Wednesday 20 November 2019

Renewable energy: Vattenfall and Microsoft pilot ‘world’s first’ hourly matching

Vattenfall and Microsoft have jointly developed what is claimed to be the world's first solution for hourly matching of renewable energy production and consumption.

The 24/7 solution, being piloted in Sweden, is built with Microsoft Azure IoT Central platform that connects generation such as wind and hydropower from Vattenfall with data from smart meters that measure real time consumption.

With an increasing number of businesses committing to 100% renewable energy, it aims to provide them with a new level of transparency into their electricity use.

Guarantees of Origin (GOs), an electronic document which provides proof of the source of a given quantity of renewable energy, are currently being used today but this matches production and consumption over a year.

The new solution, however, helps match it hour by hour and is expected to provide a reliable way of tracking clean power and drive “true market demand” for renewable energy.

Daniel Akenine, National Technology Officer at Microsoft Sweden said: “With this new level of transparency, you can see if your commitment to 100% renewable energy covers each hour of consumption.

“This pilot that combines Vattenfall’s energy expertise and technology from the Microsoft cloud has the potential to change the dynamics of renewable energy production and consumption to accelerate the reality of a fossil-free future for everyone.”