April 2016: Energy Hackdays

  • Hackathon
Ankündigungsbild von opendata.ch für «April 2016: Energy Hackdays»

8–9 April 2016, 10:00 @ Grimseltor, Grimselstrasse 2, 3862 Innertkirchen

Organised by Opendata.ch, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts

The first Open Energy Data Hackdays took place on 8 and 9 April 2016 – at two places where the energy comes from: at Grimseltor in Innertkirchen by the Grimsel power plants and at Auberge Vert-Bois on Mont-Crosin by Switzerland’s largest wind farm, linked by video calls. They were organised by the energy working group of Opendata.ch, formed in summer 2015, and by IDS Datenwelten of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences; Muriel Staub led the project and Marcel Altherr hosted. EnergieSchweiz, Kraftwerke Oberhasli and opendata.swiss supported the event.

Some 60 participants brought their own ideas and datasets; there were no challenges announced in advance. Eight projects emerged: «Klumpenrisiko» traced who really owns the big hydropower plants, «Energiestrategie 2050 verstehen» visualised scenarios of a renewable Switzerland, «Hot or not for solar» used data from BEN Energy to test who might install a solar system, and a scraper for Open Power System Data collected European electricity data. On Mont-Crosin the teams built the «Swiss Energy Balance» per canton, the «Swiss Energy Dashboard» and «Lófos» for personal e-mobility; «Atum» added solar production forecasts.

On Saturday afternoon Kraftwerke Oberhasli showed the participants around their plant. Karin Scheidegger of the cantonal Office for Environmental Coordination and Energy gave the closing speech, and KWO offered the apéro. The Hackdays were the start of Opendata.ch’s energy community, which later became the Energy Data Hackdays.

Photos

Photo: opendata.ch, Team Hot or not for solar, Oleg Lavrovsky, Team Energiestrategie 2050, Team Swiss Energy Balance

Documentation and recordings

Challenges

Programme

Friday, 8 April

  1. 10:00–10:30
    Arrival with coffee and breakfast

    Most participants came by train via Interlaken Ost and Meiringen.

  2. 10:30–10:40
    Welcome

    Welcome by Opendata.ch and IDS Datenwelten of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences, address by Daniel Studer, municipal councillor of Meiringen (economy and tourism) and member of Opendata.ch.

    Muriel StaubOpendata.ch, ProjektleitungMarcel AltherrIDS Datenwelten, HSLU, ModerationDaniel StuderGemeinderat Meiringen
  3. 10:40–11:00
    Input: the European energy market and its open data

    An overview to get started, at Innertkirchen and on Mont-Crosin.

    Philip ShemellaInnertkirchenOlaf ZangerMont-Crosin
  4. 11:00–11:30
    Pitches: project ideas and datasets

    Anyone who brought an idea or a dataset presented it, then teams formed. Unlike later Hackdays there were no challenges announced in advance – ideas and teams were meant to emerge on site.

  5. 11:30–17:00
    Hacking

    Work in teams, with a video call between Grimseltor and Mont-Crosin at 12:30 and lunch at Hotel Urweider.

  6. 17:00–18:00
    Work-in-progress presentations

    Each team showed where it stood and what it still needed.

  7. 18:00
    Dinner and work into the evening

    After dinner those who wanted continued to work; participants stayed at Hotel Urweider and Auberge Vert-Bois.

Saturday, 9 April

  1. 10:00–10:10
    Welcoming newcomers

    Saturday-only participants joined the teams.

    Marcel AltherrIDS Datenwelten, HSLU, Moderation
  2. 10:10–13:00
    Hacking

    Teams continued, with another video call between the two locations at 12:30.

  3. 14:30–15:45
    Visit of the KWO power plant

    Kraftwerke Oberhasli showed their plant and control centre in Innertkirchen («Energie im Granit»).

  4. Mont-CrosinVisit of the Mont-Crosin wind farm

    At the second site the participants visited Switzerland’s largest wind farm and the solar plant nearby.

  5. 15:45–16:15
    Final presentations

    The teams presented their projects and documented them on the wiki; projects are not ranked at make.opendata.ch events.

  6. 16:15
    Closing speech and apéro

    Closing speech by Karin Scheidegger of the Office for Environmental Coordination and Energy of the canton of Bern, followed by an apéro offered by Kraftwerke Oberhasli.

    Karin ScheideggerKanton Bern, Amt für Umweltkoordination und Energie
Read the original announcement

We go where the energy comes from!

The first Open Energy Data Hackdays took place on 8 and 9 April 2016 under the make.opendata.ch label, at two places at once: at Grimseltor in Innertkirchen, near the Grimsel dams, and at Auberge Vert-Bois on Mont-Crosin, next to Switzerland’s largest wind farm. Developers, designers, data scientists, energy experts and journalists asked how open data can improve electric mobility, buildings and our understanding of the energy system.

Organising team

  • Muriel StaubProjektleitung Opendata.ch
  • Oleg LavrovskyStandort Mont-Crosin
  • Hannes GassertOpendata.ch, Partner und Konzept

Supported by

  • EnergieSchweiz
  • Kraftwerke Oberhasli AG
  • Geschäftsstelle Open Government Data