The smart energy ecosystem constitutes the next technological leap of the conventional electrical grid, providing multiple benefits such as increased reliability, better service quality and efficient utilization of the existing infrastructures. However, despite the fact that it brings beneficial environmental, economic and social changes, it also generates significant security and privacy challenges, as it includes a combination of heterogeneous, co-existing smart and legacy technologies. Based on this reality, the SDN-microSENSE project intends to provide a set of secure, privacy-enabled and resilient to cyberattacks tools, thus ensuring the normal operation of EPES as well as the integrity and the confidentiality of communications. In particular, adopting an SDN-based technology, SDN-microSENSE will develop a three-layer security architecture, by deploying and implementing risk assessment processes, self-healing capabilities, large-scale distributed detection and prevention mechanisms, as well as an overlay privacy protection framework. Firstly, the risk assessment framework will identify the risk level of each component of EPES, identifying the possible threats and vulnerabilities. Accordingly, in the context of self-healing, islanding schemes and energy management processes will be deployed, isolating the critical parts of the network in the case of emergency. Furthermore, collaborative intrusion detection tools will be capable of detecting and preventing possible threats and anomalies timely. Finally, the overlay privacy protection framework will focus on the privacy issues, including homomorphic encryption and anonymity processes

The Internet-of-Energy (IoE) is a revolutionary paradigm towards achieving the EU’s zero-carbon goal through enabling intelligent and automated energy management across the entire lifecycle of energy planning, storage, distribution, and maintenance. Operating in highly complex environments characterised by intermittent and volatile renewable energy generation, dynamic energy demands, large-scale distributed energy integration, and stringent resilience and security requirements, IoE faces fundamental challenges in constructing accurate and real-time digital representation, securing Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions, optimising energy management, and diagnosing device faults and failures. To address these challenges, SAILING aims to establish a multidisciplinary network of world-leading academic and industrial partners to create a ground-breaking smart system for energy management and fault diagnosis powered by innovative digital twin and secure AI technologies. Specifically, SAILING will pioneer transformative research and innovations, including: 1) AI-driven high-fidelity digital twin for IoE digital representation, 2) Secure and reliable AI for IoE empowered by Blockchain and adversarial machine learning, 3) Intelligent and scalable predictive energy management and optimisation, and 4) Deep learning-based rapid fault detection and accurate failure prediction. SAILING will train 12 Early-Stage Researchers across sectors and disciplines in the novel concepts and methodologies of smart IoE, equip them with sought-after professional and transferable skills, foster broader perspectives, and cultivate them to become future leaders in IoE. Through cutting-edge research and multidisciplinary cross-sectoral collaborations, SAILING will drive scientific breakthroughs with innovative digital twin and secure AI technologies for realising reliable, resilient, and energy-efficient smart IoE, and revolutionising the energy sector for a more sustainable and cleaner future.

The current international situation makes the process of energy transition more critical for Europe than ever before. It is a key requirement to increase the penetration of renewables while aiming at making the infrastructure more resilient and cost-effective. In this context, digital twins (DT) build a key asset to facilitate all aspects of business and operational coordination for system operators and market parties. It is of fundamental importance to now start a process of agreement at European level so not to develop isolated instances but a federated ecosystem of DT solutions. Each operator should be able to make its own implementation decisions while preserving and supporting interoperability and exchange with the remaining ecosystem. Exactly this is the vision of the TwinEU consortium: enabling new technologies to foster an advanced concept of DT while determining the conditions for interoperability, data and model exchanges through standard interfaces and open APIs to external actors. The envisioned DT will build the kernel of European data exchange supported by interfaces to the Energy Data Space under development. Advanced modeling supported by AI tools and able to exploit High Performance Computing infrastructure will deliver an unprecedented capability to observe, test and activate a pan-European digital replica of the European energy infrastructure. In this process, reaching consensus is crucial: the consortium therefore gathers an unprecedented number of actors committed to achieving this common goal. The concepts developed by TwinEU span over 15 different European countries with a continuous coverage of the continental map. Demos will encompass key players at every level from transmission to distribution and market operators, while also testing the coordinated cross-area data exchange. The consortium also includes relevant industry players, research institutions and associations with a clear record in developing innovative solutions for Europe.

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.