Rolf Bienert, Managing and Technical Director, OpenADR Alliance

Earlier this month, I posted my ‘reflections’ blog on our really inspiring 2^nd OpenADR User European Conference in November co-hosted by the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero (DESNZ).

One thing that shone through was the number of positive comments and the optimism about what’s happening in our industry right now.  As I said in my previous post, the influence of OpenADR and its impact on energy management and flexibility is growing around the world. From the latest developments in the DESNZ’s IDSR program, incorporating OpenADR to projects in New Zealand, the U.S and other markets, it feels like we have momentum on our side.

One of the main reasons for this is a sense of collaboration and support, which was evident throughout the conference.

While there are still barriers around some of the work our members and partners are involved in, it seems that we can come together, talk about the challenges and learn from one another. This is why events like this play such an important role.

Our close collaboration with industry alliances, standards bodies, and governments in Europe, the U.S. and further afield is helping to champion the OpenADR cause and carry our messages far and wide. Many of these organizations attended our conference in London, including the Energy Network Association (ENA) which represents the energy networks in the UK & Ireland.

Presenting a session on ‘Developing an interoperable standard for the dispatch of flexibility services’ on day two, Dr Avi Aithal, head of networks at ENA, talked about his role in promoting, developing and implementing flexibility in the UK, with a focus on improving interoperability. OpenADR 3.0, he believes, is a key part of the solution for developing standards locally and internationally.

“It’s rare to be able to attend a multi-country forum where we can talk about these things…and rewarding to have access to a pool of experts, to learn from them and explore areas we have not thought about before – and to discover what we do not know.”

Adriaan van Eck, Chairman of Flexiblepower Alliance Network also commented on the opportunity to meet people from across different disciplines – from grid operators and energy companies to those on the residential side – and discuss a range of issues. “It’s great to see topics that are very different from your own country, but some that are the same – and that the same frameworks and concepts are beneficial to all of us.”

Adrian, who presented as session ‘Integrated energy management’, added that “while our organization is focusing on behind the meter integration of residential assets, we see OpenADR more from the energy system towards the home or the meter. We’re looking forward to continuing our work together.”

This sense of working in partnership to help drive innovation in the industry was also evident among other international standards bodies.

Annike Abromeit, Innovation & Communication Manager at EEBus Initiative e.V. introduced EEBus as the standard for energy management inside the building in her presentation. Talking about how they have mapped out all of the protocols and aligned OpenADR with EEBus, she added, “The conference is good way to connect with our peers in the industry who are interested in energy management – and maintain our cooperation with OpenADR.”

To hear more from our industry partners and other standards organizations, head over to our speaker videos on our LinkedIn page. If you missed our European User Conference or any of the sessions, you can also access the speakers’ presentation decks online.