DeWatergroep announces the successful implementation of Actility’s Demand Response Platform for managing water pumping stations

At the European Utility Week event in Amsterdam, the Belgian water utility has announced the successful implementation of Actility’s Smart Automated Demand Response platform to control water pumping stations and leverage their flexibility on energy markets.

The Smart Water project relies also on an agreement with Electrabel acting as current supplier and remunerator for flexibility. Actility has developed an optimal control automation tool taking into account the specific requirements of water distribution companies. Thanks to key modeling innovations and new predictive algorithms, the origination of such a green asset has been possible while ensuring security of operation of the installations and guaranteeing water supply. The energy consumption of the pump responds to price variations, while the level in water tanks and the pressure in the water supply are maintained at a correct level. As a result the energy costs of the water pumping stations are significantly reduced.

The growing integration of renewable energy sources results in highly fluctuating electricity prices. When electricity production from solar or wind farms in the country are above expectations, ELIA’s imbalance prices for a given quarter of an hour decrease, sometimes even to negative values. When such events occur, De Watergroep will respond by adjusting the power consumption of water pumps to store more water than forecasted at lower costs. When electricity consumption exceeds production, imbalance prices will soar, potentially even up to 4500€/MWh in cases where generation capacity would become insufficient to meet demand. During these critical periods, Actility will curtail pumping on the sites and sell the unconsumed electricity to the grid. This benefits both the power system with a more secure grid and De Watergroep by lowering their electricity bill.

You can read the full press release here: http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/water-utility-de-watergroep-to-present-their-successful-implementation-of-actilitys-automated-demand-response-at-european-utility-week-281594631.html