PARITY addresses the “structural inertia” of existing distribution grids by delivering a transactive grid & market framework that will increase the durability and efficiency of the electrical grid and facilitate the penetration of RES beyond 50% of the generation mix in the distribution network. PARITY will go beyond the traditional “top-down” grid management practices by delivering a unique local flexibility market platform through the seamless integration of IoT and blockchain technologies. By delivering a market for automated flexibility exchange based on smart contracts & blockchain, PARITY will facilitate efficient and transparent local flexibility transactions and reward flexibility in a cost-reflective and symmetric manner, through price signals of higher spatio-temporal granularity based on real-time grid operational constraints and available DER flexibility. Secondly, by deploying State-of-the-Art IoT technologies PARITY will offer distributed intelligence (DER profiling) and self-learning/self-organization capabilities (automated real-time distributed control), orchestrated by the cost-reflective flexibility market signals generated by the blockchain market platform. Within PARITY, DERs will form dynamic clusters that essentially comprise self-organized networks of active DER nodes that will efficiently distribute and balance global and local intelligence, enabling real-time aggregated & P2P transactions through enhanced forecasting, optimization and control of DER flexibility. Finally, the PARITY solution includes novel tools for Active Network Management, including an innovative STATCOM and PQ monitoring device, that will enable the DSO to enhance its management capabilities, grid observability and RES hosting capacity. The PARITY solution will be demonstrated in 4 pilot sites around the EU (ES, CH, SE & ES) to validate its effectiveness across climatic, cultural and techno-regulatory conditions.

Aiming at decarbonising the energy systems of geographical islands, MAESHA will deploy the necessary flexibility, storage and energy management solutions for a large penetration of Renewable Energies. Cutting-edge technical systems will be developed and installed, supported by efficient modelling tools and adapted local markets and business frameworks. A community-based approach will be adopted to ensure the constant consideration of local populations’ best interests throughout the project. Putting together 10 SMEs, 3 industrial partners, 2 universities and 6 public organisations from 9 countries, MAESHA gathers strong partners with the needed expertise to develop and disseminate relevant solutions for a universally beneficial energy transition on islands. After establishing the proper use-cases and architecture designs to ensure interoperability (WP1), MAESHA will develop modelling tools from real-time to long-term energy-economy observations (WP2) together with adapted business, market and regulatory frameworks (WP4). In parallel the community-based approach will be launched (WP3). All these activities lay the foundation for the technical development of management systems for aggregating flexibility (WP5) and devices based on synergies with assets of the territories (WP6), optimised together through a flexibility aggregating platform (WP7). After systems integration (WP8), the solutions will be fully demonstrated on Mayotte (WP10) and their replicabilities will be studied in five follower islands (WP10). Dedicated WPs for communication, dissemination (WP11) and management (WP12) will maximize the impacts. With its activities, MAESHA is expected to lead to at least 70% RE penetration and reach more than 90% of Mayotte’s population. Through its strong local implantation and the focus put on replication and dissemination activities, MAESHA will deeply modify insular energy features throughout Europe and its impacts will be felt far beyond the project’s framework.

Gathering 11 African-based partners and 17 Europeans with offices or subsidiaries in Africa, the ENERGICA project is ambitiously fostering the collaboration between partners of both continents on energy access and sustainable energy development. Developing innovative and tailored solutions on productive use systems through innovative nano-grids in rural Madagascar in WP4; low-tech efficient biogas system, coupled with water purification demonstrated in peri-urban Sierra Leone in WP5; and solar powered e-mobility solution for boda-boda in urban Kenya in WP6, ENERGICA addresses a wide range of issues and provides solutions. From energy production, local renewable value chain development and e-mobility also providing flexibility services to the grid, ENERGICA is applicable to many different technical and socio-economic contexts. Built upon local stakeholders and through a co-creation methodology that will take additional local stakeholders’ inputs into account (WP2), ENERGICA aims to reach a powerful market uptake and wide replication (WP9) during and after the end of the project, with strong environmental and socio-economic local benefits (WP8). The innovative business models developed in WP7 will support this movement for local market uptake while some of the solutions will even rely upon local production and manufacturing, and local business and workforce participating to capacity building activities (WP3). Developing solutions that are based on renewable energy (mainly solar and biogas), and studying projected climate change impact evolution in Africa, ENERGICA will strengthen the joint EU-AU climate change and sustainable energy partnership effort and contribute to fighting climate change as well as improving health and social conditions in the demonstration sites and beyond. ENERGICA will demonstrate its solutions and gather data for 24 out of the 48 months that it will last and will directly impact positively more than 1500 local stakeholders across Africa.