"Smart East" Research Project Started

In the "Smart East" project, a mixed commercial area with existing buildings is being transformed into an energy-optimized smart quarter in Karlsruhe's Oststadt. The project is funded by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry for the Environment, Climate Protection and the Energy Sector.

Through the digitization of the energy supply in the directly adjacent residential, office and production buildings as well as through the sector-linked networking of the local energy systems in an integrated optimization and operating model, which in turn is digitally linked with the urban network infrastructures, the resulting potential for a Renewable climate-neutral energy supply can be evaluated in practice and evaluated economically. Particular attention is paid to the added value use of the legally initiated communication infrastructure "intelligent measuring systems".

In addition to digital networking and optimization, Smart East particularly addresses the development of business models for energetic cooperation between local actors in mixed residential and commercial districts and for municipal utilities as their service providers. The focus is on the feasibility and profitability of the business models in practice. Promising business areas of energy districts, energy communities and municipal utilities are to be identified in this way in a practical manner. Since all affected stakeholders in the district are involved in the project (tenants, energy suppliers, property operators and owners), the Smart East project offers the unique opportunity to test such business models in reality.

From the beginning, potential users (municipalities, housing industry, real estate developers, business park operators, public property operators) will accompany the project in a group of users. There they get to know the project results, can introduce their requirements and suggestions for improvement and already use their first findings. The user group meetings are organized together with the newly created “Smart Quarters” competence center of the Smart Grids Platform BW, which is currently being set up. As a lighthouse project, the Smart East project is part of the energy strategy of the TechnologieRegion Karlsruhe (TRK), with which the TRK is becoming a model region for the energy transition and climate protection and a role model for sustainable management in the design of energy systems. The Lord Mayor of the City of Karlsruhe and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Technology Region Karlsruhe GmbH Dr. Frank Mentrup has agreed to support the Smart East project as patron. The following figure shows the properties in Karlsruhe's Oststadt, which are being networked as part of the project using newly developed business models to form an energy-optimized district network. These include residential and office buildings, laboratories, a multi-generation house, two startup centers and the new Smart Production Park iWerkx.

Association partners are FZI Research Center for Computer Science, Seven2one Informationssysteme, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute for Automation and Applied Computer Science, Stadtwerke Karlsruhe GmbH – and associated partners are Technologiefabrik Karlsruhe, Cyberforum, Badische Energie-Servicegesellschaft, Hoepfner Bräu Friedrich Hoepfner Verwaltungsgesellschaft, TechnologieRegion Karlsruhe, Smart Grids Platform Baden-Württemberg - www.technologieregion-karlsruhe.de