Flexible Local Energy Community in Husøy Industry Park

Flexpartner.Energy, Fagne and Rogaland Ressurssenter implement the pilot Flexible Local Energy Community in Husøy Industry Park!

Located in Karmøy municipality in Rogaland, Husøy Industry Park is a home to companies from different industry branches, including maritime and marine industry. The analytical research of the area showed a potential for the implementation of the innovative Flexible Local Energy Communities (FlexLEC) project, aiming at optimising the utilisation of the already-available energy and improving the management of the grid and electricity usage. 

Rogaland Ressurssenter, the area administrator, Fagne, the local DSO, and Flexpartner.Energy, the originator of FlexLEC, partnered up to implement the idea at Husøy Industry Park, marking a significant development for the future of green industry in Norway.

---

The project

​​As aforementioned, the premise of FlexLEC project is to supply the companies with more electricity in the industry park without increasing the amount of energy received from the grid operator. To achieve that, the companies will share the given energy between themselves, deciding on the amount of power for each participant based on their needs in a given timeframe. For instance, if Company A voices the need for more energy on Monday between 8am and 9am, the other companies in FlexLEC can lower their consumption for monetary compensation.

The initiative is a part of Sirkulære Husøy, Rogaland Ressurssenter’s project aimed at sustainable value creation, and will act complementary to other flexibility services. FlexLEC is highly compatible with market-based flexibility, and may be a part of flexibility value stacking in the Husøy Industry Park. 

Since Flexible Local Energy Communities is based on the idea of energy sharing between the participants, the grid operator will not supply power to them separately as before, but will treat them collectively as one entity, which entails a new contract with the DSO. 

Subsequently, this requires bilateral agreements between the parties in FlexLEC regarding the basis and details of its operation. Moreover, to ensure that FlexLEC runs properly and accordingly to the agreements, a new virtual meter measuring their collective usage has to be installed.

---

Status of the project

For the last couple of months, Flexpartner.Energy has been relentlessly working on assessing the flex potential of Husøy industry park. Currently, the analytical stage of the project has already been completed, and the project moved to the pilot implementation stage, marking a great development for the initiative. 

The implementation of the pilot project showcases the willingness and abilities of the Norwegian industry to contribute to the national sustainability goals and green transition, and if successful, will be a great success for all project partners. As we are very excited for the developments, we will provide more updates on the project in future. 

---

Rogaland Ressurssenter and Sirkulære Husøy

Rogaland Ressurssenter is a company owned by local businesses, banks and municipalities, whose mission is to drive innovation and development in the region. It operates in 6 municipalities in Haugelandet, including Karmøy in which Husøy Industry Park is located. 

Rogaland Ressurssenter acts as the area administrator for the industry park, and ensures its green development through the Sirkulære Husøy project. 

Sirkulære Husøy is a project establishing a business network in the Husøy Industry Park, which aims at contributing to sustainable value creation with a focus on lowering the emissions, increasing the circularity, and energy efficiency. 

The Flexible Local Energy Community pilot project is a part of Sirkulære Husøy as a complementary measure to other, already established efforts.

---

Fagne

Fagne, the local distribution system operator, is a critical partner to the project. The company supplies electricity to 150 thousand recipients in Haugalandet, Sunnhordland, Ryfylke and Hardanger, and simultaneously maintains the energy infrastructure in multiple municipalities. 

Moreover, the company recognises the importance of electrification in the energy transition, and plans its future operations accordingly to contribute to the national climate goals. This includes supporting innovative projects aimed at increasing the sustainable usage of the grid and grid flexibility, such as FlexLEC. 

Fagne supports the FlexLEC pilot project at Husøy Industry Park, and wishes to further explore the possibilities of flexibility in local energy communities as a complementary measure to other flexibility initiatives. 

---

Flexpartner.Energy

Flexpartner.Energy is a company providing grid flexibility solutions, and is the originator of the Flexible Local Energy Communities project, an innovative approach to grid flexibility in industry areas and business parks (more information here). 

In the FlexLEC project, the company is responsible for research and analytics, as well as all its technical aspects and technological management of the assets. 

If you have any further questions about FlexLEC project, flexibility or flexibility trading, contact us today at post@flexpartner.energy.