Demonstration of a whole energy systems accelerator

This paper presents a novel testing and demonstration platform, named the Whole Energy System Accelerator (WESA), developed by PNDC and Energy Systems Catapult (ESC). This platform enables real households to interact in real time with network hardware in a closed feedback loop.

At the distribution level, rapid decarbonisation of heating and transport and the growing penetration of distributed energy resources can result in new patterns of generation and demand. Consumers on a local network will collectively influence the network state, however the prevailing market arrangements and consumer preferences will determine individual reactions to this state. The WESA testing and demonstration platform enables a holistic exploration of interaction between networks and domestic consumers, i.e. impact of domestic loads on a network under different scenarios and the level of demand side flexibility achieved by different market structures. This paper presents the architecture of the WESA platform. A test scenario where a physical EV charger is integrated and controlled within the core WESA data flow and the results of the first real life demonstration of the feedback loop are also presented. The WESA platform can be used to simulate future scenarios with consumers switching to LCTs and the impact on the network assets, and to test and demonstrate different possible management/incentive approaches including market options for achieving demand flexibility.