In the Smart Grid
environment, increasingly homes and businesses are investing in solar PV,
high-energy battery storage systems and EV's.
There is a need now to evolve mechanisms, tools and framework to
purchase electricity not only from the energy retailers but also to trade
peer-to-peer amongst consumers.
Transactive energy is the emerging area of Power systems economics that
has started appearing in research literature and being trialled in the US
(Brooklyn Microgrid) and also in New Zealand.
The aim of this project is to come up with a
peer-to-peer trading platform based on these emerging technical and pricing
developments in power system economics for a case-study of co-located or
neighbourhood residential communities that have invested in smart grid
technologies like solar PV, battery storage and electric vehicles.
Block chain architecture (aka. UoA
peer-to-peer Powerchain) is one option that can be developed and trialled in
this transactive energy framework. Real-time
New Zealand wholesale electricity market data is available along with
historical past data since 1996 which can be used to design realistic
transaction fees/tariff aligned with current retail prices that consume pay.
Undergraduate
- A proof-of-concept will have to be demonstrated
using the two UoA 3-kW grid connected solar system, battery storage, smart
meter, PLC, micro-grid simulator, New Zealand wholesale real-time electricity
market display etc. available at the Power systems Lab and interacting with UoA
property services for grid services.
- If time permits live demonstration at a
participating retailer, metering aggregator or distribution network company will be attempted.
- Interest in Smart Grid technology development and blockchain (distributed ledger)
- Basics of finance and accounting; relational database management theory
- Desirable for at least one of the project partner strong interest in scripting
Lab allocations have not been finalised