Local energy sharing is no longer a future concept. Across Europe, distributed energy resources are growing fast, communities want more control over how energy is produced and exchanged, and grid operators are under increasing pressure to manage complexity at the local level.
The key question today is not whether peer-to-peer energy trading and flexibility mechanisms can work, but how they can be deployed reliably, at scale, and in real network conditions.
The first year of the INTELLIGENT project focused on answering exactly that question — by building the practical foundations needed for local energy markets that work for users, communities, technology providers, and grid operators alike.
Rather than starting from technology alone, INTELLIGENT began by understanding what local energy markets actually require to function in practice.
Led by the University of Galway, the consortium worked closely with pilot sites and stakeholders to map existing assets, technical architectures, and operational conditions. This was complemented by regulatory and market analysis coordinated by Smart Energy Europe, as well as extensive user and stakeholder research led by AIT Austrian Institute of Technology.
Through surveys, workshops, and data collection activities — supported on the ground by pilot partners such as CFA and AEM — the project captured how communities, grid operators, and service providers view peer-to-peer trading, flexibility, and participation in local markets. These insights now directly shape how INTELLIGENT’s tools are designed and validated.
One of the biggest barriers to scaling local energy trading is the disconnect between market mechanisms and physical grid operation.
During its first year, INTELLIGENT focused on designing a system architecture that explicitly accounts for network constraints, flexibility needs, and interoperability. This work was led by Energy Web, which defined the overall architecture and delivered the first version of the INTELLIGENT ontology — a shared semantic model that enables consistent integration of assets, transactions, grid constraints, and flexibility services.
A key outcome was the development of a shared semantic model that defines how assets, transactions, grid constraints, and flexibility services are represented across the system. This may sound abstract, but in practice it reduces integration risks and makes it possible for different actors — from technology providers to grid operators — to interact using a common language.
Peer-to-peer energy trading often remains confined to small pilots or closed environments. INTELLIGENT took a different approach by building on existing open-source exchange software and extending it to be grid-aware, interoperable, and adaptable to different market setups.
Grid Singularity led the development of the decentralised trading architecture, refining requirements and advancing a pay-as-clear trading mechanism designed to operate under real network conditions. The focus was not on experimentation for its own sake, but on preparing trading logic that can be openly released and reused across different contexts.
This approach supports long-term adoption by avoiding vendor lock-in and allowing communities and operators to adapt the system to their specific needs.
Local energy markets depend heavily on prediction and control — from forecasting generation and demand to optimising flexibility and storage use.
Over the past year, Technical University of Munich developed core software modules covering forecasting, optimisation, flexibility management, and digital twin functionality. These components were built from scratch and integrated into the broader system architecture, rather than operating as standalone tools.
A key milestone was the successful execution of first end-to-end simulations for controlled battery operation, demonstrating how technical intelligence can translate into actionable system behaviour.
Technology alone does not create functioning local energy markets. Trust, transparency, and usability are just as critical.
User research led by AIT Austrian Institute of Technology identified shared and context-specific motivations, barriers, and trust conditions across pilot sites. These insights were translated into user-centred requirements and early interface design concepts that prioritise clarity, control, and understandable benefits — ensuring that future deployments align with how users actually make decisions.
While much of the first year focused on foundations, significant progress was made toward real-world demonstration.
HSLU led the detailed characterisation of pilot sites and the design of validation scenarios, resulting in a structured methodology for testing INTELLIGENT’s solutions under realistic conditions. Pilot partners, including CFA and AEM, supported stakeholder engagement, data access, and deployment planning, ensuring readiness for the next phase.
Where this leaves INTELLIGENT today
After its first year, INTELLIGENT is not a collection of disconnected components or abstract concepts. It is an emerging system shaped by real-world needs, technical constraints, and user realities.
The project now enters its next phase with:
The focus ahead will be on integration, deployment, and learning from operation — turning groundwork into measurable outcomes that can inform future local energy markets across Europe.
