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‘Smart Energy District’ is a flagship project aiming to develop and implement a true Smart Energy District. A Smart Energy District is a geographically defined area that integrates advanced energy technologies and data analytics to optimize energy consumption, enhance grid resilience, and increase the use of renewable energy. For this project, a pilot site will be equipped with a digital platform to monitor and control electrical installations. The project’s ultimate goal is to develop viable and reliable Smart Energy solutions for stakeholders in the electric energy sector.
Description
Energy distribution networks are under growing pressure due to new forms of decentralized electricity production and changing consumption habits. To meet this challenge, the Engineering and Architecture faculty of the HES-SO is funding the ‘Smart Energy District’ project, which aims to establish a research and testing platform on the scale of French-speaking Switzerland. This platform will deliver actionable solutions for the energy sector.
The project has two broad objectives:
To provide a high level of standardization and interoperability within the energy sector
To achieve a more sustainable, efficient and reliable energy system for people, businesses and institutions
Four universities of applied sciences in the Engineering and Architecture faculty of the HES-SO (Fribourg, Geneva, Vaud, and Valais) are actively contributing to the project, which aligns with the Swiss Confederation's 2050 Energy Strategy. Launched in January 2024 with a budget of 1.5 million CHF, the project will run until 2027.
Smart Energy District Pilot Site
The selection of a pilot site in French-speaking Switzerland is currently under review in collaboration with the project’s industrial and public partners. Once operational, the pilot site will allow for rigorous field-testing of technical solutions—a key step before attempting to replicate such solutions in other contexts and environments. In particular, access to consumption and production data (monitoring), along with the ability to control equipment such as electric vehicles, heat pumps, batteries, and more, will make it possible to optimize the management of the distribution network.
Testing conducted at the pilot site will contribute to the definition of improved standards, paving the way for networks that are more interoperable, flexible, secure and resilient. Actors in the energy sector may one day be able to deploy their services on shared infrastructure integrating electrical, heating and mobility networks.
