Communication Overhead Reduction for Actively Managed Energy Communities Leveraging IEC 61850-7-420:2021 Data Model Payload Traffic

The electrification of heating and mobility sectors has spurred a surge in power demand, necessitating the integration of Demand Response (DR) and Demand-Side Management (DSM) to mitigate potential grid congestion. This paper presents the data-efficient Internet of Things Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP) as alternative to IEC 61850 for the communication and data exchange of an actively managed renewable energy community (REC). The paper outlines the architectural framework for typical use cases, providing insights into control strategies for Photovoltaic (PV) generation, energy storage systems (ESS), and Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations (CS). The research presented highlights the significant communication overhead associated with IEC 61850 and a leveraging CoAP machine-to-machine (M2M) mapping based on data measurements. Further, the necessary data traffic for active management of an exemplary REC is extrapolated and data savings by application of a CoAP mapping illustrated.