DE-RISK Newsletter (5th Issue)

malesuada et erescelerisque in, placerat et quam. Mauris soda malesuada etwer rvene wroe. DE-RISK The project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon EUROPE Programme under grant agreement No. 101075515 - As DE-RISK approaches its conclusion, the past months have been particularly dynamic and impactful. Alongside advancing our policy and regulatory work, this period has been marked by tangible demonstrations of Local Flexibility Markets (LFMs) through real-life pilots in Ireland, Spain, and Türkiye. Our team has: • Published two key strategic documents: a Policy Report offering recommendations to EU and national authorities, and a Green Paper outlining innovative financing mechanisms for LFMs. • Engaged stakeholders across Europe in high-level discussions, including our Regulatory Workshop in Ankara and contributions to EUSEW 2025 in Brussels, reinforcing DE-RISK’s role in shaping the EU’s energy transition agenda. • Organized multiple User Engagement Workshops in Spain and Türkiye, ensuring that citizen voices, needs, and feedback remain central to our solutions. At the same time, pilot activities have been scaled up and consolidated: • In Kepez (Türkiye), an energy cooperative successfully tested household-level flexibility, cutting bills and strengthening community participation. • In Murcia (Spain), a crowdlending campaign mobilized 28 investors to expand renewable generation, proving the power of community financing. • In La Balma (Barcelona), cooperative housing residents monitored and adapted their energy use, achieving measurable savings and higher awareness. • In Galway (Ireland), university buildings were equipped with IoT devices and smart heating controls, turning education facilities into living labs for flexibility. These achievements underline DE-RISK’s commitment to not only designing frameworks but also testing, refining, and validating them in practice. With this newsletter, we particularly wish to highlight the pilots, as they showcase the real-world impact of LFMs and the strong potential for scaling them across Europe. Executive Summary Insights from Recent DE-RISK Research DE-RISK Pilots: Real-Life Testing of Flexibility Markets Across Europe 2 5th Overview of DE-RISK I NEWSLETTER Our Project aims to validate and demonstrate a holistic, multidisciplinary approach to unlocking demand response potential and supporting the uptake of renewable energy through local flexibility markets (LFMs). The project carries out real-life pilot implementations across four case studies in Ireland, Spain (two sites), and Türkiye, selected for their diversity in climatic, regulatory, and market conditions. The pilot activities collectively focus on: • Setting up smart data acquisition systems, filling informtion gaps, including additional sensors, smart meters, and gateways, where needed. • Developing digital twin models for buildings and communities to simulate “what-if” flexibility scenarios. • Testing flexibility services, in both implicit (e.g., ToU optimization, self-consumption) and explicit demand response schemes—virtually and, where feasible, physically • Engaging local communities and stakeholders through workshops, behavioral analysis, and participatory methods to co-design business models and foster user acceptance. • Deploying and operating the DE-RISK platform in real-life settings to evaluate technical functionality and service delivery. • Monitoring performance, using a harmonized KPI framework addressing technical, social, and economic impacts. The pilots are hosted in: • A university campus in Galway, Ireland (urban), • Multi-apartment buildings in Espinardo, Murcia (peri-urban), • An energy cooperative in Kepez, Türkiye (urban & peri-urban), • The La Balma cooperative housing in Barcelona, Spain (urban), replacing a former pilot in France. Insights from Recent DE-RISK Research In Türkiye, our Project is working with an energy community in Kepez (Çanakkale), where households are testing new ways to manage their energy use collectively. The community model provides a unique setting to explore how local communities can actively participate in flexibility markets and benefit from shared solutions. • Technical performance: With the installation of IoT devices across cooperative households, the system achieved 95% reliability and enabled up to 17% energy savings during demand response events. • Economic benefits: Cooperative members saw their electricity bills reduced by an average of 22.9%, with the payback period for investments estimated at around 7 years—a strong signal of long-term sustainability. • Community engagement: The cooperative structure fostered participation and transparency. Members used the DE-RISK web application to track their own and collective consumption, boosting awareness and trust in the system. The Kepez pilot demonstrates how community-led energy models can deliver real savings, support the grid, and empower citizens. It highlights the potential of energy communities to become key players in future local flexibility markets. Spotlight on Türkiye: The Kepez Energy Community Pilot 35th Overview of DE-RISK I NEWSLETTER The DE-RISK project has successfully completed a crowdlending campaign to expand its pilot in Murcia, Spain. This initiative demonstrated how local communities can directly invest in and benefit from renewable energy and energy efficiency solutions. • 28 local investors fully funded the project within just two weeks after its launch on September 10, 2024. • The funds are supporting MIW Energía in installing a photovoltaic self-consumption system and energy monitoring devices in a Murcia home. • These installations will improve energy efficiency, lower household costs, and enable participation in a local energy flexibility market, where residents can adjust their consumption in response to real-time grid demand. The campaign was hosted on ECROWD’s licensed platform, with investment amounts ranging from €50 to €300, ensuring broad participation. This achievement not only promotes sustainable living but also serves as a valuable case study on how crowdlending and community financing can drive the energy transition. By combining citizen investment with innovative demand response mechanisms, the Murcia pilot shows a pathway for scaling Local Flexibility Markets across Europe. Spotlight on Spain: Crowdlending Success in Murcia Read more about the Murcia crowdlending campaign 4 5th Overview of DE-RISK I NEWSLETTER In Barcelona, the La Balma cooperative housing project joined DE-RISK as a late but highly committed pilot site. La Balma, known for its strong social and environmental focus, was a perfect match to test community-driven flexibility models. • Community participation: Out of 20 “coexistence units,” 9 households actively joined the pilot to better understand renewable energy use, tariffs, and consumption patterns. One unit is dedicated to providing temporary housing for vulnerable groups, reinforcing La Balma’s social mission. • Renewable infrastructure: Since 2024, the building has operated with 17.36 kWp solar PV and an 11.1 kWh battery, supporting both collective self-consumption and common areas. • Smart monitoring: Each participating unit was equipped with Shelly 3EM PRO smart meters, gathering 15-minute data on total, kitchen, and plug consumption. This data was integrated into the DE-RISK platform, alongside time-of-use tariffs. • Web app integration: Residents used an interactive dashboard to track disaggregated energy consumption, energy balance, costs, and savings. The tool helped increase awareness and encouraged responsible consumption. • Flexibility actions: Since June, residents received 10 tailored recommendations on adjusting their usage. Results showed a 2.1% increase in PV self-consumption, 1.66% energy savings, and 2% monetary savings, alongside a measurable CO2 reduction • Engagement: A July 2025 workshop provided training, explanations, and feedback opportunities. Users responded very positively, reporting greater interest in how their behavior could impact energy efficiency. The La Balma experience shows how cooperative housing and community engagement can accelerate Europe’s energy transition. Even with a late start, the pilot achieved strong participation, measurable results, and a boost in residents’ awareness and motivation. Spotlight on Spain: La Balma Cooperative Housing Pilot 55th Overview of DE-RISK I NEWSLETTER The DE-RISK pilot at Áras de Brún, University of Galway, is gaining momentum. This Irish demonstration is proving how existing educational buildings can unlock energy flexibility through digitalisation and user-driven strategies essential ingredients for Europe’s transition to smarter energy systems. Since March 2025, the building has been equipped with over 120 IoT devices, including 80 smart Thermostatic Radiator Valves (TRVs) and 40 multi-sensor occupancy nodes measuring temperature, humidity, and room presence. These installations support real-time monitoring and allow for adaptive heating control based on room usage. The pilot’s first strategy focused on applying an occupancy-based heating setback: if a room remains unoccupied for 3 hours, the heating setpoint drops to 14°C. This seemingly simple rule helps reduce overheating and aligns heating demand with actual occupancy. Early issues—such as stuck hydronic TRVs.have been resolved thanks to extensive troubleshooting and remote diagnostics. Beneath the surface, a robust IT architecture now supports this effort. A redundant data pipeline integrates TTN (The Things Network), MQTT messaging, and secured, redundant databases. The semantic data model, developed in partnership with the INSIGHT SFI Centre for Data Analytics (insight-centre.org), lays the foundation for advanced analytics and interoperability across platforms. Visual dashboards are currently under development to provide users and facility managers with intuitive access to room-level data and system performance. A user engagement workshop is planned for early July, combining a webinar, clinic-style poster session, and feedback gathering. This initiative will engage office users, facility staff, and public authorities each with their own priorities ranging from comfort to sustainability reporting. Áras de Brún an SEAI Pathfinder-retrofitted building is also preparing for the next phase: quantifying its flexibility potential. This includes comparing real occupancy patterns with baseline heating profiles and applying simplified forecasting models. Results will inform the design of fair and replicable flexibility services within the broader DE-RISK innovations. With each room and radiator becoming a node in an intelligent network, Áras de Brún is not just being retrofitted it is being reimagined as an active player in Ireland’s clean energy future. Spotlight on Ireland: Áras de Brún Pilot: Smart Heating, Smarter Buildings 6 5th Overview of DE-RISK I NEWSLETTER The DE-RISK project has released its latest policy report. The report provides strategic recommendations for the EU and ten countries including Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Bulgaria, Türkiye, the Netherlands, Romania, France, and Italy on how to accelerate the deployment of Local Flexibility Markets (LFMs). Key highlights include: • Identifying common barriers such as fragmented regulations, weak DSO–TSO coordination, and limited consumer incentives. • Outlining opportunities linked to digitalisation, regulatory sandboxes, and growing societal readiness for energy communities. • Recommending harmonised EU-level frameworks alongside tailored national actions for 2025–2030. This roadmap is designed to support a flexible, resilient, and consumer-driven energy system across Europe. The DE-RISK project has published its Green Paper on Financing Local Flexibility Markets (LFMs), a strategic document exploring how communities, investors, and policymakers can mobilize resources for the energy transition. The paper highlights: • The financing needs for enabling technologies such as smart meters, sensors, controllers, and storage units. • The challenges of traditional financing, including high upfront costs, complex procedures, and limited access for small energy communities. • Innovative solutions like crowdfunding, crowdlending, blended finance, and public-private partnerships that democratize energy investments. • Real-life examples, including the Murcia pilot crowdlending campaign, which successfully raised funds to expand renewable energy installations. By addressing both barriers and opportunities, this Green Paper provides a roadmap for inclusive, community-driven financing models that can accelerate Europe’s clean energy transition. New Report: Policy and Regulatory Recommendations for Local Flexibility Markets New Green Paper: Financing Local Flexibility Markets Latest News from DE-RISK [Click here to read the full report] [Click here to read the full report] 75th Overview of DE-RISK I NEWSLETTER On July 28, 2025, DE-RISK project hosted its final explanatory workshop with end users at the pilot site in Murcia, Spain, organised by partner MIWenergia. The session aimed to address questions about the use of the mobile application provided through the DE-RISK project, as well as to explore broader opportunities arising in the evolving energy sector. Discussions covered a range of topics, including how to take advantage of price variability in dynamic tariffs, participate in energy communities, engage in individual and collective self-consumption of electricity, and benefit from storage equipment. The workshop provided a platform for participants to deepen their understanding of these concepts and their potential applications within their own communities. Participants also shared their reflections on the project and the insights they had gained throughout its implementation. They highlighted the key elements they believe are essential for ensuring that both the community and the wider neighbourhood continue to benefit from energy flexibility in the future. This closing workshop marked an important step in consolidating the knowledge and experiences generated during the project, ensuring that the momentum for community-driven energy solutions is maintained beyond DE-RISK’s formal activities. The DE-RISK Final User Workshop Held On July 28, 2025 News 8 5th Overview of DE-RISK I NEWSLETTER On July 1, 2025, the DERISK project successfully hosted a User Engagement Workshop at the La Balma pilot site in Barcelona, Spain. Organised by R2M Spain, the threehour session brought together residents of La Balma cooperative housing to explore the project’s digital tools and share their perspectives and needs. The workshop centred on gathering detailed feedback on the usability of VisualiCE, DE-RISK’s innovative WebApp visualization tool. This tool is designed to enhance users’ awareness of their energy consumption and encourage active participation in the energy transition. Through dynamic, interactive exercises, participants navigated VisualiCE’s key features. They identified areas for UI improvement and suggested refinements to enhance clarity, accessibility, and overall user experience. To capture the workshop’s immediate impact, attendees completed a survey assessing their awareness of and attitudes toward DERISK initiatives. The results of this survey are expected to provide critical insights into user needs and preferences, guiding the next iteration of VisualiCE development and informing the project’s ongoing community engagement strategy. This event represents a significant milestone in DERISK’s commitment to cocreation and social acceptance, ensuring that enduser input remains at the heart of its energy transition solutions. The DE-RISK User Engagement Workshop Held in Barcelona, Spain on July 1, 2025 95th Overview of DE-RISK I NEWSLETTER