The EcoEMS project of CITCEA-UPC and the spin-off Bamboo Energy, winners in the Eighth Nit de l’Eficiència

19/10/2021

TheEcoEMS project,developed by theCentre for Technological Innovation in Static Converters and Drives (CITCEA) of the UPC, and Bamboo Energy, a spin-off founded by UPC and IREC researcher Cristina Corchero, won awards at La Nit de l’Eficiència.

La Nit de l’Eficiència (Night of Efficiency) awards, organised by the Catalan Efficient Energy Cluster (CEEC), were held this year on 14 October in the Recinte Modernista de Sant Pau, in Barcelona. Winners included the EcoEMS project in the seed category and the spin-off Bamboo Energy in the product category.

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EcoEMS is an innovative system of energy management for houses and local energy communities. This is a hybrid system that can reduce electricity costs and greenhouse gas emissions by applying artificial intelligence and energy optimisation techniques. The method enables end users to play a more influential role in the solution to climate change, as it enables them to give more or less importance to the economic or the environmental component, depending on their preferences. The results obtained in the case study of a home with photovoltaic energy and a battery show that the electricity bill can be reduced by up to 91% and the emissions of CO₂ by 46%.

This system has been developed as part of the doctoral thesis of researcher Sara Barja, from the Centre for Technological Innovation in Static Converters and Drives (CITCEA) of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech (UPC), and the results obtained in this research have been published in the high-impact journal IEEE Transactions.

Bamboo Energy is a spin-offof the Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC) that has developed an innovative platform for energy optimisation based on artificial intelligence to coordinate electricity distributors and consumers and generate new roles: to move from an environment in which energy flows are one way (from the electricity generation plant to the consumer) to one in which they are two way (the consumer can also be a producer and choose when to buy or sell energy). The spin-off was founded by Cristina Corchero, Serra Hunter lecturer in the Department of Statistics and Operations Research of the UPC and head of the Energy Systems Analytics group at the Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC), where research is carried out on the application of artificial intelligence and optimisation methods to the energy area.

The aim of these awards is to recognise entrepreneurs and start-ups that develop projects in the efficient energy sector in Catalonia. The Catalan Efficient Energy Cluster  (CEEC) promotes collaborative projects on energy efficiency among companies and associated entities. The aim is to provide innovative energy efficiency solutions, linked to products and services in the value chain that provide solutions in packages that encompass products, installations, maintenance and management.