Storages are unavoidable components of the future smart grid with large share of variable renewable generation. However, the unit-cost of energy, that is retrieved from storages, is several times higher than the cost of energy consumed upon its output from RES. Therefore, there is a strong requirement on the optimisation of storage capacities deployed in the grid. This is especially true for the small energy sites such as DER and prosumers’ microgrids which are the segments, targeted by the SHAR-Q bottom-up concept. The principal objective of the SHAR-Q is to optimize the storage capacities deployed in the grid with the help of a peer-to-peer interoperability network that connects neighbourhooding RES+Storage ecosystems into a collaboration framework. Thus, the optimization of storage capacities can be achieved through their sharing among the participating actors. To get connected to the SHAR-Q network, an open interoperability gateway with semantic interface descriptors will be provided that will be based on the most adopted standards in the field. Moreover, the users will be provided with an ability to manage their contribution to the collaborative models on their own in a way that resembles the well-known social web portals (e.g. users can control with whom they wish to share specific storage capacities). The viability of the collaborative business models will be proven through added-value services, deployed over the SHAR-Q interoperability network, that will be demonstrated in 3 different pilots, targeting 3 different segments of end-users such as neighborhoods of distributed RES, coalitions of prosumers and locations with e-vehicle charging stations. The SHAR-Q research and innovation activities will be driven by the opinion of stakeholders involved in the SHAR-Q stakeholder advisory board. Their feedback will be carefully monitored throughout the project duration. Such approach is supposed to maximise the adoption potential of the SHAR-Q concept.

EVELIXIA brings together 36 high profile organizations from 12 EU countries envisioning to realize Buildings as Active Utility Nodes (BAUNs), rendering the EU Building stock as: a) energy efficient; b) connected, by facilitating a two-way communication between the grid and the occupants, capitalizing on flexible technologies; c) smart, by utilizing analytics supported by sensors and controls to co-optimize efficiency, flexibility, and occupant preferences; and d) flexible, reducing, shifting, or modulating energy use according to occupant needs, while considering utility signals. EVELIXIA structures the advancement of its solutions along five Innovation Pathways: IP1: Building-to-Grid (B2G) Services; IP2: Grid-to-Building (G2B) Services; IP3: Human-to-Building Interfaces & Interactivity; IP 4: Systems Interoperability; and IP5: Innovative HW as Flexibility Enablers, which will be integrated, deployed, and validated at 7 large-scale, real-life pilots (GR, RO, FR, FI, ES, AT, DK). During the EVELIXIA platform deployment and validation, different actors (i.e., DSOs, DNOs, ESCOs, aggregators) from various sectors (electricity, heating/cooling, mobility) will exchange data for providing B2G and G2B services and they will participate in the development of Business Models showcasing the economic viability of the solutions proposed. EVELIXIA puts a large focus on social engagement empowering citizens as not only adopters of solutions, but also, as their co-creators applying methodologies for citizen and consumer engagement and advanced human to building interfaces. Key expected outcomes include: 14 scalable B2G/G2B services demonstrated including DSF (implicit, explicit, shifting, etc.), P2P energy trading, portfolio management (day ahead/intra-day), TSO/DSO/DHO, and system planning services; GHG emissions reduced by 17%, increase of flexibility by up to 25%, increase of self-consumption up to 100%, reduce energy consumption by 13.5%, and increase RE generation by 11%.

The transition to the smart grid era is associated with the creation of a meshed network of data contributors that necessitates for the transformation of the traditional top-down business model, where power system optimization relied on centralized decisions based on data silos preserved by stakeholders, to a more horizontal one in which optimization decisions are based on interconnected data assets and collective intelligence. Consequently, the need for “end-to-end” coordination between the electricity stakeholders, not only in business terms but also in exchanging information is becoming a necessity to enable the enhancement of electricity networks’ stability and resilience, while satisfying individual business process optimization targets of all stakeholders involved in the value chain. SYNERGY introduces a novel reference big data architecture and platform that leverages data, primary or secondarily related to the electricity domain, coming from diverse sources (APIs, historical data, statistics, sensors/ IoT, weather, energy markets and various other open data sources) to help electricity stakeholders to simultaneously enhance their data reach, improve their internal intelligence on electricity-related optimization functions, while getting involved in novel data (intelligence) sharing/trading models, in order to shift individual decision-making at a collective intelligence level. To this end SYNERGY will develop a highly effective a Big Energy Data Platform and AI Analytics Marketplace, accompanied by big data-enabled applications for the totality of electricity value chain stakeholders (altogether integrated in the SYNERGY Big Data-driven EaaS Framework). SYNERGY will be validated in 5 large-scale demonstrators, in Greece, Spain, Austria, Finland and Croatia involving diverse actors and data sources, heterogeneous energy assets, varied voltage levels and network conditions and spanning different climatic, demographic and cultural characteristics.

SERENDI-PV proposes innovations towards two main pillars: (1) increased lifetime, reliability, performance and profitability of PV generation; (2) utility-friendly high-penetration of the PV generation in the grids with improved stability, smart communication between stakeholders and increased knowledge of the PV fleet management. SERENDI-PV will develop advanced PV modelling, simulation and design tools, monitoring data analytics for fault diagnostic and improved O&M, as well as lab and field testing Quality Control (QC) equipment and procedures for better assessment of the reliability of PV components and systems. The innovations will be developed with particular attention to the new PV applications that are becoming increasingly relevant on the market, such as bifacial PV, floating PV and BIPV. SERENDI-PV will pave the way towards higher PV penetration through a better understanding of the PV installed capacity, smart digital models for energy and services communication exchange between system stakeholders, the development of mid-term, short-term forecasting, and nowcasting for PV system aggregations, new business models for PV added revenue, and the creation of a collaborative platform for modelling, data analytics, QC, databases and grid integration. The solutions will be developed on the data from nearly 500,000 PV installations monitored within the consortium, representing a wide range of system sizes and typologies, including large ground-mounted PV plants, mid-size commercial and industrial PV systems, and small-scale rooftop residential PV systems. The results will be achieved through an interdisciplinary approach combining the complementary expertise of the 19 different partners that take part in the consortium and that represent all the relevant stakeholders concerned by the topic of this project. The project will include several key demonstration activities in the operational environment corresponding to each one of the key innovations proposed

An increasing role is foreseen in Europe for local energy communities (LECs) to speed up the grid integration of RES. To-day, the enabling role of DSOs in support of LECs is hampered by a lack of flexibility when planning cost-efficient LEC connections to their network at MV level, and by a lack of digitalization of the LV networks to make LEC’s smart prosumers benefit economically when serving the DSO flexibility needs. Four European DSOs (E.ON, ENEDIS, E.DIS, Güssing Stadtwerke) and an Indian DSO (TATA) have joined with IT-based, innovative product and solution providers, and technology and research centers, to demonstrate the combined roles of innovative functionalities serving the MV and LV networks, when implemented in 5 different regulatory regimes (Austria, France, Hungary, Germany, India- state of Delhi-). For MV networks, a mobile storage concept at substation level is demonstrated in Hungary, Germany and Austria. It enables DSOs to reduce investment uncertainties, avoid hindering future renewables connection and foster the local use of flexibility with participating non-regulated market solutions (Demand Side Response-DR-). For LV networks, 3 functional use cases served by ATOS and Schneider are tested simultaneously in Austria and India with prosumer support: i) Forecasting/scheduling of Distributed Energy Resources for the optimized energy management of Local Energy Systems, ii) Customized, human-centric prosumer participation in explicit DR programs using context-aware flexibility profiles, iii) Grid-forming/islanding capabilities in Local Energy Communities to optimize their energy system resilience. The joint work of DSOS aims at accelerating scaling up and replication tested by HEDNO (Greece) and E.ON (Sweden). Dissemination towards players of the energy value chain recommends business models, possible regulatory adjustments and deployment roadmaps of the most promising use cases, in support of the implementation of the Clean Energy Package.