These IoT boxes are installed in homes and business premises behind devices such as central heating boilers, heat pumps, hot water tanks and air conditioning units. Via LTE-M from KPN IoT, they connect directly to the Voltalis platform, without relying on local Wi-Fi. This allows Voltalis to temporarily reduce the power consumption of devices remotely when the electricity grid needs extra capacity. With an electric radiator, the system can briefly interrupt the heating. With a heat pump, it can adjust the power output or temperature settings, for example. Users hardly notice this, because the temperature changes gradually.

From individual devices to one Virtual Power Plant

All connected devices together form Voltalis’ Virtual Power Plant. This is a digital network of millions of small energy consumers. Thousands or millions of devices together can make a real difference. “It is more efficient to consume less than to produce more,” says Benjamin Bailly, SVP Markets, Products & Innovation at Voltalis. “When millions of devices briefly use less electricity, that delivers many megawatts of flexibility. This also helps reduce grid congestion.”

Always connected, without relying on Wi-Fi

For Voltalis, connectivity is a prerequisite for the entire model. Without a connection, the platform cannot collect real-time data or reduce the power consumption of devices when flexibility is needed. The reliability of that connection is essential. Local Wi-Fi is too vulnerable for this. Changed Wi-Fi passwords and faulty routers, for example, can cause connectivity to fail.

That is why Voltalis uses LTE-M connectivity from KPN IoT. This technology was developed for IoT applications, runs on 4G and is ready for 5G networks. As soon as a technician installs a box, it connects directly to the Voltalis platform.

Data as the basis for smart energy control

From that moment on, the box sends real-time data, such as temperature and energy consumption. Voltalis uses this data to monitor comfort, track consumption and predict when flexibility is needed. Around 1.5 million devices are now connected. Together, they generate approximately one billion data points per day.

This scale makes Voltalis increasingly smart. Using machine learning, the company predicts how much energy buildings will use and when the electricity grid will need additional capacity. KPN IoT provides the connectivity to support this growth, in France, the United Kingdom and, in future, other European markets. In this way, Voltalis and KPN IoT help the electricity grid deal more flexibly with higher electricity consumption, fluctuating renewable energy generation and moments when additional grid capacity is needed.

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