Description of the activities of the SPS/ICT working group.

For the Netherlands and also for Europe, transition scenarios towards a renewable energy infrastructure in the future indicate that small scale distributed power generation in a residential setting is a key transition technology.

Embedding larger proportions of small-scale renewable Energy producers in a distributed residential area setting requires rethinking business models to retail customers, contracts and billing schemes and redesigning parts of infrastructure and control schemes for distribution management and quality control of power. Key factor in implementation of these novel concepts is using the added flexibility and connectivity offered by modern ICT.

The ICT-working group, as a central point in SPS, focuses on the architecture, communication schemes and functionality to make such a smart power system happen. Functional requirements of applications to be operated by the other working groups form input to the specification process. The working group operates with mutually interconnected definition, research, implementation and pilot tracks. Shortening the time between necessary theoretical work and practical implementation by short feedback cycles characterizes the working package breakdown of the SPS/ICT working group in the SPS program planning. The working packages will treat ICT architectural aspects (hardware and software), application functionality specification and design of communication schemes and protocols (adhering to standards in the industry) leading to generic reusable components. As a first result of the approach, currently the first trial version of a Smart Power System has been implemented on 15 micro-CHP's at retail customer sites in residential areas.

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