IBM is holding an internal global competition to invite ideas about how to use live data from local electricity networks that the OpenLV project will be providing.
Currently, electricity network operators have limited information about power flows on local electricity networks. This can act as a barrier to the installation and operation of, for example, electric vehicle charge points or distributed generation devices. The LV-CAP™ platform, provided by OpenLV, will open up information about the capacity of local electricity networks and allow third parties to develop their own apps using the data provided by the project.
Businesses are now able to submit ideas for how they would like to be involved in OpenLV, a Network Innovation Competition project led by Western Power Distribution and EA Technology, by completing the survey at the OpenLV website. The deadline to respond is 28 February 2018. The project has already received a high level of interest from businesses that have ideas about how they could use such data.
Initially, the OpenLV project will provide access to the telemetry data of 80 low voltage substations. In the longer term, it is expected that the technology being trialled in the OpenLV project will be in operational use in substations around Britain.
IBM is inviting ideas from its internal team of developers for apps that will use the data and provide benefit to the network operator, the community or any other stakeholder.
The real-time data about the capacity of local electricity networks that OpenLV is expected to provide can assist with the installation of the growing numbers of home electric vehicle charge points, as well as public chargers. In addition, the data will be useful to a wide range of other sectors, including renewable energy developers, property developers, facilities managers, smart city planners and operators of private energy networks, as well as the electricity industry itself.
Any business, including technology companies, organisations involved in the energy industry, or app developers – as well as academics – are welcome to apply to take part in the project. An invitation-only workshop for companies who are interested in OpenLV is being held on 13 February in Bristol.
Organisations or individuals with ideas that could be developed as part of OpenLV should visit www.openlv.net or contact the OpenLV team to discuss the project in more detail.
To watch a short video that explains the OpenLV project visit: www.openlv.net/resources
