Balancing energy production and consumption in energy efficient neighborhoods

This paper introduces a new energy management system for Smart Grids, designed in the European 7th framework program project e-balance. The architecture of the system is hierarchical and fractal-like, which results in better scalability and reusability of algorithms and programming code for energy management. The system is structured into two main parts — the communication platform and the energy management platform. The former provides a common data exchange layer, while the latter provides the local energy management logic, currently supporting energy balancing. The application of the system to balance production and consumption of electricity was evaluated in a pilot deployed in the Netherlands.