Source - Energiföretagen Branschrekommendation Conditional Grid Connections (2023)

Type: Industry recommendation (PDF, 13 pages) Publisher: Energiföretagen Sverige Date: 2023-10-17 Version: 1.0 Language: English Raw file: raw/industry-recommendation-conditional-grid-connections-ver-1.0.pdf

Summary

The foundational industry recommendation for IT communication between DSOs and customers with conditional grid connections in Sweden. Establishes OpenADR as the recommended communication protocol, documents the evaluation process and rationale, and provides a real-world Proof-of-Concept (PoC) from SWITCH (E.ON VTN) and Vattenfall (VEN).

Background and process

Energiföretagen Sverige initiated the protocol evaluation work in 2022, motivated by the risk of fragmentation: if multiple DSOs each adopted different proprietary communication protocols, CPOs (Charge Point Operators) with installations under conditional agreements across multiple grid territories would face disproportionate integration complexity and cost.

The work was carried out by:

• A working group with DSO and CPO (primarily EV charging operators) experts
• A reference group to broaden market input
• A broad market referral in January 2023 — majority of respondents supported OpenADR

Protocol evaluation

Four candidate protocols were assessed:

Decisive factors for choosing OpenADR over OSCP:

• More future-proof and internationally adopted
• Supports multiple use cases beyond activation requests (forecasting, real-time control, reporting)
• Established IEC standard (IEC 62746-10-1)
• OpenADR 3.0 in development — REST/JSON based, more modern than SOAP/XML 2.0b

The evaluation was based on OpenADR 2.0b (then-current production version), with a forward-looking recommendation to migrate to 3.0 as soon as practical.

Industry recommendation

“The recommendation is to adopt OpenADR as a standard communication protocol for conditional grid agreements.”

The recommendation is voluntary — no mandatory requirements for actors. The rationale: making it easier and more efficient for market participants if all use the same protocol, while allowing flexibility as EU regulations and technology evolve.

SWITCH PoC (E.ON + Vattenfall, 2022–2023)

The appendix documents a Proof-of-Concept that also served as the first real production test:

• VTN: SWITCH (E.ON Energidistribution), using OpenADR 2.0b
• VEN: Vattenfall R&D, using OpenLEADR (Python library)
• Physical test: CTEK 22 kW charger in Älvkarleby (near Uppsala), connected via OCPP 1.6

SWITCH 2.0b implementation parameters

• Signal name: LOAD_DISPATCH; signal type: SETPOINT
• Delivery periods: 15 minutes (e.g., 13:00–13:15) — same periodicity retained in E.ON’s later 3.0 implementation
• Customers must poll VTN for events (HTTP pull)
• Acknowledgement: oadrResponse
• Real-time meter data: OpenADR reports (TELEMETRY_USAGE) or proprietary SWITCH API endpoint
• SWITCH does not issue certificates; basic SSL ~140 SEK/year from third parties

PoC results

• 4 events created over 1 hour while EV was charging (normal ~8–9 kW, limit set to 5 kW)
• All events received by Vattenfall VEN; responses sent and received
• OCPP 1.6 charging profile generated and sent to charger — power reduced as required
• Real-time readings (power, voltage, current) posted every 5 minutes via SWITCH proprietary API (OpenADR reporting not yet ready at test time)
• Conclusion: flow fully functional; VEN development estimated at <1 week with OpenLEADR, potentially a few hours

Known limitation

SETPOINT specifies a fixed level, not a maximum. More precise signal type for conditional agreements would communicate a maximum allowed power level. Working group noted this but concluded general use case is supported.

Timeline note: proprietary API removal

The document states SWITCH’s proprietary API endpoints for conditional activation requests were scheduled for removal by end of Q2 2024 — after which only OpenADR integrations would be supported. This was a deliberate forcing function to drive OpenADR adoption.

Next steps recommended (2023)

• Focus on OpenADR 3.0 for new implementations (most future-proof)
• OpenLEADR library recommended for 2.0b learning/testing
• DSOs should align on common parameters (signal names, types) to avoid customers managing multiple configurations
• CPOs: visit OpenADR Alliance, explore client options, discuss with DSO, implement and test

Key claims

1. OpenADR is more future-proof and internationally used than OSCP for this application
2. The primary driver of standardization is CPOs with multi-DSO installations
3. DSO = VTN server; CPO/customer = VEN client
4. Aggregators/payment service providers can act as agents for CPOs
5. 15-minute delivery periods were established in the 2022 SWITCH implementation and carried forward
6. VEN development barrier is low; VTN development requires more effort (primarily for larger DSOs)
7. The recommendation is voluntary and subject to revision as EU regulation evolves

Relevance to wiki

• Villkorade Avtal: foundational document establishing the communication architecture; first to document 15-minute period as the standard
• SWITCH: PoC appendix is the most detailed public account of SWITCH’s 2.0b VTN implementation and the Vattenfall partnership
• OpenADR: primary source for the protocol selection rationale and Swedish industry recommendation origin
• Energiföretagen Sverige: confirms the association’s role as coordinator of Swedish DSO standardization
• Aggregation: aggregators explicitly included as possible agents for CPOs in the activation flow