EPSRC-KETEP Call for Collaborative between the UK and Korea in Smart Grids Summary Call type: Collaborative research Closing date: 16.00 on 16 December 2015 Related themes: Energy The Engineering and Physical Sciences Council (EPSRC) and the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) wish to develop collaborative projects between the United Kingdom (UK) and the Republic of Korea (ROK) in the field of Smart Grids. The UK and ROK have very similar challenges in the evolution of their grids, and research will help understand how the grid will be shaped and how people will use the future grid. Any applicant intending to submit a proposal to this call must register their intent by submitting an Expression of Interest (EoI) via the call page on the website (link below) by 16.00 on 25 November 2015. Information requested includes the names and affiliations of the Principal Investigator (PI) and any Co- Investigators, project partners, the research remit area(s) and project outline and the approximate value of the funds to be requested. Please note that this is not intended to restrict detail in the final submission as changes will be allowed, but will give us an indication of the level of interest and enable the prompt identification of panel members. The expression of interest webpage can be found on the EPSRC call page: https://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/calls/epsrcketepsmartgrids/ Applicants that do not register their intent to submit a proposal will have their applications rejected. Applicants will not receive an email from the smart survey form to confirm receipt, so applicants must print a record of the submission success after inputting their details. Background This call represents the second call between the EPSRC and KETEP in the energy area. The UK and ROK are facing a number of challenges to their respective electricity grids over the coming years. Both countries have similar populations, with similar grids (island networks with little interaction with neighbouring grids). A joint scoping workshop for this call was held in London on 01 and 02 July 2015, with a panel made up of UK and Korean experts in smart grids. The experts identified a number of key topic areas of joint interest and importance to the UK and Korea. Broadly, the areas identified were: Page 1 of 11
Microgrids Virtual power plant concepts and ideas These ideas are discussed in full in the appendix of this document. These two areas are intended to address how the electrical grid can cope with changing consumer behaviour, changes in the composition of the generation landscape, as well as the rise of the prosumer, a person who uses and generates their own electricity. Both the UK and ROK are facing challenges in the resilience of their electrical grids, with ever increasing renewable energy generation on the grid. This intermittent generation poses big challenges for the stability of the grid, but can also provide great opportunities for the consumer in terms of pricing as well as the availability of green electricity. This call links strongly with the RCUK Energy Programme s key strategies and objectives (http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/research/xrcprogrammes/energy/), and will provide world-leading researchers in the UK and Korea the opportunity to work together. For more information about EPSRC s portfolio and strategies, see our website: https://www.epsrc.ac.uk/research/ourportfolio/ Funding available Up to 2M is available from EPSRC with equivalent resource available from KETEP. EPSRC and KETEP expect to fund two projects under this call. Applicants must ensure the travel element between the two countries is an integral part of the proposal to ensure partners from both countries can maintain a successful collaboration. Projects may be up to three years in duration. Equipment Equipment is not available through this call. Eligibility UK Eligibility For information on the eligibility of organisations and individuals to receive EPSRC funding, see the EPSRC Funding Guide: https://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/howtoapply/fundingguide/ As this call is a targeted funding opportunity provided by EPSRC, higher education institutions, and some research council institutes and independent research organisations are eligible to apply. A list of eligible organisations to apply to EPSRC is provided at: http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/funding/eligibilityforrcs/ Korean researchers must consult the relevant guidance from KETEP on their eligibility. ers based in Korea must follow all the relevant rules and guidance provided by KETEP for this call. Page 2 of 11
How to apply Submitting an application Applicants must submit an application to EPSRC and KETEP separately following each organisation s rules. There should be a nominated lead for both the UK and Korean teams. There must be a single application from each consortium submitted by the lead institution. Joint UK proposals on separate forms will not be accepted. Each UK proposal must include a joint proposal form where the details of the Korean participants can be recorded. For UK applicants You should prepare and submit your proposal using the Councils Joint electronic Submission (Je-S) System (https://je-s.rcuk.ac.uk/). When adding a new proposal, you should select: Council EPSRC Document type Standard Proposal Scheme Standard On the Project Details page you should select the EPSRC KETEP smart grids call. Note that clicking submit document on your proposal form in Je-S initially submits the proposal to your host organisation s administration, not to EPSRC. Please allow sufficient time for your organisation s submission process between submitting your proposal to them and the call closing date. EPSRC must receive your application by 16.00 on 16 December 2015. Guidance on the types of support that may be sought and advice on the completion of the research proposal forms are given on the EPSRC website (https://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/howtoapply/) which should be consulted when preparing all proposals. Guidance on writing an application If the attachments are uploaded as Word documents, please be aware that once the application has been submitted to the Council/Funder, all the attachments will be converted and held as an Adobe Acrobat file (PDF). Also please note, that whilst we support a wide range, we do not support all MS Word font types. Therefore if an unsupported font type is used a different font type may be substituted which may result in changes to the layout of the document. For this reason we recommend that the documents are converted to PDF files before uploading. Also, please note that on submission to council all non-pdf documents are converted to PDF, the use of non-standard fonts may result in errors or font conversion, which could affect the overall length of the document. In addition, where non-standard fonts are present, and even though the converted PDF document may look unaffected in the Je-S System, when it is Page 3 of 11
imported into the Councils Grants System some information may be removed. We therefore recommend that where a document contains any nonstandard fonts (scientific notation, diagrams etc), the document is converted to PDF prior to attaching it to the proposal For advice on writing proposals see: https://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/howtoapply/preparing/ User Engagement Strategy Successful applicants will be required to develop and execute a strategy for engaging with potential users of the research funded in the project (resources for this activity can be requested as part of the Pathways to Impact and must be justified in the application). This strategy should be reviewed and updated regularly as part of the formal management of the grant. The strategy should cover: how and when potential users have been / will be identified; what form the engagement will take; what steps will be taken to ensure that outputs of the research are made available to potential users; suitable metrics for determining the success of the strategy in delivering value to users. Assessment Assessment process This call will use a one stage assessment process with a single joint assessment panel carried out by EPSRC and KETEP. Proposals submitted to this call will be assessed by an independent panel of experts drawn from both countries pool of reviewers. There will be no postal peer review stage, and due to this type of assessment process there will be no right of reply for applicants. Feedback on the rationale for the panel s decision will be provided but we will not enter in to any correspondence. Please ensure you are content with this assessment process before submitting your proposal. Assessment criteria The proposals will be assessed on the following criteria: Quality The degree and excellence of the proposal making reference to: vision, ambition and adventure. The novelty, relationship to the context and timeliness. Page 4 of 11
The ambition, adventure and transformative aspects identified. The appropriateness of the proposed methodology. National Importance The national importance over a 5 to 30 year timeframe in relation to other research in the area and how the proposal demonstrates how the research would underpin or contribute to: The success of the UK and Korean economy and research landscape. Emerging industry. Societal challenges in UK and Korea. Impact The pathway to impact identified for this work particularly: How complete and realistic are the impacts identified for this work. The effectiveness of the activities identified to help realise these impacts, including the resources requested for this purpose. The relevance and appropriateness of any beneficiaries or collaborators in Korea and the UK. Applicants Track Record The applicants ability to deliver the proposed project: Appropriateness of the track record of the applicants (including experience in international collaborative projects) The balance of skills of the project team, including UK and Korean partners. Resources and management The effectiveness of the proposed planning and management and whether the requested resources are appropriate and have been fully justified. The viability of the arrangements described to access equipment needed for this project, and particularly on any university or third party contribution. Appropriateness of division of labour between UK and Korean researchers. Quality of plan to facilitate collaborative researcher between the UK and Korea (including research personnel exchange). Resources and Management Effectiveness of planning and resource management Appropriateness of resources requested Fit to the Call The degree to which the proposal aligns with the intent and scope of the call including: Addressing a priority theme identified in the call. Page 5 of 11
Demonstrated a true integrated, active and balanced partnership between research groups from both the UK and Korea. Showing how the project will build new or substantially stronger links between UK and Korean research groups. Involving personnel exchange between the UK and Korean partners. Demonstrated transfer of knowledge between partners both ways throughout the project. Demonstrated how the outputs of the project will be communicated to stakeholders in academia, industry and government, in both the UK and Korea. Key dates Activity Date Call closed 16.00 on 16 December 2015 Panel Early 2016 Grants announced March 2016 Contacts Dr Gavin Salisbury Tel: 01793-444040 Email: Gavin.Salisbury@epsrc.ac.uk Any queries regarding the submission of proposals through Je-S should be directed to: The Je-S helpdesk Tel: 01793 444164 Email: JeSHelp@rcuk.ac.uk Please contact your university research office for help and advice on writing your proposal and allow enough time before the closing date for your organisation s submission process Change log Name Date Version Change Justin O'Byrne 22/07/15 1 N/A Gavin Salisbury 03/11/15 1.1 Change of EPSRC contact Page 6 of 11
Appendix Theme 1 Project Necessity Development of operation & coordinated control technology of VPP in transmission and distribution systems There is a growing need to examine the technical feasibility of using distributed energy resources (DER) to control and operate transmission and distribution systems. There are currently no analytical tools available to support the development of the VPP concept as transmission and distribution systems are designed and operated separately. Both sides have substantial growth in DER and have identified approaches to developing their systems to take advantage of DER. Need for U.K- Korea Collaboration UK and Korea have expertise in smart grid design and operation The UK and Korea have broadly similar electricity supply systems and challenges. Korea has strength in the development and deployment of smart microgrids and technologies The UK has a need for deployment of smart networks and VPP Development of technical architecture of VPP that exploit synergies and manage conflicts across all levels of the system Objectives Characterization of steady-state and dynamic performance of VPP Development of tools to facilitate modelling and simulation of integrated VPP operation Required Funding Expected project duration 1 million UK; 1.8 billion KRW 3 years Page 7 of 11
Theme 2 Project Necessity Resilience and business case of VPP concept There is a growing need to examine the technical, economic and environmental benefits of using distributed energy resources (DER) to control and operate transmission and distribution systems. There are currently no analytical tools available that facilitate understanding of the value proposition of the VPP concept accounting for operational risks, costs and benefits. Both sides have substantial growth in DER and have identified approaches to developing their systems to take advantage of DER. Need for U.K- Korea Collaboration UK and Korea have expertise in smart grid design and operation The UK and Korea have broadly similar electricity supply systems and challenges. Korea has strength in the development and deployment of smart microgrids and technologies The UK has a need for deployment of smart networks and VPP Objectives Development of analytical tools available that facilitate assessment of the uncertainties and resilience of the VPP concept. Quantification of the whole system value of VPP to establish its ability to displace conventional asset heavy solutions. Development of market design for VPP. Required Funding Expected project duration Theme 3 1 million UK; 1.8 billion KRW 3 years Prosumer Load and transaction management - prediction and control Page 8 of 11
There is a market failure in that the rise of prosumers has been neglected. However they are expected to deliver significant capability to help manage the stable and optimised operation of grids in the presence of large DR. Project Necessity To manage the complexity of managing millions of actors is very challenging. Subdividing overcomes this. However new techniques and technologies are required to ensure local resources and networks are optimally used. Consumer engagement is essential. New peer to peer services have proved to be scalable and have the capability to be rapidly deployed for the optimal deployment of individual assets to meet a societal need. Both countries share similarities in that they are both essentially energy islands of similar size and have a limited capability to deploy new large scale energy systems. Need for U.K- Korea Collaboration South Korea has strengths in micro grid deployment. UK leads the world in market design and (technical) innovation. UK has a pressing need to address this topic. South Korea has a well developed road map to implement these micro-grids over the next 2 decades. Therefore both countries have a national imperative to address this topic. Algorithms and control systems for peer-to-peer trading of energy within microgrids and between microgrids. Objectives Machine learning / big data algorithms for analysing and predicting power generation and usage based on detailed understanding of the stochastic nature of generation and load profiles for high diversity groupings. Control systems for scheduling, taking account of physical constraints, uncertainty of generation and use and customer requirements. Proof of concept demonstration. Optimal charging and discharging controllers for energy storage systems that account for the value of the transaction and the degradation of the ESS. How to utilise research outcomes This research will enable new technologies (e.g. building based energy hubs/traders) and new innovative markets. Following successful trials a new energy sector will be created. Page 9 of 11
Required Funding Expected project duration Theme 4 Project Necessity 1 million UK; 1.8 billion KRW 3 years AC-DC micro grids The rapid rise of DC generation and sources and the rise of backup generation provision leads to the need for micro-grid operation. The offer of resilience is especially important in systems that require high availability. Both countries share similarities in that they are both essentially energy islands of similar size and have a limited capability to deploy new large scale energy systems. Need for U.K- Korea Collaboration South Korea has strengths in micro grid deployment. UK leads the world in market design and (technical) innovation. UK has a pressing need to address this topic. South Korea has a well developed road map to implement these micro-grids over the next 2 decades. Therefore both countries have a national imperative to address this topic Developing Energy Management Systems to balance the load and generation across AC and DC components to optimise operation and resilience. Develop a design tool that optimises the life time costs (capital and losses) and balances wires, converters, transformers and storage. Objectives Optimal design of bulk bidirectional AC-DC converters for interfacing to the AC grid and for enabling arbitrage across the two networks. Control algorithms for frequency stability in the AC and voltage stability of the DC components during islanding modes and other extreme events. Development of a physical demonstrator to prove the above techniques. Page 10 of 11
How to utilise research outcomes Required Funding Expected project duration This research will have immediate impact on high value services, e.g. data centres, air traffic control and trading floors. In the medium term, prosumers will be multibillion dollar market place. 1 million UK; 1.8 billion KRW 3 years Page 11 of 11