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Smart Grid Interoperability Laboratory

Promoting the interoperability of digital energy in the interface between smart homes and smart grids.

Smart Grid Interoperability Laboratory in Petten

Our houses are fast becoming smart homes, with smart thermostats, domestic appliances and security systems activated by apps on our smartphones. But this is just the beginning. Smart homes are growing into smart communities and smart regions – even smart cities.

In the future, we will live in an intelligent digital eco-system, where virtual power plants connect up sustainable energy systems, where electric cars behave as intelligent batteries, and where citizens produce energy as well as consuming it.

In order to achieve an intelligent digital eco-system, all systems need to be able to communicate with each other. They need to be interoperable. But as citizens, how do we know if the appliances we buy are compatible; as investors and producers, what gives us the confidence to invest in specific products and to design new components?

At JRC-Petten, we offer to stakeholders a laboratory facility to evaluate interoperability in smart homes and communities, fostering the adoption of a common testing methodology. The work is carried out in conjunction with other JRC facilities supporting the interoperability of smart grids and electric vehicles. With these actions, JRC contributes to the implementation of EU policies aiming at the clear energy transition and the digitalisation of energy.

The Smart Grid Interoperability Laboratory in JRC Petten has a clear objective: to promote the interoperability of digital energy in the interface between smart homes and smart grids. In order to do this, the laboratory:

  • Tests the interoperability of solutions, from the market and from research projects.
  • Promotes the use of a common interoperability testing methodology based on the CEN-CENELEC-ETSI framework.
  • Networks with other European laboratories and research centres for common initiatives.
  • Networks with European industrial actors in various sectors.
  • Disseminates the results of testing campaigns.

We established a Smart Grid Interoperability Laboratory within a European Interoperability Centre for Electric Vehicles and Smart Grids. The Smart Grid Interoperability Laboratory, deployed in the JRC Ispra (IT) and Petten (NL) sites, supports the development of EU policies by testing of the interoperability of devices and systems according to the applicable standards and with reference to relevant architecture and use cases.