The DIEGO project (Digital Energy Path for Planning and Operation of Sustainable Grid, Products, and Society) launched in May 2022 with co-financing from The National Centre for Research and Development.

Kick-off of the DIEGO project in Magdeburg

In Poland, concepts and tools are being developed and tested in real-world environments to integrate energy infrastructure (renewable energy sources, loads, energy storage) with electronic components in AC and DC networks within industrial plants. The aim is to ensure sustainable, energy-efficient, and economically viable production. In a broader perspective, the implementation of the DIEGO project will provide positive impulses to accelerate the decarbonization process in industry.

"The project's results could serve as a foundation for implementing Net-Zero Energy solutions in companies. The universal optimization methods developed within the DIEGO project can be applied in any industrial plant. Industrial plants with renewable energy installations and energy storage, along with the system for predicting green energy availability developed within the project, can significantly increase their self-consumption of green energy, which, in the long run, could bring real profit to many companies," says Łukasz Rokicki, PhD, the project leader from the Warsaw University of Technology.

International Collaboration

The research team from Warsaw University of Technology consists of five researchers: Łukasz Rokicki, PhD, Prof. Mirosław Parol, Paweł Piotrowski, PhD, and Marcin Kopyt, PhD, from the Institute of Electrical Power Engineering of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, as well as Piotr Pałka, PhD, from the Institute of Control and Computation Engineering of the Faculty of Electronics and Information Technology.

Members of the DIEGO Project during a working meeting

The tasks assigned to WUT’s research team included:

• analyzing the electric power system at the industrial plant where the demonstration installation will be deployed, focusing on electrical energy consumption, distributed generation sources, electrical energy storage, and the technological processes being carried out,
• analyzing the available measurement data related to power demand and electricity consumption, as well as the generation of power and electricity at the considered industrial plant,
• developing requirements and assumptions for methods and algorithms for real-time energy balancing, along with establishing the appropriate operational modes for selected electrical devices installed at the considered industrial plant,
• developing a test model of the electric power network (including models of the main electrical loads) with characteristics that closely resemble those of the actual electric power system at the considered industrial plant,
• developing measures to reduce peak electrical loads and improve the energy efficiency of selected technological processes carried out at the considered industrial plant,
• developing predictive models to determine the expected demand for power and electricity for selected electrical loads at the considered industrial plant, as well as the anticipated generation of power and electricity at the plant and the projected energy efficiency,
• presenting the principles of multi-agent systems and conducting a review of selected platforms that enable the IT implementation of these systems,
• developing a method and algorithm for real-time electricity balancing at the considered industrial plant, along with its IT implementation utilizing a multi-agent system,
• developing a method and algorithm for determining the appropriate operational modes of selected electrical devices at the considered industrial plant, along with its IT implementation utilizing a multi-agent system,
• conducting simulations to verify the correctness of the developed methods and algorithms,
• integrating the developed methods and algorithms with the overarching system,
• conducting tests and evaluations of the developed methods and algorithms in the demonstration installation.

As part of the Polish section of the project, the developed solutions will be implemented (through the deployment of a demonstration installation) at Alu-Frost, located on the outskirts of Białystok and specializing in laser cutting services for metal components. Partners from Austria, Germany, and Israel are also implementing the developed solutions in their respective demonstration installations.

Members of the DIEGO team during a visit to the company where the demonstration installation is being developed

A visit to the company where the demonstration installation is being developed

The international consortium consists of nine companies/institutions:

• Hochschule Magdeburg-Stendal (Germany, leader of the international consortium),
• LS Software & Engineering GmbH (Germany),
• Erdgas Mittelsachsen GmbH (Germany),
• Electrum Concreo Sp. z o.o. (Poland, leader of the national consortium),
• Warsaw University of Technology, Institute of Electrical Power Engineering (Poland),
• Salzburg Research Forschungsgesellschaft mbH (Austria),
• Meo ENERGY GmbH (Austria),
• Energie Kompass GmbH (Austria),
• Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Israel).

Project challenges

In the course of finalizing the project, researchers encountered several challenges, including the need to change some project assumptions. This change was necessary due to a shift in the industrial partner that occurred early in the project's implementation. The highly random nature of the changes in power and energy consumption by the electrical devices installed at the considered industrial plant, in turn, complicated the development of predictive models. The team also encountered the challenge of lacking a measurement system to provide the essential data for the algorithms and predictive models developed by the WUT team. Consequently, it was necessary to design and install this system at the industrial partner, with the project and installation being managed by the national consortium leader. Nevertheless, these issues have been resolved, and the project is now approaching completion.

 “The planned completion date for the project is October 31, 2024. Currently, efforts are underway to integrate the solutions developed by the WUT team with the overarching system owned by Electrum Concreo Sp. z o.o. Tests of the developed solutions at the demonstration installation of the industrial partner are scheduled for October,” adds Łukasz Rokicki, PhD.

The total budget for the Polish section of the project was PLN 4,015,756.50. The budget for the portion carried out by WUT amounted to PLN 465,916.50 and was fully funded by The National Centre for Research and Development. The budget for the portion carried out by Electrum Concreo Sp. z o.o. was PLN 3,549,840.00. The National Centre for Research and Development allocated PLN 1,419,936.00 to co-finance Electrum Concreo Sp. z o.o., representing a funding level of 40%.