Consumer Centricity Moonshot Successfully Landed

Context

In 2021, Elia Group proudly launched its ambitious multiyear Moonshot program, aimed at tackling some of the biggest challenges in the energy transition and demonstrating the use of concrete solutions to reach this goal.

One of the key initiatives within this program is the Consumer Centricity Moonshot, which enables consumers to charge their electric vehicle in Germany using energy generated by their home solar panels in Belgium.

Approach

The project unites various innovative initiatives from our German and Belgian teams, focusing on Consumer Centricity, Innovation and Market Economics. This complex project relies on four interdependent puzzle pieces working seamlessly together.  The project landing video (see below) allows you to explore these components by following the journey of our customer, Oskar.

1. Component 1: Showcasing the origin of the energy by identifying the asset which generates the energy. In the demonstrated use case, this asset will be Oskar´s solar panels. 
2. Component 2: Enabling the cross-border transfer from Belgium to Germany 
3. Component 3: Identifying Oskar´s vehicle at the charge point via use of digital identities. 
4. Component 4: Connecting the balancing areas from Belgium to Germany to transfer Oskar´s solar energy all the way to the charge point in Germany. 

To connect these puzzle pieces, several validation steps have been undertaken. For the first component, there was a need to identify and authenticate the source of the energy. We found out that by assigning a digital identity to Oskar’s solar panels, the integration of renewable energy into the grid could be facilitated. 

The fourth component, the cross-border transfer of energy, was managed through an innovative solution called "virtual balancing area´s" developed by Elia Group’s Market Economics department. This concept allows virtual connections between supply and demand without the need for a physical link, enabling Oskar to choose any energy supplier. This concept has been successfully demonstrated for Elia Group electric vehicle owners at Neuenhagen.

Next steps

While concrete use cases have been identified, the full realization of this inter-country connection will require further efforts. Nevertheless, the Consumer Centricity Moonshot has provided crucial insights and identified key areas to focus our solution-driven roadmaps.

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