Even though the potential of 5G technology is well known, having it massively deployed and available to end-users is not an easy task. To unlock all of 5G’s use cases at scale, smaller radio equipment and antennas (Small Cells) must be deployed in a dense manner across closer to end users. However, there is a catch: it is currently very difficult for MNOs to be able to deploy this equipment at scale, within public spaces. Thus, a major obstacle must be overcome to ultimately unlock massive deployments and adoption: a common platform connecting both Infrastructure Owners (such as, but not limited to, Municipalities) and entities which are in dire need of having proper licensing and authorisation to install new or exploit readyto-be-used 5G equipment, easing the process for site acquisition, asset and network management, in the most transparent and simple way. 5GaaS intends to develop and launch a new product in the form of a decentralised marketplace for the telecom ecosystem, under a new Joint Venture. This new platform is the culmination of three major components, two of them currently already available in the market : a centralised marketplace for site leasing and tenant management, from Ubiwhere, and dRAX, from Accelleran, an interoperable, standards-based and software-focused implementation of 5G networks. The other innovative component will come out of H2020 5GCity project, to which 5GaaS partners have collaboratively contributed to by building an automated 5G network slicing engine for Neutral Hosts. 5GaaS expands these layers, implementing a decentralised marketplace connecting the whole 5G value-chain of stakeholders such as MNOs, site owners, system integrators and hardware and software vendors, using blockchain technology. During the project, the consortium will focus on pilot activities to showcase the benefits and capabilities of said platform, having it deployed across a total of 25 sites, in 5 different European cities.

The DOMINOES project aims to enable the discovery and development of new demand response, aggregation, grid management and peer-to-peer trading services by designing, developing and validating a transparent and scalable local energy market solution. The market can be leveraged to share local value, increase renewable energy accessibility and make better use of local grids by Distribution System Operators (DSO), Prosumers/Consumers, Energy Retailers and other key stakeholders. The project will show how DSOs can dynamically and actively manage grid balance in the emerging future where microgrids, ultra-distributed generation and energy independent communities will be prevalent. Best value will only emerge if these resources and stakeholders can be connected to both DSO activities and the centralized market mechanism. The project will establish solutions for this challenge by addressing the following steps: 1. Design and develop a local energy market architecture 2. Develop and demonstrate ICT components enabling the local market concept 3. Develop and demonstrate balancing and demand response services supporting the local markets 4. Design and validate local market enabled business models 5. Analyze and develop solutions for secure data handling related to local market enabled transactions With these steps, the DOMINOES project is able to address all the requirements of the LCE-01-2017 call. The project will deliver 1. new business models for demand response and virtual power plant (VPP) operations; 2. tools and technology validation for demand response services; 3. services based on smart metering; 4. methods to utilize VPPs and microgrids as active balancing assets; 5. secure data handling procedures in local markets. These results will be validated in three validation sites in Portugal and Finland. A DSO environment in Évora (Portugal), a VPP site distributed across bank branches in Portugal and a microgrid site in Lappeenranta (Finland).

This project aims to design and develop novel Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools and techniques that facilitate scalable and secure information systems and data exchange between Transmission System Operator (TSO) and Distribution System Operator (DSO). The three novel aspects of ICT tools and techniques to be developed in the project are: scalability – ability to deal with new users and increasingly larger volumes of information and data; security – protection against external threats and attacks; and interoperability –information exchange and communications based on existing and emerging international smart grid ICT standards. The project focuses on TSO-DSO interoperability. While TSO-TSO interoperability is currently well established by ENTSO-E through implementation of the Common Grid Model Exchange System, TSO-DSO interoperability will also benefit future TSO-TSO interoperability. In this context the project will also consider DSO to other Market-participants (DSOs, Aggregators, Distributed Energy Resource Operators, Micro-grid Operators) and information or data access portals that enable business processes involving relevant actors in the electrical power sector. Beyond state-of-the-art progress that will be achieved: Fully defined interface specifications for TSO-DSO information exchange interfaces based on Use Case analysis and IEC 61970/61968/62325 standards to support highly automated information exchange and network analysis. Fully defined interface specifications for information exchange between DSOs and market participants based on Use Case analysis and IEC 61850 and IEC 62325 standards to support highly automated information exchanges. Role-based access control that securely accommodates new data requirements and unbundling processes. A specified suite of ICT protocols and integration with the defined interfaces. Proof of Concept using field tests and demonstration with industry specification at both TSO and DSO levels.

To reach net-zero emissions by 2050, annual clean energy deployment needs to triple by 2030. Two major challenges hinder progress: grid operators lack the tools to manage distributed energy resources effectively, and citizens are not equipped to effectively participate in energy markets, particularly in peer-to-peer trading, which would foster individual investment in DERs. While the EU has established a legal framework for energy communities, its implementation has been restrictive, leading to energy communities based on predetermined, community-level prices and effectively peer-to-market rather than true P2P trading. The INTELLIGENT project will provide advanced P2P technology and demonstrate its benefits in 4 diverse EU communities to encourage regulators in EU member states to empower more advanced local energy sharing and trading. INTELLIGENT’s comprehensive P2P trading infrastructure includes interoperable decentralised energy exchange components, secure data exchange, and optimised trading and flexibility management for citizens and grid operators. These tools will be open source and protocol and regulation-agnostic, customisable for specific market requirements.The project leverages and extends the capabilities of the GSY DEX, an open-source P2P exchange software, which employs blockchain technology to enable grid-aware, secure, and automated exchange while fully accounting for network constraints. Innovations centres on a bottom-up, asset-based energy market design with sophisticated, AI/ML and blockchain-powered trading and flexibility mechanisms, supported by dynamic grid fee models and interoperability with grid operators, asset management and other related services. . INTELLIGENT's goal is to advance P2P energy trading technology, making it more accessible, secure, and efficient to optimise the economic and environmental benefits for citizens, while supporting grid operators to better address grid stability and congestion management.

Critical infrastructure (CI) provides the essential functions and services that support European societal, economic and environmental systems. As both natural and man-made disaster and crises situations become more common place, the need to ensure the resilience of CI so that it is capable of withstanding, adapting and recovering from adverse events is paramount. Moving resilience from a conceptual understanding to applied, operational measures that integrate best practice from the related realm of risk management and vulnerability assessment is the focus of the RESILENS project. RESILENS (Realising European ReSILiencE for CritIcaL INfraStructure) will develop a European Resilience Management Guideline (ERMG) to support the practical application of resilience to all CI sectors. Accompanying the ERMG will be a Resilience Management Matrix and Audit Toolkit which will enable a resilience score to be attached to an individual CI, organisation (e.g. CI provider) and at different spatial scales (urban, regional, national and transboundary) which can then be iteratively used to direct users to resilience measures that will increase their benchmarked future score. Other resilience methods including substitution processes and measures to tackle cascading effects will also be developed. The ERMG and resilience management methods will be tested and validated through stakeholder engagement, table-top exercises and three large-scale pilots (transport CI, electricity CI and water CI). The ERMG and accompanying resilience methods will be hosted on an interactive web based platform, the RESILENS Decision Support Platform (RES-DSP). The RES-DSP will also host an e-learning hub that will provide further guidance and training on CI resilience. Overall, RESILENS aims to increase and optimise the uptake of resilience measures by CI providers and guardians, first responders, civil protection personnel and wider societal stakeholders of Member States and Associated Countries.