Menu

IoT FEATURE NEWS

Open Minds and Open Source: Linux Foundation LF Energy Introduces Two Initiatives Designed to Reduce Carbon and Shift to Sustainable Energy

By

Building on its groundbreaking initiative, the Linux Foundation’s LF Energy announced it has introduced a Service-based Open-source Grid automation platform for Network Operation of the Future (SOGNO) and Power System Network Operations (PSNO) designed to advance energy automation and hardware virtualization.

The LF Energy project provides a 21st-century plan of action to solve climate change through open frameworks, reference architectures, and a support ecosystem of complementary projects, seeking to accelerate the energy transition of the world’s power and transportation systems through open-source technology.

LF Energy also announced that two members have joined, including ZEDEDA, a California-based company building an orchestration solution for distributed edge computing, and OpenUK, a London-based nonprofit supporting open-source collaboration and open technologies within the United Kingdom.

The LF Energy and LF Edge communities have established a collaboration, initially with an energy-focused adaption of Fledge (Fledge Power), now included in the LF Energy reference architecture. The project is now working with Project EVE to include EVE-OS as a secure, flexible baseline for edge deployments in the space.

Service-based Open-source Grid automation platform for Network Operation of the future (SOGNO) is a project creating plug-and-play, cloud-native microservices to implement the next generation of data-driven monitoring and control systems.

The second initiative, Power System Network Operations (PSNO), is an end-user, utility-driven working group that is defining an open-source strategy and approach to the “control room of the future.”

“The shift to renewables doesn’t come with the flip of a switch and is a monumental effort requiring collaboration on a global scale,” said Dr. Shuli Goodman, executive director of LF Energy. “Decarbonization is a complex problem, and it’s only growing more complex as new technologies demand more from power system networks. The evolution of a low-inertia grid due to the onboarding of distributed energy resources is requiring that network operators find new mechanisms to balance supply and demand through flexibility and automation. With collaborative, open-source initiatives like SOGNO and PSNO, we can overcome these challenges.”

“We’re entering the era of the ecosystem, with interconnected solutions increasingly backed by a significant service component,” said Jason Shepherd, VP Ecosystem, ZEDEDA. “This applies to all verticals, and especially the energy space as macro challenges require industry collaboration to enable providers to thrive while improving the consumer experience. Many of the challenges are at the edge where the physical and digital worlds meet amid rapidly transforming power networks. As the leader in orchestration for distributed edge computing, ZEDEDA is excited to join LF Energy to foster innovation and balance in the energy ecosystem through open-source collaboration.”

“OpenUK joins LF Energy in a positive step to promote smarter use of data within the utilities and energy sectors, powered by open-source approaches,” said OpenUK CEO Amanda Brock. “We are pleased to be actively engaged with the UK energy sector and support the vision for more efficient use of data, technology, and infrastructure based on open principles.”

SOGNO Accelerates Grid Automation

Today’s grid automation software is often built in a monolithic way and cannot be extended easily, nor does it allow operators to leverage the best solutions across multiple vendors. At the same time, grid demands grow as technologies like customer-owned PV rooftops and batteries, utility-scale wind and solar, along with the rapid transition to electric vehicles (EV) — and the charging stations sprouting to support them — reach for mass adoption. Keeping up with these additions to the power ecosystem requires network operators to undertake the increasingly difficult task of achieving grid automation.

The modular microservices-based approach of SOGNO enables a multi-vendor/supplier network operations solution that can be adapted faster. With the integration of real-time simulation, SOGNO supports seamless integration of development, testing, and deployment. Additionally, new automation functionalities can be developed and thoroughly tested against a virtual real-time representation of the power system before deployment.

The SOGNO approach was originally developed within a project of the same name by the European Commission and coordinated by Ericsson. RWTH Aachen University developed most of the code and made it available as open-source. Now, scientists from Fraunhofer FIT - Digital Energy and Research Center Jülich are part of the development team.

“The time for the energy transition is now,” said Dr. Antonello Monti, professor at RWTH Aachen University and Group Leader at Fraunhofer Center for Digital Energy. “We need to move at unprecedented speed. Open Source is the only way to reach this speed. Other sectors already showed the way, and it is now time for energy to do the same. Working with LF Energy is an opportunity to create a unique culture of change in energy.”

With PSNO, the Control Room of the Future has no Walls

PSNO will enable a future with interconnected electric power systems that are operated pro-actively and in seamless coordination with stakeholders using zero-trust and open-source information exchange systems in real-time.

The LF Energy end-user utility working group seeks to enable power system operators to use a highly organized set of next-generation analytical tools and applications to effectively monitor and control the future power system. Potential issues on any system are identified well in advance, and remedial options, which are optimized by value and system impacts, and are either presented to the operator or deployed automatically. The operator supervises the automated system, which is cyber-resilient, trust-less, and intervenes and overrides the automation with manual control when necessary.

The PSNO working group plans to open the initiative to OEMs and infrastructure, software, and hardware providers to join with LF Energy utility members. Initial contributions include a host of new open-source software projects for short-term forecasting, congestion management, power system modeling, power system automation, market settlements, data and services, and network model management. Participation in the early stage of planning and launching of the PSNO portfolio of projects will be limited to members. Project governance and participation will be open to all once a code base has been released publicly.

Other LF Edge members include RTE, Alliander, Energinet, TenneT, General Electric, SonyCSL, Savoir-faire Linux, Statnett, Freedm Systems Center, OpenADR, RWTH Aachen University, NREL, Recurve, Stanford University, Unicorn, Cloud Bees, and many others. More information is available here.  


Arti Loftus is an experienced Information Technology specialist with a demonstrated history of working in the research, writing, and editing industry with many published articles under her belt.

Edited by Maurice Nagle
Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. [Free eNews Subscription]

Special Correspondent

SHARE THIS ARTICLE
Related Articles

Rising Edge Computing Investments to Reach $350B by 2027, According to IDC

By: Alex Passett    3/27/2024

Worldwide spending on edge computing is expected to surge (and then keep going) for the foreseeable future, according to the International Data Corpor…

Read More

ZEDEDA Adds Lisa Edwards as New Board Member, Seeks Opportunities to Strengthen Operations and Scale

By: Alex Passett    3/26/2024

Earlier this morning, ZEDEDA announced the addition of Lisa Edwards to its board of directors.

Read More

An Existing IoT Collab, Emboldened: Digi International and Telit Cinterion Transform Solutions with 5G RedCap Integration

By: Alex Passett    3/25/2024

The ongoing industry collaboration between Digi International and Telit Cinterion signals strong support for the mainstream showcasing of 5G for IoT a…

Read More

Telit Cinterion's 5G LGA Modules, Powered by Snapdragon from Qualcomm, to Create a Big Leap in IoT Connectivity

By: Alex Passett    3/25/2024

Telit Cinterion recently unveiled its FE990B34/40 LGA family of modules, powered by the Snapdragon X72 5G Modem-RF System from Qualcomm Technologies, …

Read More

Embracing Innovation in Mining: The Role of Network-Aware Applications in the Digital Transformation

By: Special Guest    3/21/2024

Shabodi leverages private 5G network capabilities and enables the development of network-aware applications to enhance operational efficiency, automat…

Read More