Future smart grids require the effective interaction between energy markets and electricity grid management systems in order to introduce new services and mitigate risks introduced by high RES penetration. FLEXGRID envisages the orchestration and integration of: i) advanced electricity grid models and tools, ii) flexibility assets’ management tools, and iii) data analytics and accurate forecasts of the various markets and RES production, in order to guarantee cost-effective and stable electricity grids. Towards this end, FLEXGRID project proposes a holistic future smart grid architecture able to accommodate high RES penetration through the advancement, interaction and integration of: i) innovative models that are based on recent advances in game theory in order to quantify and highly improve the trade-off between the various future energy markets’ requirements (Real Time, Efficient, Strategy Proof, Competitive, Scalable, Fair and Privacy Protecting) and guarantee, theoretically and in practice, the “fairness” of the equilibrium points that energy markets reach, ii) grid system models that use optimization theory to achieve more efficient market clearing and Optimal Power Flow (OPF) algorithms to achieve scalability, in a way that must also be Low Overhead, Multi-period, Robust and Network Upgrade Planning Aware, and iii) innovative Business Models through the use of artificial intelligence, which can be exploited by modern Energy Service Providers (ESPs) and RES Producers (RESPs) to achieve economic and operational benefits through their efficient interaction with FLEXGRID’s advanced markets and electricity grid models. FLEXGRID will help: i) DSOs/TSOs manage safely and at low cost their electricity grid by interacting with ESPs and RESPs through novel flexibility market procedures, ii) modern ESPs become more competitive and sustainable,and iii) RESPs optimally compose and exploit their production in a risk-averse manner by making their RES generation dispatchable.

An inspiration for INVADE are the world-wide agreements on minimisation of human caused effects to climate change and energy efficiency targets set at the European Union with ambitious goals for reduction of greenhouse gas emission and for increase of renewable energy share. To enable a higher share of renewable energy sources to the smart grid and gain a traction in the market place a few critical barriers must be overcome. There is a deficiency of 1) flexibility and battery management systems 2) exploration of ICT solutions based on active end user participation 3) efficient integration of energy storage and transport sector (EVs), 4) novel business models supporting an increasing number of different actors in the grid. INVADE addresses these challenges by proposing to deliver a Cloud based flexibility management system integrated with EVs and batteries empowering energy storage at mobile, distributed and centralised levels to increase renewables share in the smart distribution grid. The project integrates different components: flexibility management system, energy storage technologies, electric vehicles and novel business models. It underpins these components with advanced ICT cloud based technologies to deliver the INVADE platform. The project will integrate the platform with existing infrastructure and systems at pilot sites in Bulgaria, Germany, Spain, Norway and the Netherlands and validate it through mobile, distributed and centralised use cases in the distribution grid in large scale demonstrations. Novel business models and extensive exploitation activities will be able to tread the fine line between maximizing profits for a full chain of stakeholders and optimizing social welfare while contributing to the standardization and regulation policies for the European energy market. A meaningful integration of the transport sector is represented by Norway and the Netherlands pilots – with the highest penetration of EVs worldwide.

The time for reaching the necessary cuts in energy use and CO2 emissions is running out quickly and increasing energy efficiency in households substantially is a prerequisite for reaching these goals in time. Behaviour science has provided deep insights into mechanisms of behaviour change in this domain in a large number of small-scale pilots. However, the urgency of the task makes it necessary to role-out such intervention programs lagre-scale and quickly. This requires knowledge on how behaviour science based intervention programs can be provided in real-life situations, on large scale, and resource efficient by real market actors. To address this knowledge gap, the ENCHANT consortium and research approach have been carefully designed to systematically evaluate existing knowledge on energy efficiency interventions, reanalyse existing data in the field, design realistic intervention packages, and implement them on 10 million households in six European countries with a large group of user partners of different types (energy providers, municipalities, NGOs) testing different communication channels. This unprecedented intervention program allows testing a large selection of intervention types addressing a large variety of psychological biases alone or in combination and evaluates their realistic saving potentials. ENCHANT evaluates the performance of intervention campaigns not only with respect to energy and CO2 saved, but also cost effectiveness, and effects on well-being of the participants (with a focus on gender specific effects), as well as effects for target groups in energy poverty. The knowledge created in ENCHANT will be implemented into an algorithm-based webtool which supports decision making of policymakers, energy providers, NGOs and municipalities in designing effective and targeted energy efficiency campaigns. In short, ENCHANT will bridge the gap from knowledge to impact.