Building on results of recently (or soon to be) concluded EU projects, FEDECOM aims to enable integrated local energy systems through sector coupling and cross-energy vector integration, increasing RES penetration via optimal utilisation of energy dispatch, storage and conversion assets. FEDECOM pursues the idea of electricity becoming the leading energy carrier, with power grids as the backbone for the decarbonisation of all energy sectors and aggregators as the cornerstone enabler of the potential exploitation. FEDECOM adopts and maximizes the potential synergies of two complementary deployment strategies: (i) direct electrification (e.g. via demand electrification), and (ii) indirect electrification (with power-to-X technology). FEDECOM will deliver a scalable and adaptable cloud-based platform composed of analytical, modelling and optimization services for planning, supervision and control of integrated local energy systems (power, gas, heating and cooling, industry, electric and hydrogen mobility). Optimized operations of the integrated systems will be demonstrated as part of hybrid RES/storage infrastructures, while enabling a holistic cooperative demand response (DR) strategy across federation of energy communities. With a concept of federated energy communities, FEDECOM unlocks the flexibility potential, enable energy exchange, and provide coordinated actions across near and remote sites, while maximizing the positive impact on grid transmission level. FEDECOM’s integrated package will be verified on three real large-scale pilots, each composed of multiple (federated) demo sites (communities): Spanish Virtual Green H2 Federation, Swiss Residential Hydropower Federation and BENElux cross-country e-Mobility Federation. After FEDECOM, local energy communities and service providers will be fully trained and upskilled via dissemination and engagement activities to take full ownership of FEDECOM solution and its business ecosystem.

Consumers do not think about heating until their system breaks down. When it does, the replacement is always an urgent process, hindering the possibility to look for the best solutions in the market and making smarter choices regarding a heating system that will likely be in operation for the next 20 years. In Europe, there are more than 300 million heaters (space, water or combi) that have, on average, been installed more than 20 years ago. Considering the heating energy label framework, market assumptions are that more than 50% of these equipments perform as C or lower. Old and inefficient, this is the status of the installed heating stock. Now is the time to act and raise consumers’ awareness about the opportunities of a planned replacement. Taking advantage of the energy label for space and water heating, we can mainstream the labelling concept to the installed heating stock, allowing to use a well-known support decision tool to communicate and motivate the consumer to replace its heating system with modern high-efficiency and renewable solutions. HARP accompanies the consumer decision process, providing an impartial message, based on the energy label and presenting the market solutions that respond to the consumer’s heating needs, providing a quantified approach for economic and non-economic benefits and bridging the gap with the market providers and available national incentives. HARP is promoted by key knowledgeable partners in the fields of consumer behaviour, energy efficiency, heating solutions and business models, working directly with the consumer, or indirectly via professionals who are critical multiplying agents. Promoting dynamic efficient heating communities, where all the agents, from the supply to the demand side are committed to an efficient heating market, supporting the consumer to make smarter choices. This allows HARP to build a solid concept that will succeed in the participating countries and within the EU reach.

SystR will propose a groundbreaking approach to feed the science-policy nexus with innovative solutions to address systemic risks (interconnection between multiple sectors and stakeholders and resulting cascading climate impacts). This approach will accelerate transformative adaptation and avoid maladaptation by breaking silos, harmonising multiple scales of governance and tailoring solutions to local needs and strengths with Smart Specialisation Strategies. SystR will deliver a set of innovative results that will collectively strengthen the systemic resilience of the 6 multi-scale regions and communities involved and have a long lasting impact: 1. An Adaptation Support tool targeting the process of systemic adaptation based on the P2R project Regional Resilience Journey 2. A Community Empowerment framework for actively mobilising a diversity of actors across the value chain into the development and testing of transformative solutions, fit to address local climate and aggravating systemic vulnerabilities and risks 3. Novel systemic Governance schemes to improve cooperation at multiple scales 4. Coherent Financial roadmaps to determine how to finance identified resilience solutions and strategies 5. Design, with the support of the digital Visualisation tools, and implement Integrated Ecosystem of Resilience Solutions, integrating the cross sectorial enabling and systemic physical solutions including NBS 6. Accelerate the uptake of its results for critical mass creation, through the Upscaling toolbox and the One Stop Shop, the SystR’s results aggregator. Overall, while pursuing close collaboration with the Climate Adaptation Mission, SystR will demonstrate systemic resilience in three contexts most representative of Europe: coastal in Guadeloupe-France, rural in Bystrica-Slovakia and urban in Rome-Italy, which will be twinned with replication sites of similar challenges, Galicia, Strasbourg and Egaleo, respectively.

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.

The overall objective of TRUST-EPC-SOUTH is to scale up investments on Energy Efficiency (EE) and other Sustainable Energy (SE) in the tertiary sector of southern European countries, with particular focus on Energy Performance Contracts (EPC) projects. This objective will be achieved through the development of an ad hoc investment standardization and benchmarking framework and supported with the organisation of tailored capacity building activities that will allow project developers (including ESCOs , ESPCs and other EPC providers), project sponsors and tertiary sector actors to more easily access third party financing, thus unlocking the large tertiary sector EE/SE market potential. Geographically, the project will be carried out in the following 6 countries: Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Croatia and Greece, in which we both see a need to improve the situation and a large untapped market potential in the tertiary sector.