To achieve its energy goals EU needs to establish a geographically large market by initially improving its cross-border electricity interconnections. A geographically large market, based on imports and exports of electricity, could increase the level of competition, boost the EU’s security of electricity supply and integrate more renewables into energy markets. Electricity should, as far as possible, flow between Member States as easily as it currently flows within Member States, so as to increase sustainability potential and real competition as well as to drive economic efficiency of the energy system. To this end, FARCROSS aims to address this challenge by connecting major stakeholders of the energy value chain and demonstrating integrated hardware and software solutions that will facilitate the “unlocking” of the resources for the cross-border electricity flows and regional cooperation. The project will promote state-of-the-art technologies to enhance the exploitation/capacity/efficiency of transmission grid assets, either on the generation or the transmission level. The hardware and software solutions will increase grid observability to facilitate system operations at a regional level, exploit the full potential of transmission corridors for increased electricity flows that will facilitate transition to flow-based regional market coupling, consider cross-border connections and their specific ICT and grid infrastructure, planning to use a wide-area protection approach to ensure the safe integration of renewable energy sources into the grid, mitigate disturbances, increase power system stability. An innovative regional forecasting platform will be demonstrated for improved prognosis of renewable generation and demand response and a capacity reserves optimization tool will be tested to maximize cross-border flows. The non-harmonization of national regulation will be studied and measures will be recommended to avoid distortion of the technology benefits.

OPENTUNITY’s mission is to create a flexibility ecosystem reducing interoperability barriers and favouring the use of standards in order to decarbonize EU grids and put the end-user in the spotlight. Grid operators, prosumers, market actors etc. will be supported by OPENTUNITY via innovative methodologies backed by advanced, interoperable software modules, in order to provide them with new features and services related to: 1) Technologies to boost flexibility in prosumer’s environment; 2) Technologies for grid operators to better manage grid operations). OPENTUNITY will also evolve, adapt and integrate a Federated Data Space infrastructure in which actors from different fields will share services and find synergies among them in order to create a reliable energy system in which different verticals (electromobility, gas, OEM etc.) will be able to seamlessly collaborate with each other. OPENTUNITY will be demonstrated in 4 different countries (Greece, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland), benefitting 26.852 citizens and reducing 91,22 MtCO2eq GHG emissions and energy poverty by 30% by 2032.

Entitled "GLACIPTO Hop-On: Bridging the Gap in Energy Management," this proposal underscores a strategic partnership between the GLACIATION project and the Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO). Our shared objective is to enhance the energy sector by integrating intelligent Internet of Things (IoT) devices into vital energy infrastructure, including power plants, pipelines, and wind turbines. Through this collaboration, we aim to improve the efficiency and resilience of the Electrical Power and Energy System (EPES) while minimizing operational redundancies and errors. A key focus of our partnership is the establishment of a unified and sustainable OT/IT ecosystem. This entails effectively merging various datasets, energy consumption insights, and computing capabilities to support advanced analytics. This represents a significant step toward bridging the divide between Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT), resulting in a more robust energy system poised for efficiency gains. IPTO's contribution to this initiative is instrumental. As an experienced energy operator, they provide valuable insights and expertise, ensuring that the solutions developed within the GLACIATION project are not only theoretically sound but also practical and effective in real-world energy operations. In return, IPTO gains access to cutting-edge research and technology, aligning with their mission to advance smarter substations and data-driven energy management capabilities. In summary, the "GLACIPTO Hop-On" proposal signifies a joint commitment to improve the energy sector, fostering innovation, operational excellence, and sustainable energy management.

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.