The INTELLIGENT project has been featured in the newly published 2026 BRIDGE Brochure, an annual publication that brings together Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe projects developing innovative solutions for smart grids, energy storage and the digitalisation of the energy sector.
Rather than being only a catalogue of EU-funded projects, the BRIDGE Brochure reflects one of Europe’s most important collaborative initiatives supporting the clean energy transition. It showcases how research and innovation projects jointly contribute to overcoming common technical, regulatory and market challenges while accelerating the deployment of innovative energy solutions across Europe.
Launched by the European Commission in 2016, BRIDGE is a collaboration platform bringing together Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe projects working in the fields of smart grids, energy storage, islands and digitalisation.
Today, the initiative includes 205 projects, of which 112 are currently active, involving more than 2,100 organisations from over 27 countries, supported through more than €1.6 billion of EU funding.
The primary objective of BRIDGE is to facilitate the exchange of knowledge, practical experience and lessons learned between projects. By bringing together researchers, technology providers, system operators, policymakers and industry representatives, the initiative develops coordinated recommendations that help remove barriers to innovation and support the wider deployment of digital energy solutions across Europe.
As highlighted in the Foreword of the 2026 brochure, BRIDGE has become an important point of connection for projects addressing some of the key challenges of the energy transition, including: interoperability, flexibility, data sharing, electricity market design, consumer and citizen engagement, integration of distributed energy resources, digitalisation and artificial intelligence for energy systems, scaling innovative energy solutions from demonstration to market deployment.
The initiative is organised around four thematic Working Groups that serve as permanent collaboration platforms between projects: Data Management, Regulation, Consumer and Citizen Engagement, Business Models.
Within these groups, project representatives exchange knowledge, discuss common challenges, prepare recommendations for policymakers and contribute to shaping future research and innovation priorities for Europe’s energy sector.
Beyond the Working Groups, BRIDGE also organises annual General Assemblies, thematic workshops and collaborative activities that foster cooperation between project.
As one of the Horizon Europe projects featured in the 2026 BRIDGE Brochure, INTELLIGENT contributes to the BRIDGE community by developing an interoperable, open-source peer-to-peer energy trading platform that combines blockchain technology, artificial intelligence and user-centred design to support local energy communities and flexibility markets. The project factsheet, within brochure, highlights INTELLIGENT‘s vision, expected impacts and Key Exploitable Results (KERs), including interoperable data exchange, AI-driven energy management, secure privacy-preserving data handling and innovative business models for local energy markets.
The brochure also presents INTELLIGENT‘s four demonstration pilots in Switzerland, Portugal and Ireland, illustrating how the project’s technologies will be validated in diverse real-world environments to demonstrate secure, interoperable and citizen-centred peer-to-peer energy trading solutions.
INTELLIGENT‘s involvement in BRIDGE extends well beyond its project profile in the brochure.
Project partners actively participate in BRIDGE Working Groups, contributing expertise to discussions on business models, regulation, interoperability and citizen engagement. Through the annual BRIDGE General Assembly and thematic workshops, INTELLIGENT exchanges experiences with other Horizon Europe projects, identifies opportunities for collaboration and contributes to the development of common recommendations supporting Europe’s energy transition.
INTELLIGENT is proud to contribute to this collaborative ecosystem and looks forward to continuing its engagement with the BRIDGE community throughout the project, strengthening synergies that support the development of secure, interoperable and citizen-focused digital energy markets.
Explore the full BRIDGE 2026 Brochure here.
