Kilowatts and megabytes

Data is an essential resource for the energy transition: It enables companies to make well-founded strategic decisions, for example to optimise energy generation.

When an electrolyser produces hydrogen, a photovoltaic system charges a battery storage system or heat pumps draw electricityfrom the grid, it is not only electrons are flowing but bytes as well: every process in the energy system generates data – a resource that is just as essential for a climate-friendly energy supply as sun, wind or water. Integrating renewable energies into the electricity grid? Sector coupling? Efficient use of energy? This simply cannot happen without detailed information about what is currently going on in the system and what will happen in the near future. This makes the productive use of data a key to the energy transition success.

Good reasons for GP JOULE to prioritise this issue: the company is currently building a centralised digital data platform that brings together all relevant internal and external data and uses it to create valuable knowledge for its decisions. “As an integrated energy supplier, we want to use this DataHub to take advantage of the fact that we cover the entire value chain with our systems, from generation to conversion, storage and distribution through to the use of energy,” says Dr Joachim Herrmann, Head of Technology at GP JOULE. “Supplemented by external information such as weather data or electricity exchange prices, this provides us in the company with a data basis of a scope and quality that very few have. We want to exploit this with the DataHub.”

GP JOULE primarily uses the data platform to create forecasts and optimize the operation of systems, for example with a view to balancing energy generation and consumption. “The more we know about the future, the better quality decisions we can make, especially when it comes to controlling systems,” says Herrmann. This enables fluctuating wind and solar energy to be utilized even better. In turn, this reduces energy costs, helps protect the climate and, last but certainly not least, strengthens security of supply.

Data platform makes complexity manageable

How can the data platform be used in practice? As an example: in future, GP JOULE will be able to use its data to forecast when and how much heat is needed in a heating network and at what cost the heat pumps installed there will supply energy. This cost depends, among other things, on the outside temperature, grid utilisation fees, prices on the electricity exchange and also local electricity generation from the sun or wind, provided the heat pumps are linked to it. “Good forecasts enable us to create optimized schedules for systems in order to keep CO2 emissions and heating costs as low as possible,” says Herrmann. GP JOULE has already gained initial experience with local optimisation of system operation in some heating networks. These projects are to be expanded further.

Sounds complex – but it can be even more so: if, for example, a heat storage tank is integrated into the grid, this can also be taken into account in the calculations, as can the operation of an electrolyser whose waste heat is fed into the grid. This coupling of several sectors creates scope that can be utilised to supply customers with energy in the most cost-effective way. “It will be particularly exciting when we realise cross-regional sector coupling. We are therefore moving from a virtual power plant to a virtual, sector-coupled energy system. We are working on this as a data science team together with a number of other teams in the GP JOULE Group,” explains Herrmann.

One of the factors contributing to this is that the GP JOULE experts place particular emphasis on ensuring data quality during development – in other words, on identifying suitable data sources, on automated, reliable recording and consolidation of the data and on its meticulous validation. The company’s experts rely on sophisticated analytics processes for modelling, analysis, forecasting and optimization that also integrate machine learning and other AI tools. Easy-to-use interfaces and visualisation tools ensure that employees throughout the GP JOULE Group can work productively with the DataHub quickly and with relatively little effort.

Data creates added value

“Our DataHub forms the basis for efficiently providing, sharing and preparing data,” says Valentina Ruzic, Head of Data Science at GP JOULE. “This allows us to break down data silos and promote collaboration between departments.” The platform increases data quality and transparency, which enables faster, data-driven decisions. “This not only strengthens the innovative capacity, but also the entire company’s competitiveness.”

The focus in all of this is naturally on data security and protection – “they are one of the platform’s essential capabilities,” emphasizes Ruzic. “We only use anonymized data, so we can’t draw any conclusions about individual people,” she explains. The data is secured from loss and unauthorized access. It is all stored on a European cloud server that is subject to EU law.

However, GP JOULE goes beyond the mere technical tasks involved in setting up the data platform. “We place particular focus on creating a data culture within the company – in other words, creating an understanding of how employees can benefit from the DataHub in their day-to-day work,” explains Ruzic.

The expert is totally convinced: extracting benefit from the data is not “nice to have”, but absolutely essential to remain successful against the competition in the long term. “If you are not able to use your data productively and draw the right conclusions from it, you risk being left behind,” says Ruzic. “Electrons are the same wherever they are in the energy system. It’s the data that counts – that’s what creates added value for us, for our customers and for the energy transition itself!”