The Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands (PLOCAN) has held the 1st Brain2Power Forum: New Business Models Based on the Sustainable Energy Transition, to present the progress, opportunities and new approaches associated with the transition towards a more flexible, digitalised and sustainable energy system.
The Forum was organised as part of the Brain2Power project, which aims to design, develop and validate new business models for the planning, deployment and intelligent management — through artificial intelligence — of Virtual Power Plants (VPPs): a system that connects multiple small energy sources, such as solar panels, wind turbines and battery storage systems, adding a layer of intelligent management so that they act as a single power plant.
The Brain2Power project — made up of PLOCAN, the ITG technology centre and the company REGENERA, and funded by the Spanish Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE) under the PERTE ERHA scheme, with Next Generation EU funds — designed the Forum primarily for the industrial and technical sector, although it was open to the public and included an open discussion on innovative solutions to the new challenges posed by the energy transition.
The scheduled forum featured contributions from Brain2Power’s partners and specialists, as well as a round table, conceived as spaces to share knowledge and analyse different perspectives on the evolution of the energy sector, the integration of renewable energy and its associated challenges, and the emergence of new business models that respond to the sector’s new needs.
Virtual Power Plants make it possible to coordinate and manage different energy resources — such as distributed renewable generation, storage and demand management — in an integrated way. In this context, the Brain2Power project seeks to analyse how these tools can help optimise energy use, increasing system flexibility and encouraging more active participation by consumers in local energy markets.
From new business models to real-world demonstration
Brain2Power approaches the development of VPPs from a perspective that combines technological, economic and business model aspects. On one hand, the project studies and assesses new business models in light of Spain’s existing regulatory, technical and economic framework, as well as experiences and success stories developed internationally. This analysis will make it possible to progressively adapt the proposed solutions to the needs identified during the project and to market conditions.
Building on these studies, PLOCAN, ITG and REGENERA are developing the technological tools associated with planning and managing VPPs in local energy markets. Planned developments include digital models to assess future VPP deployments, web-based software to support their planning, and advanced management tools based on artificial intelligence to optimise their operation and their interaction with local energy markets.
PLOCAN, as coordinator of Brain2Power, will also take part in the project’s real-world demonstration, drawing on its own offshore experimental platform. Through controlled operational trials, the performance, effectiveness and applicability of the solutions developed will be assessed, moving towards the potential viability of the new business models and the replicability of VPPs in different energy markets.
