The French Demonstrator - Nice Smart Valley

Context

Electric distribution networks are undergoing many changes: the increasing development of renewable energy generation and the evolution of electricity end-uses including electric vehicles.

In order to anticipate these changes, Enedis has formed a project consortium for the French InterFlex demonstrator called Nice Smart Valley, with the participation of GRDF, ENGIE, EDF, Socomec and GE Grid Solutions to demonstrate and define new solutions and business models fostering the energy transition.

Nice Smart Valley focused on three main objectives:

• Implement and analyse mechanisms and a local flexibility market for the DSO to solve electrical grid constraints.
• Find viable business models for stationary battery storage based on a multi service approach combining ancillary services, electrical grid constraint management, self-consumption and cloud storage.
• Provide automatic MV islanding based on a storage battery system in order to provide security of supply and resilience as an additional service for the DSO in areas where power supply is critical.

Test locations and principles

The demonstrations were located in different areas:

• Lérins islands: The islanding demonstrator has been implemented on the Lérins islands located at a short distance of the city of Cannes on the French Riviera. The islands comprise 5 secondary substations supplying 57 customers. Two storage systems have been installed by Enedis and ENGIE on one of the islands, Sainte Marguerite, in order to demonstrate the technical feasibility of running the island grid independently from the continental grid. Islanding has been performed seamlessly by means of a specific MV-switch, with no power cut for local customers. The islanding operation has been remotely steered from the DSO’s regional control room. The electrical security for people and goods has been guaranteed through a specific protection scheme. During non-islanding periods, storage systems were operated by ENGIE to monetize them on several value pockets to make those investment as profitable as possible.
• Metropolitan area of Nice: Aggregators have recruited residential and industrial flexibility in the close vicinity and in two villages in the north of Nice. The DSO simulated electrical grid constraints leading to a flexibility requests to aggregators. The latter replied with flexibility bids to the DSO via a local market place. Selected flexibilities have been activated by the DSO and the impact has been evaluated. Forecasting tools, used to predict and anticipate electrical grid constraints, have also been developed and assessed.
• A third storage system has been installed in Carros in the Var plain and participated in the flexibility market. It also served to simulate a multi-service approach (cloud storage, flexibility, ancillary services, etc.) to economically maximize the value of the storage asset.

French Demonstrator

Testimonial of the French project team and stakeholders