An EMS approach for industrial scale applications – a greenhouse use-case for aFRR

Dick de Gelder (PortaNova) & Olaf Peters (Technolution) will present.
Implementing an Energy Management System (EMS) in industrial and large-building environments demands more than connecting a few sensors. It requires integrating heterogeneous equipment, working with external parties and custom interfaces, and handling high-frequency data reliably. At PortaNova’s four Dutch greenhouses, dimmable lighting participates in automatic Frequency Restoration Reserve (aFRR). To support this, we installed 600+ e-meters on the lighting segment, captured kW and kWh measurements every 4 seconds, and aggregated them into a single, trustworthy signal. The result enables stable participation in the aFRR balancing market. This presentation outlines the architecture and practical decisions behind the solution, including interface integration, data validation, and near-real-time aggregation, and highlights key lessons for delivering robust EMS deployments at scale.