Demo 2 — Portugal
Reinventing Palácio do Gelo as a Smart Energy Hub
Interoperable utility node consisting of a large multi-story commercial shopping mall, with internal power generation, and energy storage systems
Domain
Electricity, Gas
Partners involved
- Builtrix
- MOVIDA
- R&D Nester
The Portuguese demo, located in the shopping center Palácio do Gelo, is centered on enhancing energy efficiency, decarbonization, and intelligent energy management in the heart of Portugal. This building features smart energy management, circular waste management, water treatment, electric mobility, efficient architecture, and renewable energy integration. In this demonstrator, active management of the multi energy assets building demand flexibility will be enabled, while increasing the efficiency of the thermal and electrical power systems, ensuring the comfort of the tenants/visitors, and interoperating with the DSO/TSO.
Palácio do Gelo has a gross constructed area of 175,000m² and a gross leasable area of 73,500m². It has over 164 stores on 5 upper floors and 3 underground floors, containing parking and maintenance spaces. Additionally, it offers a four-season ice rink, Olympic pool, and ice bars. With a total power demand of 5.5 MW, it integrates a CHP plant, gas power plant, ice storage system, and advanced water temperature treatment systems. The building has energy consumption monitoring tools and control systems including DSO smart meters and EMS submetering tools.
Through this demo, Palácio do Gelo will improve its energy efficiency and interoperability. By turning it into an active utility node, new and unexploited revenue streams will be created. Energy analytics services such as AI/ML-based models will be used, contributing to the optimization of the complex energy systems in the building.
- Adapt, integrate, and demonstrate the CEMP;
- Develop AI/ML models and energy analytics toolbox for decision-making and insight generation;
- Integrate consumption forecasting, anomaly detection, and virtual disaggregation to promote energy savings;
- Demonstrate effective interoperation of the building in the balancing market;
- Assess Palácio do Gelo as a Flexibility Service Provider (FSP) in the local energy market.
- 4 MW gas power plant with 3 generators (DEUTZ Power Systems);
- Cold water chemical reactor and heat exchange unit as part of gas generator heat recovery system;
- Gas boilers supplying hot water and 9 chillers;
- Ice storage cooling system connected to 42 tanks;
- 4 swimming pools with advanced water temperature treatment;
- Central EMS (Siemens Desigo Insight) linked to monitoring tools (Schneider Electric);
- Controllable thermal and ventilation system for each zone/floor;
- Smart EV chargers including 2 fast chargers (60 kW) and 4 normal chargers (22 kW).
- Showcase how shopping malls can act as active utility nodes of the local grid with seamless interoperability;
- Demonstrate the effectiveness of building-integrated solar PV plants and batteries in increasing energy efficiency and contributing to the flexibility market;
- Prove the cost savings in operations and management through AI/ML-based energy monitoring and insight generation;
- Illustrate the smart utilization of thermal energy storage systems to improve interaction with the electricity grid;
- Demonstrate the techno-economic interest in providing services to DSO/TSOs to generate new income streams and new business models for buildings;
- Raise awareness about the ecological and social impacts of smart energy management and demand-side flexibility in buildings.
