UNITED-GRID aspires to be the arrow-head within “Integrated cyber-physical solutions for intelligent distribution grid with distributed energy resources” and addresses the challenges in the “competitive low-carbon energy", relevant to next generation of active distribution grids. UNITED-GRID will develop a tool-box with technologies enabling at least 80% renewable-based energy production on an annual basis, with an increased reliability performance of 50%, while decreasing grid losses by 10%. The developed technologies include e.g. solutions for real-time system awareness and control, short term generation and load forecasting, setting-less protection schemes and new business models. The tool-box will be integrated into a professional system ensuring interoperability and smooth integration with existing EMS/DMS on the market. To enhance future impacts, at least 2/3 of novel solutions which have been positively validated will have an agreed and financed development processes for the next TRL level beyond the project. The project team has been selected carefully and has proven R&I, demonstration and deployment capabilities as well as established regulatory and policy channels. The team includes experienced research organisations (SP, TU/e, CEA, and Chalmers), 3 DSOs, a DMS provider and expert SME partners to ensure the exploitation of the developed solutions. To further enhance the deployment towards a low carbon energy society, the project will together with at least 20 market actors define pathways to navigate in the rapidly changing energy environment. Furthermore, at least 25% of the test-pilots will sign a letter of commitment to execute parts of the developed pathways. The real-life demonstrators, covering more than 80% of European market conditions, are provided by the project partners in-kind to an estimated value of €4.1M. With the requested EC contribution of €4M, the project encloses €8M, matching the UNITED-GRID projects ambitions and objectives.

FLEXI-GRID will demonstrate cutting-edge technologies and innovative flexible markets enabled by advanced cross-platforms for local energy exchanges and providing flexibility to distribution system operators in order to ensure a secure, stable and affordable operations of electrical distribution grids for de-carbonising energy systems with high shares of renewables (up to and beyond 100%). By leveraging digital, smart grid technologies, IoT, blockchain, FLEXI-GRID will provide a transparent data management platform by broadcasting real-time information on the conditions of the network to optimise the observability of the grid and market functioning. The project’s geographical coverage, with four test sites in Bulgaria, Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey, allows validating solutions in multiple market conditions, and ensures post project scalability, knowledge transfer, scaling and replication. The key demonstration activities include i) grid monitoring, control and flexibility intervention; ii) local energy exchanges and provision of grid services; iii) blockchain based energy exchange and provision of grid services; iv) flexibility measures and grid services provided by local energy storage, Power to Gas, Vehicle to Grid, and local renewable resources. It is the first time that small and medium size DSOs show interest to test innovative tools and solutions. The project is strengthened by collaborating with Canada and backed by financial institutions to ensure successful commercial paths of innovative solutions.

SO WHAT main objective is to develop and demonstrate at TRL8 an integrated software which will support industries and energy utilities in selecting, simulating and comparing alternative Waste Heat and Waste Cold (WH/C) exploitation technologies that could cost-effectively balance the local forecasted H&C demand also via RES integration. The SO WHAT integrated tool will be designed to support industries, and energy utilities in 1) auditing the industrial process to understand where WH/WC could be valorised 2) mapping the potential of locally available RES sources to be integrated with WH/WC potential 3) mapping the local forecasted demand for heating and cooling 4) define and simulate alternative cost-effective scenarios based on WH/WC technologies also leveraging TES introduction 5) evaluate the impacts (in terms of energetic, economic and environmental KPIs) that the adoption of the new scenarios will generate against the current situation (i.e., baseline) both at industrial and local level 6) promoting innovative contractual arrangements and financing models to guarantee economically viable solutions and less risky investments. To do so SO WHAT will capitalize already existing tool and knowledge from previous research experiences (REEMAIN, PLANHEAT, REUSEHEAT, CELSIUS…) and the expertise of 11 industrial validation sites from different REII/ non-REII sectors (petrochemical, chemical, metallurgic, food etc.) that will be involved in the project to validate the tool and provide relevant insights for its development. SOWHAT tool will be built indeed following a participatory approach involving both National clusters from Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Sweden, Romania (composed by local industries, public authorities/energy agencies, energy utilities/ESCOs) and external stakeholder since the very beginning of the development in order to have a wide, clear and structured promotion of WH/C also thanks to a robust training campaign and policy oriented dissemination actions.