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Integrated smart city mobility and energy platform - The Project me2

In June 2016 the European smart city project "me²" started. The project is coordinated by the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences within the framework of the ERA-NET Cofund Smart Cities and Communities (ENSCC) programme. The project me² represents a new market place for urban actors in which a local community of electric vehicle (EV) users and local smart meter (SM) owners are brought together through means of a local urban online community. The combination of these technologies in a community allows to integrate mobility with electricity, to balance the grid, to reduce electricity costs, and to enable a feeling of local belonging. me2 enables urban demand-side management, i.e. aims to modify consumer demand for energy such as using less energy during peak hours in an urban community.

The project applies the technical and academic state of the art regarding smart grids, electric mobility, business models and policy incentives to the development of an innovative service concept, which is validated and optimized in two practical pilots and demonstrations in urban communities in Amsterdam and Lisbon. Partners of the me² consortium are the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (NL / coordinator), Catolica Lisbon School of Business and Economics (PT), MediaPrimer (PT), VPS Energy (PT), Lisboa E-NOVA (PT) and MOOSMOAR Energies (AT). The partners expect to achieve the following results within the next 2 years:

A tested, validated and operational Smart City Aggregator platform
Pilots in two different settings, i.e. in a city with high degree of EV adoption (Amsterdam) and in a city with a lower degree of EV adoption (Lisbon), using an open-community (in Amsterdam) and closed-community (in Lisbon)
Increased understanding and integration of e-mobility and electricity behavior, developing mechanisms to influence these behaviors using gamification elements based on smart algorithms, on an individual and community level, building on triggers like social comparison, measured self and social recognition in two different cultural settings
More balanced local grids, defined as a 10% smoothened load curve through for instance gamified demand shift controlled by balancing algorithms
Lowered average energy costs for consumers, defined as 10% lower household energy costs, for instance as a result of enabling smarter, more economical energy usage patterns
A policy recommendation set for local and national agencies
A viable business model, including a positive business case and an enticing value proposition

First publicly available results of the project are expected in early 2017.

Further information and ongoing activities can be found at www.me2-project.eu.