the rate of renewable energies (RES). This methodology was developed after the first year of life of the project and is based on the International Performance and Verification Protocol (IPMVP). IPMVP is widely used worldwide to evaluate various types of energy conservation measures (ECMs) among others. With some modifications this protocol may be used to evaluate not only ECMs but also other sort of solutions, which is the case of the technological innovations that will be evaluated in the REEFLEX project.
How IPMVP was implemented
Within the frame of the REEFLEX project, the IPMVP was developed by studying the three main factors of the project; Demo-sites, Innovation Pillars, and Use Cases. Innovation pillars were grouped into several use cases, which were subsequently grouped to be implemented into demo sites. After this definition the first step of the IPMVP implementation was a deep study of which information on buildings and technical developments were available. Following a detailed list of Key Performance Indicator was defined.
To accomplish this task, several iterations were conducted by some partners of the project, initially starting with a list of more than one hundred KPIs. This list was reduced to obtain the more significant set of KPIs, finishing with a more manageable but still long list of seventy KPIs. In this definition all the involved partners agreed that was necessary to have at least one KPI per each of the Innovation Pillars in order to be able to evaluate its performance. This KPI list is the core of the main result of one of the tasks of the project which is shown in the deliverable D2.1. PMV Framework and KPIs
Next Steps for The Evaluation of REEFLEX Project Services
As mentioned in previous paragraphs, while the definition of the PMV Framework and KPIs represents a significant milestone, the process of evaluating the performance of the REEFLEX project is not complete until the demonstration period starts. The demonstration period starts upon the successful deployment and seamless operation of services and tools at the demo-sites, free from errors or glitches. Along this period, the calculations of KPIs will be conducted and the results of them will be compared with a previous period when no services were implemented on the demo-sites (which is considered as a baseline).
To completely perform the evaluation of the services and tools, Use Cases etc. will be necessary to follow the next steps:
- Review the KPI list and decide which KPI will be calculated for each of the demo-sites and Use Cases. Depending on which KPI is more adequate for each Use Case and demo-site.
- Ensure necessary information is available for each KPI, otherwise, check if thanks to the monitoring program and its deployment is possible to achieve it or not.
- Define the IPMVP option. A, B, C or D, based on the availability of data, ease to calculate mathematical models, etc.
- Calculate KPIs and define and calculate mathematical models when necessary.
- Compare both scenarios; before the deployment of the REEFLEX project services and tools and after.
- Establish conclusions about the performance of the technological innovations in the REEFLEX project.