Digitization project creates unique energy solutions

Vinnova has granted the project “Digital Urban Development - Campus Skellefteå” funding where Luleå University of Technology collaborates with ABB, Skellefteå Kraft and Skellefteå municipality. In the project, an energy management system will be built to take on the challenge of moving power needs in time and space in a geographical location and thus use the infrastructure more efficiently and more resource-efficiently.

Campus Skellefteå will be a demonstrator environment that includes both existing real estate and the new Arctic Center Of Energy (ACE) building that is planned to be built next to the Skellefteå river between the library and Campushallen.

- The project will last for three years and we will, among other things, work with flexible solutions such as battery storage to optimize energy in the existing buildings, says Karl Andersson who is professor of Pervasive and Mobile Computing at Luleå University of Technology and CEO at CDT.

The project will focus on energy producers and users getting more out of the energy by moving away from calculation with annual averages, which is used in normal cases, because consumption can vary greatly from moment to moment. Instead, the calculations should be broken down to measure hour by hour. It can help reduce climate impact cost and to provide a more efficient use of both energy and the electricity grid.

- With advanced digitization of the entire value chain, artificial intelligence and solutions for smart energy storage in the form of batteries or alternatively hydrogen, it is possible to move this energy use in time, says Karl. The main building in the project will be built on Campus, and use energy “scraped together” from surrounding buildings. An AI will provide information about needs and availability. It will also use simulations to calculate how well energy values follow actual values. It is hoped that in the future the technology will be able to be used in neighborhoods where energy shortages have been an obstacle for further development.