SYNERGY Platform’s conceptual architecture

by UBITECH

 

The design process of the overall conceptual architecture of the SYNERGY platform was an iterative process where multiple iterations were performed by the consortium members towards the formulation of a concrete and solid architecture design.

The design process started from the extensive analysis of the collected SYNERGY user and business requirements that are stemming directly from the end-users as representatives of the electricity data value chain and stakeholders of the SYNERGY platform. The results of the analysis provided the basis for the design specifications of the core components of the SYNERGY platform along with the list of offered functionalities from each specific component. The designed components, 58 in total, were properly combined into a set of well-defined workflows, 11 in total, in which the various components are interacting to enable the realisation of the aspired SYNERGY platform’s offerings to each stakeholder of the platform. Furthermore, the designed components were also organised into data-driven services bundles, 8 in total, where each service bundle operates with a clear context and holds a distinct role in the platform’s architecture providing a specific set of offerings to the SYNERGY platform.

Taking into consideration the defined use cases and elicited requirements, the constraints and barriers identified during the socio-economic and regulatory analysis, as well as the requirements extracted by the energy data landscaping activities, the overall conceptual architecture of the SYNERGY platform was formulated. The overall conceptual architecture is a multi-layered architecture that can be conceptually divided into 3 main layers as depicted in Figure 1:

  • The SYNERGY Cloud Infrastructure that consists of: (a) the Core Big Data Management Platform that incorporates the essential Energy Big Data Platform and the AI Analytics Marketplace, and (b) the Secure Experimentation Playgrounds (SEP) which offer the isolated and secure environments in the SYNERGY cloud infrastructure for each organisation to execute big data analytics.
  • The On-Premise Environments (OPE) that incorporates the server environment and the edge environments which are executed in the energy stakeholders’ premises. The On-Premise Environments are constantly communicating with the SYNERGY Cloud Infrastructure to deliver their offerings in a secure and trusted manner.
  • The SYNERGY Energy Apps Portfolio that is composed of a set of applications suitable for the needs of: (a) DSOs (Distribution System Operators), TSOs (Transmission System Operators) and RES (Renewable Energy Sources) Operators, (b) Electricity Retailers and Aggregators and (c) Facility Managers and ESCOs (Energy Service Companies).
Figure 1: SYNERGY 3-Layered High-level Architecture

 

In addition to the 3 main layers, the high-level architecture consists of 8 data-driven services bundles, in which the various designed components are organised. These services bundles are interacting through well-defined interfaces to ensure their seamless integration and operation within the SYNERGY integrated platform. The SYNERGY Services Bundles are as follows:

  • The Data Collection Services Bundle which undertakes the configuration of the data check-in process by the data provider in the Core Big Data Management Platform and its proper execution in the SYNERGY Cloud Infrastructure and/or the On-Premise Environments. In terms of components, is composed of the Data Handling Manager, the Matching Prediction Engine, Data Ingestion Service, the Mapping & Transformation Service and the Cleaning Service.
  • The Data Security Services Bundle which is responsible for the security and safeguarding aspects of the overall SYNERGY platform through different ways such as data anonymisation, data encryption and an access control mechanism. In terms of components, is composed of the Anonymisation service, the Encryption Engine and the Access Policy Engine.
  • The Data Sharing Services Bundle which provides the data and AI analytics marketplace functionalities of the SYNERGY Core Big Data Management Platform with secure data sharing and data trading offerings based on Distributed Ledger Technologies. In terms of components, it composed of the Data & AI Marketplace, the Contract Lifecycle Manager and the Remuneration Engine.
  • The Data Matchmaking Services Bundle that enables the exploration and search of the data assets from the eligible data consumers and the generation of recommendations for both additional data assets of interest or electricity data value chain stakeholders data providers who could potentially have/create the requested data asset. In terms of components, it composed of the Query Builder and the Matchmaking Engine.
  • The Data Analytics Services Bundle that provides the core functionalities for the design of data analytics pipelines (including the data manipulation, machine learning and deep learning and visualisation aspects) in the SYNERGY Core Big Data Management Platform and their execution in the Secure Experimentation Playgrounds and the On-Premise Environments. In terms of components, it composed of the Analytics Workbench, the Visualisation & Reporting Engine, the Data Manipulation Service, the Analytics Execution Service. and the Secure Results Export Service.
  • The Data Storage Services Bundle that is responsible for the different persistence modalities depending on the scope and the type of the data in the SYNERGY Cloud Infrastructure and the On-Premise Environments. This services bundle offers all storage and indexing tools used in the context of all the SYNERGY provided platform services.
  • The Data Governance Services Bundle that is responsible for the functionalities related to the proper coordination and end-to-end management of the data across all layers of the SYNERGY platform. In terms of components, it composed of the Master Controller, the Data Lineage service and the CIM Manager.
  • The Platform Management Services Bundle that undertakes the functionalities related to the resources management, security and the authentication, notifications management, platform analytics, and the Open APIs of the SYNERGY platform. In terms of components, it composed of the Resources Orchestrator, the Notifications Engine, the Security, Authentication & Authorisation Engine, the Platform Analytics Engine, and the API Gateway.

The following figures depict the involvement of each Services Bundle in the 3 main layers of the overall SYNERGY platform’s architecture.

Figure 2: SYNERGY Services Bundles in the SYNERGY Cloud Infrastructure

 

Figure 3: SYNERGY Services Bundles in the SYNERGY On-Premise Environments

The SYNERGY Energy Apps Portfolio is composed of a set of Energy applications that interact with the SYNERGY Core Cloud Platform. In total 13 Energy applications were designed and they are organised as follows:

(a) the Infrastructure Sizing and Grid Planning App, the Flexibility-based Network Management App, the RES Performance Monitoring/ Forecasting and Predictive Maintenance App, and the Network Asset Management Optimization App;

(b) the Retailer Portfolio Analytics and Management App, the Flexibility Analytics and Consumer-Centric DR Optimization App, the Personalized Energy Analytics App, and the DR Smart Contract Management App;

(c) the Advanced Renovation Support App, the Urban Energy Monitoring and Planning Support App, the Facility Management Monitoring and Analytics App, the Self-Consumption Optimization and Predictive Maintenance App, and the Building Energy Performance and Smart Readiness Certification App;

The following figure depicts the SYNERGY Energy Apps Portfolio.

Figure 4: SYNERGY Energy Apps Portfolio