The goal of me² (pronounce as ‘me square’) is to help citizens of local communities to be more aware of their energy consumption, incentivise changes in their individual and collective behaviour to save electricity costs, while being connected with a local community.
A short interview with Wolfgang Prüggler, CEO of MOOSMOAR Energies OG, one of the me² project partners from our ENSCC call.
The use of online communication channels has increased immensely in all classes of population and can also have great effects, does this also apply to the me² project?
“Yes certainly, the projects creates a new market place for urban actors in which a local community of electric vehicle (EV) users and local smart meter (SM) owners are brought together in an urban online community. This approach allows to integrate mobility with electricity, to balance the grid, to reduce electricity costs, and to enable a feeling of local belonging. me2 enables urban demand-side management, i.e. aims to modify consumer demand for energy such as using less energy during peak hours in an urban community.”
Which stakeholders benefit from this project and how are they involved?
“me2 affects a number of core stakeholders, namely consumers, utility companies, grid operators, electricity suppliers, municipalities, fleet operators such as car sharing companies, other aggregators, electricity markets or regulatory bodies. During the pilot not all of the stakeholders are involved. Thus, it is planned to present achieved results to them in a later project phase.”
What are the project results so far?
“The first me2 project newsletter provides you with an overview of recent progress and interim results. The main highlights are the start of the Lisbon Pilot, the preliminary Policy Analysis and Survey results as well as an update on the me2 platform design and the formation of a Smart City Innovation Lab.”
What is the expected impact of the project?
“According to the project proposal two pilot implementations are foreseen – in Amsterdam (summer 2017) and in Lisbon, which started in December 2016. The Lisbon pilot involves a community of around 50 members, most of them are municipality employees.
As the project is in an early phase, measurable impact results are not visible yet. However, first customer feedback indicated that foreseen project implementations and research questions are of high relevance for the community. By mid 2017 first pilot results will show if expected customer electricity cost reductions and a smoothened load curve can be achieved.”