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Elena Boskov-Kovacs

ENPOWER: Pioneering the Way to a Sustainable Energy Future with Energy Communities

We are thrilled to be part of the new groundbreaking Enpower project – "Energy Activated Citizens and Data-Driven Energy-Secure Communities for a Consumer-Centric Energy System." 🌍💡

As recent joint report by the EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (#ACER) and the European Environment Agency (#EEA) unveils - "Flexibility is the backbone of a robust power system, enabling it to seamlessly adapt to the ever-changing landscape of energy generation and consumption. It's crucial in various timeframes, from daily operations to seasonal variations, and can be harnessed through diverse technologies. While traditional peak generation gas plants have been key players in providing flexibility, the transition to clean energy demands a broader spectrum of flexible resources from both the demand and supply sides. Embracing the flexibility challenge not only paves the way for increased renewable energy adoption but also offers substantial advantages to European Member States and consumers."
ENPOWER consortium kick off

Enpower is set to transform the way we approach energy, focusing on empowering citizens and enhancing cross-sector community security in the realm of energy. This innovative initiative integrates cutting-edge ICTs with social and behavioral dimensions, sharing economy models, further advancing flexibility efforts and much more.


Our project, lead by National Technical University of Athens with 25 partners kicked off in September in Athens, Greece and will be running in sites based in Austria, Portugal, Greece, Ireland, Spain, and Hungary.


Here's a glimpse of what the project will entail:


🔬 Creating a Social Science Framework to activate energy citizens and provide innovative incentives for their participation in energy markets.

🤖 Developing AI-based consumers clustering and segmentation algorithms to optimize energy distribution.

📊 Designing interactive tools and facilitation services for effective energy community planning.

🔒 Adapting the Energy Data Space for data-driven community-level activation.

💱 Establishing a P2P DLT/Blockchain digital marketplace for tokenized energy and non-energy asset compensation.

📈 Providing data-driven services and apps to enhance energy efficiency.

🏡 Introducing ICT services and Digital Twins for community-level energy optimization.

🔌 Implementing Edge monitoring hubs for automated Demand Response.

🚀 Establishing a Business Sandbox for sharing economy and social innovation-based business models.

📊 Creating methodologies for evaluating different energy community setups.


With the EU 2030 renewables target of 42.5% (compared with 22% in 2021), this decade will see an accelerated decarbonisation of EU electricity supply. The Enpower project aims to revolutionize the energy landscape, fostering sustainable practices and citizen involvement.


In recent days, two prominent EU agencies, the EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (#ACER) and the European Environment Agency (#EEA), have jointly unveiled a pivotal report stressing the imperative of enhancing Europe's power system flexibility to align with the rapidly increasing renewable energy sources with variable output.

This report underscores several crucial points:


1️⃣ By 2030, Europe's power system must nearly double its flexibility compared to today to accommodate the rapid growth of variable renewable electricity sources.


2️⃣ Bolstering electricity interconnections is paramount. Building more cross-border grids and optimizing existing capacity is essential. These interconnectors enable the efficient distribution of electricity to where it's most needed. Existing and planned interconnectors can significantly mitigate forced curtailment of variable renewables in 2030, potentially saving power equivalent to Sweden's entire 2022 consumption. 💡


3️⃣ A synergy of #demandresponse and #energyconservation not only trims energy bills 💰 but also offers the flexibility necessary to support renewables and bolster Europe's energy security. By 2030, improved demand response and energy savings could reduce the reliance on non-wind and non-solar power sources by an amount equivalent to Spain's total electricity consumption in 2022. 🌞


4️⃣ Allowing price signals to guide investments and consumer choices is pivotal. Consumers need reliable information to make informed decisions. 📊


5️⃣ The ACER-EEA report urges Member States to assess flexibility needs comprehensively, both at the national and EU levels, as discussions on electricity market design reforms are ongoing among Europe's co-legislators. 🏛️


6️⃣ To foster cohesive policies across borders, Member States could integrate regional flexibility cooperation into their National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) and incorporate detailed energy data into their greenhouse gas emission projections. 🌍


ENPOWER framework will be validated along 4 Front Runners energy communities pilots and further replicated in 2 Early Adopters, covering different levels of maturity of communities, to demonstrate increased RES local self-consumption and consumers participation to the energy markets, while nurturing increased local security of supply.

Blueprint Energy Solutions is committed to driving innovation and empowering citizens in energy markets. Let's shape the future of energy together.


Stay tuned for more updates on this exciting journey shaping the future of energy! 🌿🔌


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Enpower received funding from Horizon Europe programme, project ID: 101096354

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