Hafenstrom has successfully demonstrated integration between equipment over our internally developed communication stack. The stack provides interface to shoreside installations and offers energy flexibility through the xEMS protocol used in the GIFT project. The demonstration was based on the OCPP based virtual charger and INEAs KIBERnet. Together these represents the backbone of a system well-suited for monitoring and auctioning energy based on cost (producer/consumer), availability (supply/demand) and congestion (grid capacity/load).
There are several different control systems located at the harbour and at ferries. The need for interfaces allowing flexible integration of closed systems/proprietary solutions is therefore essential.
The communication stack Hafenstrom has developed is a part of the Harbour Energy Flexibility Manager which offers a framework for integration of business logic, calculations, visualisation and other 3rd party solutions. The amount of interfaces supported can be added seamlessly. One of these interfaces communicates currently with the OCPP virtual charger. Others communicate with smart meters, chargers from different vendors, as well as equipment belonging to different verticals.
The approach used in the testing allows for a quick way to scale up and reassign the location, vessel and control system profiles.
These interfaces ensure that whatever is located shoreside/portside is transparent to the Ship/Harbour EMS service as long as the equipment/devices adheres to the EMS interface specifications. Information being exchanged contain events from shoreside chargers, energy consumption and production, state of charge, time of day, cost per kWh, vessel and charger identificator – just to mention a few. By offering an API supporting an increasing number of parameters, Hafenstrom can provide services suitable for a new set of form factors and products.
Furthermore, the backend system provides functionality for automatic detection of suitable time slots in ferry time tables to offer flexibility potential, many new trigger mechanisms for when energy flexibility are offered – such as arrival of vessels within a specific region, proximity to charger, remaining energy on battery and of course – automatic selection of quays based on availability of chargers due to compatibility, occupancy or operational status. Currently the system is being primed and ready for launch, supporting more protocols and functionality.
With the Harbour Energy Flexibility Management service, Hafenstrom is presenting current and future partners to be part of the future of harbour EMS solutions – all powered by the GIFT project!