partners
OPENTUNITY’s 7th General Assembly in Oslo: A Step Forward in Energy Innovation
From June 11th to 12th, the OPENTUNITY consortium gathered in Oslo, Norway, for the 7th General Assembly — a key milestone to align on progress, refine technical strategies, and plan the path ahead. Hosted by project partner NODES, the meeting brought together all 21 partners for two days of in-depth discussions, hands-on collaboration, and stakeholder engagement.
Progress Across Pilot Sites
The meeting began with dedicated sessions from each of the four pilot sites — Slovenia, Greece, Spain, and Switzerland — where partners shared updates on citizen engagement actions, ongoing deployments, and the first insights from testing OPENTUNITY’s innovative tools.
From Slovenia, the University of Ljubljana highlighted ongoing smart energy management testing and their integration of HEMS and EV charging infrastructure. Greek partners HEDNO and IPTO reported progress in preparing the Mesogia region for flexibility trials. In Spain, ANELL and IMPULSA shared insights from the dual pilot zones in Santa Eulalia and Bigues i Riells, while Swiss partner AEM emphasized the role of local consumers in their urban pilot in Massagno.
Technical partners also presented the current status of test cases, showcasing how various OPENTUNITY tools — such as state estimation, flexibility forecasting, and interoperability modules — are coming together for real-world application.
Workshop with External DSOs and Flexibility Players
A highlight of the Oslo meeting was the External Workshop hosted on June 11th, which welcomed stakeholders from across the energy flexibility landscape. This interactive session aimed to connect OPENTUNITY’s research with real-world market experiences and featured contributions from:
- Flexia Consulting, who walked participants through the creation and scaling of the Swedish flexibility market Effekthandel Väst.
- Glitre Nett, who shared their day-to-day experience purchasing flexibility and integrating it into grid operations.
- Neowatt, an aggregator, who offered insights into the challenges and best practices from their role in enabling flexibility.
- Fingrid and Helen, who showcased coordination strategies between TSO and DSO levels through the Finnish FinFlex initiative.
This workshop proved invaluable in bridging the gap between research and market deployment, aligning well with OPENTUNITY’s vision to create scalable, interoperable, and user-focused solutions for the electricity ecosystem.
Next Steps for the Consortium
With the first project review successfully behind, partners are now focused on accelerating developments and preparing for field demonstrations. Key action points include:
- Finalizing technical deliverables for WP3 (Flexibility Solutions), WP4 (Grid Tools), and WP5 (Interoperability).
- Completing the definition of test cases with each pilot to ensure consistent validation across regions.
- Supporting pilot sites in deploying tools and engaging local citizens, ensuring communities are at the center of the transition.
- Advancing knowledge transfer and dissemination activities — including the upcoming submission of deliverables D8.3 and D8.5, and the creation of a collaborative video showcasing the full consortium.
- Each partner was also encouraged to revisit their exploitation strategies and explore opportunities for formal collaborations through MoUs (Memorandums of Understanding).
With strong momentum, OPENTUNITY continues to move from innovation to implementation — transforming flexibility, grid management, interoperability, and data exchange into actionable tools across Europe. The Oslo meeting reaffirmed our shared mission and strengthened the collaboration needed to deliver on the promise of a more flexible, resilient, and inclusive energy future.
OPENTUNITY's Network Planning Tool
Strategic planning of the distribution network is essential to efficiently integrate Renewable Energy Sources (RES), reduce costs, and ensure a secure grid operation. Traditionally, grid planning is based on expensive infrastructure expansion, which does not adapt to rapidly evolving flexibility markets or available flexibility resources.
New OPENTUNITY Network Planning Tool
Within the OPENTUNITY project, ICCS is developing an advanced Network Planning Tool that integrates best planning practices with novel research methodologies and very fast algorithms to address the challenges of modern distribution grids. The tool supports Distribution System Operators (DSOs) in making strategic and informed decisions by integrating sophisticated programming techniques such as Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) and Mixed-Integer Second-Order Cone Programming (MISOCP) for performing network planning, a fast power flow algorithm for critical scenario identification and timeseries clustering for scenarios extraction. Different objectives can be set, such as cost optimization, investments deferral, or maximizing RES capacity, allowing DSOs to quickly design and compare alternative investment options and operation scenarios.
A user interface provides graphical representations of key results. For example, in a cost optimization scenario (figure on the right side), the planning tool graphically represents the impact of strategic decisions, such as the optimal time to invest in infrastructure and its corresponding impact on power loss costs. The interface can alternatively illustrate scenarios with a focus on delaying expenditures, highlighting how strategic use of flexibility resources can defer costly investments (figure on the left side).
Power flow results can also be presented in all scenarios, e.g. for RES capacity maximization (Figure 3), identifying optimal locations and capacities of new RES power plants for given budgetary constraints. The tool ensures that RES capacity expansion is closely aligned with existing grid constraints. The computed RES capacity at each substation in this case is represented in map-based visualizations.
Engaging Citizens in the Greek Pilot Site
As part of its citizen engagement strategy, HEDNO, the leader of the Greek Pilot within the OPENTUNITY project, has developed a preliminary registration form for users interested in participating. This initiative aims to gather valuable insights from potential participants while fostering a deeper connection between citizens and the project.
Preliminary Registration and Initial Findings
The registration form was designed to collect essential user information, including:
- First Name
- Last Name
- City
- Phone Number
- Consent to receive informational material on the development of the Greek Pilot
- Interest in volunteering for technologies developed within the project
Initially, the form was shared with individuals familiar with OPENTUNITY for preliminary feedback. The results indicated that while users were open to receiving updates on the project, many were hesitant to volunteer for direct participation in the network operation tools. This reluctance was expected, as there were no clearly defined incentives for participation.
Addressing Participation Barriers: Refining the Approach
To better understand user motivations and encourage greater involvement, the form was updated with an additional question:
“Which of the following incentives would encourage you to voluntarily participate in the technologies developed in OPENTUNITY?”
The multiple-choice options included:
A. Improvement of environmental footprint
B. Smoother operation of the grid
C. Benefits from participating as a flexibility service provider
D. None of the above
E. Other (please specify)
By incorporating this question, HEDNO aims to gain deeper insights into what drives user engagement and how best to align OPENTUNITY’s offerings with citizen expectations. The responses to this refined questionnaire will help shape future outreach efforts and improve participation rates.
Next Steps and Participation
The updated registration form remains available for new users to express their interest and provide feedback. OPENTUNITY is committed to fostering an inclusive and engaging experience for citizens, ensuring that participation in the Greek Pilot is both beneficial and impactful for all involved.
Stay tuned for further updates as we continue to refine our approach and enhance citizen involvement in OPENTUNITY!
OPENTUNITY General Assembly in Madrid
The sixth General Assembly of the OPENTUNITY project took place in Madrid, Spain, on February 11 and 12, hosted by our partners at UNE. Over these two days, project partners gathered to discuss key developments, review progress across different work packages, and plan the next steps to maximize the project’s impact.
Expert Insights: The Road Ahead for the Energy Sector in 2025
As we approach 2025, the OPENTUNITY consortium have shared their goals, visions, and ideas for advancing the energy sector. Their insights highlight a shared commitment to innovation, sustainability, and collaboration, paving the way for a transformative year ahead.
What Do Partners Hope to Achieve with OPENTUNITY in 2025?
Flexibility Markets and Energy Efficiency
For many OPENTUNITY partners, the goal in 2025 is to develop and implement flexible energy solutions that maximize efficiency and promote collaboration among stakeholders. Reduxi emphasizes the importance of establishing a “fully functional, collaborative ecosystem that maximizes energy efficiency.” He sees OPENTUNITY as a way to enable plug-and-play flexibility solutions that can benefit a wide range of energy sector participants. Similarly, NODES aims to support the development of flexibility markets and help transition research results into practical solutions that improve grid management and increase renewable energy share.
“Our goal is to create leading technology solutions to support the establishment of flexibility markets for all pilot partners,” says NODES.
HIVEPOWER also emphasizes leveraging flexible resources, such as electric vehicles (EVs) and renewable storage systems, to enhance both grid reliability and sustainability.
Empowering End-Users and Promoting Decarbonization
Empowering consumers is central to the vision of several partners. JOANNEUM RESEARCH stresses the need for accessible, citizen-centric energy tools:
“We aim to see OPENTUNITY’s tools adopted by a great number of citizens, ensuring that the energy transition is both effective and fair.” states JOANNEUM RESEARCH.
Similarly, Estabanell is working to prove the usability of OPENTUNITY’s solutions, aiming to empower users to optimize their energy consumption while maintaining their comfort. HYPERTECH shares this vision by focusing on integrating Home and Building Energy Management Systems (HEMS/BEMS), enabling efficient energy management for all users.
Technological Advancements and Smart Grid Management
Technological innovation is another important theme in partners' aspirations for OPENTUNITY in 2025. ICCS hopes to see the widespread deployment of OPENTUNITY tools across demo sites, enabling smarter energy management through advanced asset management and strategic network planning. This aligns with ETRA I+D, which focuses on completing the development of technologies like NILM (Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring) and grid software solutions to demonstrate their real-world impact.
“We are eager to see the final output of all the work performed in the last two years,” says ETRA I+D.
What Innovative Practices or Tools Do Partners Want to See in 2025?
Digitalization and Smart Grid Tools
A key area of focus for many partners is the digitalization of the energy sector. Kolektor and HEDNO both highlight the importance of adopting advanced digital tools to improve grid management. Kolektor envisions a more proactive role for system operators in shaping and managing local flexibility markets through digital tools, while HEDNO stresses the need for the continued digitalization of energy systems to address emerging challenges in grid management.
“Next year, we would like to see the expansion of energy systems' digitalization through new tools,” says HEDNO.
UNE echoes this call for digitalization, pointing out the significant shift toward online standardization procedures, such as the Online Standards Development (OSD) tool, which will digitalize the standardization process for energy technologies. This digital shift is seen as crucial to the continued development and deployment of flexible, scalable solutions. AEM envisions integrating AI to create Digital Twin models for distribution grids, helping electricity companies with limited infrastructure data.
“AI-integrated Digital Twins could greatly benefit electricity companies lacking well-digitalized maps of their infrastructure,” explains AEM, adding that regulatory clarity around AI-related data handling is crucial.
Flexibility Markets and Demand-Side Response
Partners like Kolektor, Estabanell, and IPTO continue to prioritize flexibility markets as a key solution to optimize energy resources. IPTO also hopes to see progress on TSO-DSO coordination mechanisms, enabling more efficient allocation of flexibility resources. Estabanell envisions the development of demand-side response legislation in Spain, allowing for the viability of flexibility markets for residential applications using real-time metering and aggregation.
Estabanell hopes to see Spain progress in developing demand-side response legislation, defining new roles for flexibility service providers (FSPs) and making flexibility markets viable for residential applications. Kolektor also envisions a greater role for system operators in local flexibility markets. They see these markets as essential for optimizing energy resources and integrating renewable energy sources more effectively into local grids.
“In 2025, we hope to see system operators playing a more proactive role in managing local flexibility markets,” shares Kolektor.
HIVEPOWER focuses on integrating diverse assets into decarbonized and user-centric systems using advanced software and predictive AI algorithms.
Community-Centric Solutions and Fair Energy Transition
The transition to a fairer and more inclusive energy system is a common theme across many partners’ responses. JOANNEUM RESEARCH stresses the importance of placing citizens at the center of the energy transition, with tools that make energy more accessible to a wider population. They emphasize the need for affordable energy storage solutions and the expansion of decentralized systems, such as peer-to-peer energy trading, to empower communities and create resilient, self-sufficient energy systems.
Similarly, BLUESUN anticipates significant advancements in decentralized energy markets, enabling consumers to trade renewable energy directly with their neighbors. They also see AI-driven smart grids as a game-changing technology that will enhance grid flexibility and integration of renewables.
“The widespread adoption of decentralized energy markets and AI-driven smart grids will revolutionize how we produce and consume energy,” says BLUESUN.
Federated Data Exchange and Interoperability
QUE TECH emphasizes the need for a Federated Data Exchange Infrastructure to support interoperability and secure data exchange across energy systems. Their vision includes the widespread adoption of Data Spaces to enable robust and secure energy data exchange, ensuring that data sovereignty is maintained.
"We aim to see the OPENTUNITY project establish a fully functional and scalable Federated Data Exchange Infrastructure,” says QUE TECH.
A Shared Vision for 2025 and Beyond
The partners’ contributions offer a clear picture of the collective aspirations for the energy sector in 2025. Flexibility markets, technological innovation, and the empowerment of consumers are central to the vision of OPENTUNITY. Whether through the digitalization of grid systems, the expansion of demand-side response solutions, or the development of community-centered platforms, the goal is to create a more resilient, efficient, and inclusive energy system.
The OPENTUNITY consortium is united in its mission to foster collaboration, drive technological advancements, and ensure that the benefits of the energy transition reach all stakeholders. As we look ahead to 2025, these shared goals will guide the consortium’s efforts to shape the future of the energy sector, making it smarter, greener, and more equitable.
We wish all our partners, and everyone in the energy sector, a successful and transformative 2025. Together, we can achieve a more sustainable and inclusive energy future. Happy New Year! 🌟