The iURBAN project will develop and validate a software platform that will integrate ICT energy management systems in two European cities – Rijeka (Croatia) and Plovdiv (Bulgaria). The intelligent URBAn eNergy tool will provide useful data to a novel decision support system that will make available the necessary parameters for the generation and further operation of new business models. The business models will contribute at a global level to the efficient management and distribution of the energy produced and consumed at the local level, incorporating behavioral aspects of the users into the software platform and in general prosumers.

The core of the iUrban Tool will be a SMART urban Decision Support System (smartDSS) — a customized energy management and control platform in the framework of a city. It will allow scalability and incorporate a two-level Decision Support System:

• Local Decision Support System (LDSS) will engage consumers and prosumers by capturing near real-time data from installed Distributed Energy Resources (DER). The data will refer to their energy consumption and production and will be displayed on a user-friendly interface.
• Centralized Decision Support System (CDSS) will aggregate data from all LDSSs to provide city-level decision support to authorities and energy service providers. It will generate a number of parameters, including city-wide energy production and consumption forecasts.

The methodology for validation and evaluation of the tool will be based on widely used IPMVP protocols and will include a Social Cost-Benefit Analysis using social and economic key performance indicators. Thus it will help future exploitation of the system by demonstrating the system’s ROI and its potential as a powerful political tool that city governments can utilize to justify energy policy decisions.

The project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Programme for research, technological development and demonstration.