Tag: innovation

Smart Energy Systems with an exciting battery project

- The goal is to reduce people's electricity expenses

Energy Bank can help reduce private households' electricity bills by at least 20 per cent. That is the goal of the AI Battery Optimizer project that Alexander Finn (tv) and Fred Martin Langøy at Smart Energy Systems are working on together with Smart Innovation Norway. - Our battery solution is a solution for efficient storage of electricity, and storing electricity contributes to reduced grid rent and lower electricity bills, says Langøy. PHOTO: Smart Energy Systems
20 percent lower electricity bill. Fred Martin Langøy of Smart Energy Systems believes that it is possible to achieve this with their battery solution Energy Bank. They will develop the technology together with Smart Innovation Norway.

Solar panel on the roof and battery in the shed. These two elements are all that is needed to turn private households into small independent power plants that produce and store their own electricity.

The Fredrikstad company Smart Energy Systems will work until October next year to develop technology that makes it profitable for the private market to install the solution.

- Our aim is for people to reduce their electricity bill by at least 20 per cent through our battery Energy Bank, says general manager Fred Martin Langøy.

Regionale forskningsfond Viken (RFF Viken) has approved the entire application of NOK 3.13 million, and Langøy is pleased that more people have faith in the project and see the usefulness of the technology to be developed.

Several advantages of storing electricity

According to the website solenergi.no , the number of solar panels in Norway has increased enormously in recent years. But one of the challenges is that there are no storage options for excess electricity. Thus, the power that the panel produces, but which is not used, disappears into the local power grid.

- Surplus power from solar panels is usually more profitable to store in batteries than to be delivered to the grid. Our battery solution is a solution for efficient storage of electricity, and storing electricity contributes to reduced grid rent and lower electricity bills, says Langøy.

FACTS ABOUT AI BATTERY OPTIMIZER

Project Name: AI Battery Otimizer

Purpose of the project: Develop AI technology to make optimal use of the battery Energy Bank and commercialize the battery technology

Project participants: Smart Energy Systems and Smart Innovation Norway

Project support: 2 million

Project period: 2 years

In the Energy Bank, you can store self-produced excess electricity as well as electricity that you buy from the grid when prices are low. This electricity can be used when electricity prices are high or to avoid high network rent.

- You can set the battery so that it takes over the power supply when the consumption crosses a certain power limit. That way, each individual household can control their electricity expenses in a better way, explains Langøy.

By power is meant the amount of electricity that is used at the same time. The electricity rent is calculated based on how much electricity the household uses, and the introduction of power tariffs will make customers use electricity in a smarter way for better utilization of the electricity grid. An even consumption throughout the day is more profitable than using a lot of electricity at the same time.

Environmentally friendly and cost-saving

Society is facing extensive electrification, and Langøy sees Energy Bank as part of the solution. The more households that can provide part or all of their own electricity consumption, the less the need for development of the local electricity grid.

A feature of social development that causes a large part of the need for electricity is the proportion of electric cars on Norwegian roads. Figures from Statistics Norway show that in 2021, two out of three new passenger cars in Norway were electric cars. Charging an electric car is one of the things that require the most electricity in Norwegian households, and Langøy believes that it will mean big savings for the grid companies if more private individuals adopt battery technology.

- If, for example, "everyone" in a residential area has an electric car, this leads to an increased demand for electricity and, in most cases, a requirement for more and larger cables into the houses. With Energy Bank, the need for the development of a local power grid is reduced, he says.

Langøy also highlights the environmental perspective of utilizing modern battery technology. The CO2 footprint is smaller when there is no need to expand the electricity grid.

- Together with Smart Innovation Norway, we have been working on developing AI-based technology for a few months already, and we are looking forward to the continuation. By commercializing the Energy Bank through this EU project, we save private individuals and grid companies costs and the environment from CO2 emissions, summarizes Fred Martin Langøy.

CONTACT PERSON
SMART INNOVATION NORWAY :
Stig Ødegaard Ottesen

Stig Ødegaard Ottesen
Head of Energy Systems

Telephone: +47 909 73 124

Email: stig.ottesen@smart
innovationnorway.com

Now we have become even better at contributing to innovation

Smart-Innovation-Communities
Europe does it, and Smart Innovation Norway does it. The Halden company is betting on "communities" and is strengthening its cluster activities, the Smart City initiative and its research work. By working more closely together and distributing resources better, more innovation is created.

In today's world, cooperation, community and participation are becoming increasingly important. It is felt outside Europe, and it is felt at home.

As a consequence of this societal development, Smart Innovation Norway is strengthening and expanding its investment in business clusters, smart cities and social science research. The company launches Smart Innovation Communities and prepares itself for further work by hiring more wise minds, entering into new and exciting agreements, working further


- A strength for being awarded new EU projects

- This is very exciting. There is naturally a difference in innovation by the municipalities in the Smart City work and by the private business life in our clusters, but many times there are the same drivers and the same challenges that are faced, and often the same tools that we need to use in use. Although we work in slightly different ways in the different areas, a lot is about creating security and commitment to driving innovation through sustainable thinking and making use of digitization opportunities. The Smart City work and the cluster economy are very closely linked, says manager of Smart Innovation Communities, Eli Haugerud.

Outside of Europe, there is a large and ever-increasing focus on the human aspect of research projects and innovation work. Smart Innovation Norway's research area for this is called Social Innovation. This competence is very relevant for both municipalities and cluster partners. Customer, citizen and user understanding is central to all innovation, and Social Innovation will therefore also focus on Smart City research going forward.

- We want to put the users in focus, and that is exactly what our social science researchers are doing. They look at the users and the users' needs and how innovation affects them, says Haugerud.

Each focus area will stand stronger by working even more closely together. Municipalities in Smart City work can be pilots in several social science innovation projects both in Norway and in the EU. The clusters know the business world and can contribute with the right research partners. The social science researchers contribute to the smart city projects and the cluster work with the human approach to the innovation work.

- This will be a strength for us when it comes to being awarded new and relevant EU projects, states Haugerud.


More learning between private and public actors

Over half of all value creation in Norway takes place in the public sector. One of Smart Innovation Norway's most important tasks is to help others become better at innovating, and the municipalities and public companies are important players both as customers and as clients for Norwegian business.

Creating a good interaction between the public and private sectors is absolutely essential, and the managing director of Smart Innovation Norway, Kjell Reidar Mydske, clearly sees that Smart Innovation Communities will improve and increase the innovation work of both parties.

- It is a strength of ours that we can use the expertise we have in and around the public and private sectors to mutually strengthen each other so that we both get better. Through Smart Innovation Communities, resources can work more and better crosswise, expertise is shared more, and we open up even more learning between the private and public sectors, he points out.

Mydske is satisfied that the Halden company is further developing its many years of good work within Smart City. The EU is very clear that Smart City and user participation are important, and the term "communities" describes a methodology which, among other things, is about working openly and together in order to be able to realize and commercialize research.

- We must invest in open innovation. We have to cooperate. The alternative is for the technologies to be developed and the innovation to take place in companies in China and the USA which will next come here and sell their services here. The EU will counteract that. That's why the EU is betting on "communities", and that's why we're betting on Smart Innovation Communities, says Kjell Reidar Mydske.

CONTACT:

Eli Haugerud,
Manager, Smart Innovation Communities

Email: eli.haugerud@smartinovationnorway.com

Telephone:
+47 995 44 711

FACTS:

• Smart Innovation Norway AS conducts independent, applied research and specializes in research-based business development within smart energy, smart societies and new technology.

• One of Smart Innovation Norway's main tasks is to promote innovation among public and private actors.

• Many years of experience with innovation work is behind the company's launch of Smart Innovation Communities, which is a strengthening and expansion of the company's investment in cluster operations, Smart City work and social science innovation.

• In order to be able to contribute to innovation in an even better way in both the private and public sector, Smart Innovation Norway links the professional areas even more closely together and opens up for more collaboration across the board.

• The aim is to increase the pace of innovation and to realize and commercialize even more of the innovation through Smart Innovation Communities.