SmarThor EFRO – Expansion of Digital Services in Open Thor Living Lab

Test environment and infrastructure

To test new software solutions and services, solutions are needed that provide access to context-rich datasets and a secure interface between experimental software and the safety and comfort of the physical testing environment. Creating a testing environment that combines digital and physical elements, with daily varying conditions and users, is a large investment and is also time consuming. These challenges are currently being addressed by the Open Thor Living Lab.

With support from Stad Genk, Thor Park NV, and EnergyVille, the Open Thor Living Lab is developing a sustainable energy infrastructure at Thor Park. This infrastructure includes:

• The test houses of THOREAQ and ConstrucThor.
• The real-life oPEN lab test environment with 33 homes in the nearby garden district Waterschei and the social housing district Nieuw Texas.
• The CollectThor fifth-generation heating network.
• A direct current network that can be configured both actively and passively.
• An energy hub with space for alternating test setups that can be easily connected to the various backbone systems.

Financial support has been received from Europe through Horizon 2020 and from EFRO, as well as from the Flemish government.

Business involvement and co-creation

In this EFRO project, companies will be involved through co-creation workshops to discuss their needs and specification requirements with experts. This close collaboration enables us to translate the needs of companies into objectives and specification documents that further define the conceptual architecture of SmarThor.

Additionally, we evaluate whether these conceptual proposals are in line with current privacy regulations and comfort protections for test families. It will also be determined which contractual provisions are necessary with both the data owners (families) and data users (companies) in order to smoothly utilize these new services for product development and testing purposes.

IT development and hackathons

Similar to previous achievements for the SmarThor data platform, the IT development will be conducted in small iterations (sprints) that will be continuously updated. In total, about 30 sprints are planned to bring both software modules to proof-of-concept and test them in collaboration with companies.

During the second year of the project, workshops in the form of hackathons will be organized, allowing companies to connect to the new software modules to test their own concepts. This simultaneously forms a proof-of-concept evaluation between clusters of sprints and provides an opportunity for companies to prepare their developments for demonstrations and experiments in the Open Thor Living Lab.

Citizen and government engagement

In addition to companies, citizens are involved as test families, with active communication and surveying. The collected data and experiments also provide governments with a better understanding of which solutions are promising and can help accelerate the transition from a fossil to a sustainable energy system in a cost-effective manner.

Societal role

Through the development of the Open Thor Living Lab and its associated digital infrastructure SmarThor, our primary goal is to fulfil a societal role. Specifically, we aim to provide the Flemish industry with improved access to international innovation and collaboration.

Role of EnergyVille

The VITO and KU Leuven teams developing optimization solutions, models, algorithms, and data solutions for EnergyVille’s energy research are responsible for the development and daily management of the SmarThor platform. This is done in close collaboration with EnergyVille and the Open Thor Living Lab.

Our sponsors

This project has been made possible thanks to the financial support of Provincie Limburg and EFRO.

Our partners

Special thanks to our partners, whose contributions make this project happen.

Summary of our Co-Creation Workshop: “Sustainable Public Charging in 2030 – What Challenges Await a Solution?” Summary - June 24, 2024

EnergyVille/VITO organized the co-creation workshop ”Sustainable Public Charging in 2030 – What Challenges Await a Solution?” as part of the SmarThor EFRO project.

The aim of the workshop was to identify the needs and questions of industry stakeholders regarding the development of charging services. The focus was on how flexible charging can contribute to balancing the energy system, improving margins for providers, reducing costs and improve services for users.

In short, a very timely and relevant topic! That is why we would like to share with you the main conclusions of the co-creation workshop:

1. Complexity of the ecosystem: Not all stakeholders have the same level of knowledge about how charging infrastructure works, energy costs and energy market dynamics. This makes collaboration and innovation challenging.
2. Parking and charging policies: There is a clear need to separate parking and charging policies, with discussions about applying different rules to electric vehicles (EV) versus fossil fuel vehicles.
3. Price sensitivity: The assumption that EV drivers often drive leased vehicles may reduce the impact of price incentives. However, this may change as both employers and individuals become more sensitive to charging costs.
4. Dynamic pricing challenges: The technical implementation of dynamic pricing based on real-time electricity prices is complex due to the complicate value chain and underlying IT systems.

The co-creation workshop’s information sessions and subsequent discussions were both engaging and inspiring. As a result, participants suggested several topics for future workshops, such as the role of energy management in cost-effective design and the implications of AFIR for energy management system (EMS) integration and user interaction.

Summary of Our Co-Creation Workshop: "Context-Rich Datasets for Residential Buildings in the Open Thor Living Lab" – November 25, 2024

EnergyVille/VITO organized the co-creation workshop “Context-Rich Datasets for Residential Buildings in the Open Thor Living Lab” as part of the SmarThor EFRO project.

The goal of the workshop was to explore the needs and questions of industrial stakeholders regarding data on energy consumption in homes and apartments, as well as the intelligent control of energy technologies.

Following an inspiring session that included an introduction to the Open Thor Living Lab, insights from the oPENLab project, the SmarThor data platform, and activities related to ‘home energy management systems’, participants engaged in co-creation discussions in smaller groups.

Key Conclusions from the Co-Creation Workshop:

1. alternative solutions and benchmarking: this option was deemed highly relevant by many participants, while the topic of “managing IT costs” was found to be less significant.
2. companies expressed greater interest in benchmarking real data rather than using synthetic datasets.
3. charging stations for electric vehicles emerged as a key topic of interest among participants.
4. there is a need for a functional, unified app that integrates all household devices. While back-end interoperability of systems is essential, end-users expect the technology to function seamlessly without needing to understand the underlying complexities.
5. the replacement of analog meters with digital meters and the introduction of capacity tariffs is driving the demand for home optimization solutions, particularly regarding the sizing and integration of energy technologies.
6. legislation and regulations remain a limiting factor, especially for implementing collective systems in apartment buildings.

The presentations and subsequent discussions during the co-creation workshop were both engaging and insightful. This session proved to be highly valuable for bringing together perspectives from various stakeholders and identifying new areas of focus for future efforts.

Stay Tuned

Would you also like to stay informed about future workshops under the SmarThor EFRO project? Then be sure to keep an eye on this page for regular updates!

Or do you have a specific topic in mind for which you would like to see a workshop? Then feel free to contact our Project Manager, Wim Cardinaels. You can find his contact details at the bottom of this page!

Want to know more?

For further questions about the SmarThor EFRO project, feel free to contact our project manager, Wim Cardinaels. He will be happy to assist you.