The energy market faces unprecedented challenges caused by climate change and the urgent need to build a decarbonised, digitised, and decentralised ecosystem. Most of the existing infrastructures to transport and distribute energy will require upgrading to guarantee a supply of clean, affordable, and secure energy. High costs in operation and maintenance or millionaire investments in new electricity lines are needed to secure the electricity of our economy and society. In addition, the increase in variable and distributed renewable energy sources claims for the digitalisation of the grid to have an intelligent operation. Global IoT deployment for a smart grid has not been feasible until nowadays. The available technology is too expensive for a vast deployment, requires batteries, or is not suitable for any asset.

Thanks to the project named 𝗘𝗚𝗠𝗢𝗜, ENERGIOT will develop a solution that aims to be the ‘Google Maps’ of the electrical grid where all the events are monitored in real-time and precisely located.

Just as Google Maps indicates the best way to move between two locations, avoiding traffic jams, EGMOI can decide which power lines have a greater capacity to absorb renewable energies, avoiding congestion. Google maps provides information about the exact position where an accident happened; similarly, EGMOI monitor in real-time the electric grid, enabling the reduction of congestion on power lines, the optimisation of asset utilisation, efficiency improvement, and cost reduction. This permit increased solar and wind integration, reduces curtailment for these renewable energies and makes power generation dispatch more cost-effective.

EGMOI is a unique HW and SW solution consisting of smart self-powered wireless sensor nodes integrated into a SaaS platform, increasing the power grid capacity (ampacity) between 50 % and 100 % and saving up to 20 % of maintenance costs.

EGMOI enables a global IoT implementation in the grid for the grid operators, TSO and DSO, to instantaneously detect unpredictable events that affect power losses and operational costs. The solution can achieve savings of up to 10 % in energy and 20 % in maintenance costs. This means 2.1 GWh and €1.5 million of saving per year for every thousand km. Instead of batteries, our devices harvest residual ambient energy to power sensors that gather data about grid status. EGMOI represents a previously unthinkable solution due to the large amount needed sensors, high technology costs, troublesome battery use and replacement, and difficulty of sensor placement. 

Globally, electricity as an energy source is expected to grow from a 20% share of final consumption to an almost 50% share in 2050 due to the expansion of renewable energy and electro-mobility. Consequently, most of the existing infrastructures and assets will require smart and digitised management to guarantee a clean, affordable, and secure energy supply. Power system operators face costly challenges as an adaptation to shifting conditions caused by decarbonisation and decentralisation of power generation and prevention of power outages or damages caused by unforeseen meteorological events or wildfires. This is the situation of ENERCAL, the distribution and transmission system operator (DSO/TSO) of New Caledonia, with 43% of energy production coming from renewable energy.

Thanks to the Digifed Application Experiment, named DYNAGRID, ENERGIOT and ELEMENT will collaborate to provide a solution of smart grid management to ENERCAL, the electricity utility of New Caledonia, which has a goal of 100% renewable energy supply in 2030.

ENERCAL aim to implement Dynamic Line Rating algorithms to adapt the capacity of the lines according to the environmental and physical conditions of the conductors. The objective is to avoid curtailment of solar and wind farms and increase the penetration of distributed renewable generation when available, avoiding millionaire investments in the network. Furthermore, fault detection can be optimised, and maintenance expenses reduced, including preventing severe and harmful accidents such as wildfires.

DYNAGRID solution enables global IoT implementation in the grid helping grid operators instantaneously reduce congestion allowing higher penetration of renewable energy, optimising assets utilisation safely, increasing incomes from power generation assets, reducing power losses, and avoiding investment in new lines. DYNAGRID can help their clients to increase grid capacity by up to 30 % and save up to 20 % of maintenance costs.

According to FAO study “Looking ahead in world food and agriculture: Perspectives to 2050” world population
is expected to grow by over a third, or 2.3 billion people, by 2050. Feeding the growing world population
poses an unprecedented challenge. Even in the best of circumstances, sustainably satisfying this hugely
increased demand for crops and livestock will be an enormous task. By 2050, food production must increase
by 70% to meet the increasing demand. At the same time agricultural sector needs to decrease its
environmental impact, that currently accounts for the 9 % of total EU greenhouse gas emissions 1 . The
increasing food demand and the necessity to reduce the ecological footprint of food production represent a
huge challenge for the Agrifood sector.

AGRI ISLAND has already developed and implemented the "AI AQUAPONICS APPLICATION" system that
combines remote sensing, IoT devices, Robotics, Big Data analysis, Artificial Intelligence and other emerging
technologies into a highly innovative integrated agricultural production system.
The LIFERITHM project takes place inside the R&D dedicated greenhouse and consist of dedicating the R&D
plant to testing, modelling and finally delivering the predictive algorithm, using both new and historical data
collected over the years.
The main challenge of the proposed experiment is going to be about improving the already existing "AI
AQUAPONICS APPLICATION" system by developing and implementing the predictive algorithm to enable the
industrial aquaponics system to perform data collection, analysis and management, automation and control of
the technical components. AGRI ISLAND aquaponic technology does not require the use of pesticides as well as
the use of mechanical vehicles usually employed for traditional agriculture. In addition, by optimising this
method of cultivation, AGRI ISLAND, aims to reduce waste related to agricultural production, addressing
environmental issues such as food loss and waste, water scarcity and climate change.

• Reduction of farmer’s exposition to pesticides: 100%
• Reduction of pesticides in the air: 100%
• Reduction of water used for irrigation, resulting from big data & predictive models: 5%
• Reduction of energy used in irrigation, resulting from big data & predictive models: 15%
• Reduction of CO2 emissions as a result of lower energy consumption 16%

Confapi DIH