An integration platform for optimised design and real-time control of smart local energy systems

Abstract

The transition to smart local energy systems introduces new opportunities for energy integration and control, which is critical to achieve a low-carbon future. This requires fundamental changes to the control of local energy systems to tackle challenges in the evolution of local energy systems' design, operation and optimisation from the perspective of resilience, financial benefits and environmental performance. To this end, a novel, generic and scalable smart energy platform for optimised design and the real-time efficient control of power generation and delivery is presented in this paper. This work is preliminary research to enable evaluation and improvement in the smart local energy systems transition. The platform comprises four layers, data; data processing; engine; and control. The design and development of this platform involves integrating open-source libraries and developing novel intelligent algorithms. This platform provides functionalities of data fetching, processing and comprehensively analysing local energy systems' data to illustrate insights and outcomes. It provides solutions to optimise the design and offers the potential for real-time control of local energy systems, ultimately achieving economic and environmental benefits to all stakeholders. This paper is concluded by discussing open issues and the future development of the platform.