HESTIA aims to provide a cost-effective solution for the next-generation DR services which will leverage the consumer engagement, energy and non-energy services, while dealing with both energy supply and demand side in a holistic manner. HESTIA intends to engage with residential consumers representing a still largely untapped sector, while enabling them to play an active role in flexibility sharing and grid balancing. HESTIA will enable residential DR services through: (i) exploitation of energy demand flexibility by engaging the consumers in demand-side management activities, and (ii) valorisation of energy efficiency in multi-carrier energy dispatching and optimal operation of building systems. HESTIA will exploit the consumer engagement as part of cooperative DR strategy at the community level, i.e. clusters of individual consumers and prosumers. To motivate the consumers to actively participate, HESTIA will leverage the financial, environmental and social drivers, while cross-fertilizing them to maximize the impact. HESTIA will involve the residents in the designing of the solutions through participatory co-design processes. HESTIA will create community engagement methodology and organisational tools with a high acceptance, that can be replicated and provide the corresponding tailored toolsets for a broader rollout. HESTIA will exploit the aggregated energy resource flexibility at the demand-side, in terms of cumulative energy consumption, distributed energy generation and storage, to better manage the disparity between energy demand, RES availability and grid requirements. User-personalized services will be delivered via a fully service-oriented, flexible ICT platform, underpinned by agent-based concepts, consumer digital twin and non-intrusive data analytics. This way, HESTIA will set the foundation for an open marketplace and a new grid reality, while steering consumer engagement according to the grid requirements and promoting RES and sustainable behaviour.

REGEN-BY-2 will research, design, construct and experiment a first-of-its-kind lab-scale prototype of a recent near-worldwide patented thermodynamic cycle and related plant for the conversion of thermal sources in energy vectors, i.e. electric, heating and-or cooling powers. The start-up TIFEO, which was founded in 2018 by the team leading this proposal and is the exclusive licensee of the patent driving REGEN-BY-2, is a potential European Unicorn. REGEN-BY-2 can convert (from small to large-scale) any typology of renewable thermal source from low to high-temperature (e.g. solar, aerothermal, geothermal, hydrothermal) including additional thermal sources (e.g. waste heat). REGEN-BY-2 is enabled by machines capable to work with two-phase fluids, i.e. constituted by both liquid and vapor phases. The patented thermodynamic cycle is highly efficient as it is constituted by a proper combination of Carnot cycles operating with two-phase fluid circulating in novel two-phase expanders and two-phase compressors. To be

H2tALENT launches a flagship Hydrogen Valley in Alentejo-PT to consolidate the strong investment in place and boost the penetration of green hydrogen by deploying new initiatives across the entire value chain from local production to use including distribution for a range of applications in industry, mobility and buildings while also connecting with existing/planned infrastructures and initiatives. In the next 5 years are foreseen 2.1GW electrolysers, 180ktons/y of green H2, 2B€ investments and 5000 jobs in Alentejo. Safe design and operation is ensured to deliver certified green hydrogen. H2tALENT produces >1200 ton/y used by several off-takers in industry, mobility (public bus & truck) and building (municipal pool). The strategic position of the Sines Port is valorised as a key multi-modal hub for interconnection and import/export as well the industrial ecosystem surrounding it. Optimal energy system integration is ensured via technology assessment and impact modelling to contribute to the national energy transition strategy. H2tALENT generates investments around 20M€. Digital Twinning and tools for optimal planning and operation are delivered to support upscaling and replication, while professional upskilling and public perception equip the workforce with the needed competences and deliver social benefits. H2tALENT builds a global network where lessons learned from existing valleys are gathered, cooperation with Brazil fostered and replication promoted in 2 follower valleys in DE Saxony and UK Midlands. Roadmaps and concrete actions for upscaling and replication are defined for the Sines Port, Alentejo and Portugal. The consortium includes 29 partners from 6 countries covering the entire value chain including energy suppliers, DSO, technology manufacturer, system integrator, end users and RTO/university experts in digitalisation, public acceptance, environmental assessments and technology assessment with strong political support.

To reach net-zero emissions by 2050, annual clean energy deployment needs to triple by 2030. Two major challenges hinder progress: grid operators lack the tools to manage distributed energy resources effectively, and citizens are not equipped to effectively participate in energy markets, particularly in peer-to-peer trading, which would foster individual investment in DERs. While the EU has established a legal framework for energy communities, its implementation has been restrictive, leading to energy communities based on predetermined, community-level prices and effectively peer-to-market rather than true P2P trading. The INTELLIGENT project will provide advanced P2P technology and demonstrate its benefits in 4 diverse EU communities to encourage regulators in EU member states to empower more advanced local energy sharing and trading. INTELLIGENT’s comprehensive P2P trading infrastructure includes interoperable decentralised energy exchange components, secure data exchange, and optimised trading and flexibility management for citizens and grid operators. These tools will be open source and protocol and regulation-agnostic, customisable for specific market requirements.The project leverages and extends the capabilities of the GSY DEX, an open-source P2P exchange software, which employs blockchain technology to enable grid-aware, secure, and automated exchange while fully accounting for network constraints. Innovations centres on a bottom-up, asset-based energy market design with sophisticated, AI/ML and blockchain-powered trading and flexibility mechanisms, supported by dynamic grid fee models and interoperability with grid operators, asset management and other related services. . INTELLIGENT's goal is to advance P2P energy trading technology, making it more accessible, secure, and efficient to optimise the economic and environmental benefits for citizens, while supporting grid operators to better address grid stability and congestion management.

ENSNARE’s main objective is to boost the implementation of renovation packages through (1) the digitalisation of the entire process by means of a digital platform and (2) the development of an industrialised envelope mesh enabling fast assembly and interconnection of passive and multifunctional building components. The methodology and tools provided will facilitate the necessary market uptake of novel and highly efficient solutions for nZEB, accelerating the current retrofitting rate and supporting the transformation of the European building stock into a highly efficient and technologically advanced built environment. Within a comprehensive systemic approach, the project will target the development of modular adaptable components to be integrated within the system (rather than marketed as standalone products that increase the cost and complexity of the system), including an active window for ventilation and heat recovery, solar harvesting devices (thermal collectors, PV and hybrid panels with advanced technologies such as roll-bonding), heat pumps and energy batteries for load shifting. The digital platform will comprise a set of digital tools supporting and accelerating all stages for a more efficient renovation process: automated data acquisition, LCA/LCC analysis and decision support, digital BIM model building and computer-assisted manufacturing (CAM), and a smart building management system (sBMS) for optimised operation and maintenance. All these tools are linked to a digital model, which increases in complexity and interaction potentialities as the project develops. At completion, the model becomes a Digital Twin of the renovated building allowing real-time monitorization, simulation and optimised operation of all building components. The ENSNARE solution will be validated through three pilot renovation projects covering Nordic, Continental and Mediterranean climates, and three virtual demonstration buildings aimed at upscaling the development of the solution.