New European Project Aims to Increase Consumers’ Involvement in the Energy Market by Using AI

Nearly 80% of Europeans aren’t involved in the energy transition, often because they don’t know how. Digital tools can make it easier for people to actively participate and support the shift to a greener future, but consumers still lack user-friendly solutions. Leading energy industry and research collaborators from across Europe are launching the EU-DREAM project this month to accelerate innovation in digital tools and enhance the adoption of digital services in the energy market.

The EU-DREAM project stands for Effective Uptake of Digital Services to Repower European Consumers and Communities as Active Participants in Energy Transition and Markets and focuses on improving consumer interaction with the energy market. It aims to simplify complex energy management processes and enhance customer awareness, trust, and confidence through the introduction of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) –based assistant and a Natural Language Processing (NLP) intermediary.

The project is led by the University of Porto (Portugal) and 16 other collaborators from nine countries, Ireland included. The project is set to develop next-generation energy services, solutions, and products, fully tested and demonstrated in six living labs (LLs) across six EU countries: Portugal, Belgium, Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Denmark. Each LL will be focusing on different aspects of energy innovation:

• LL1 (Coimbra, Portugal): AI-powered renewable energy communities
• LL2 (Genk, Belgium): Addressing energy poverty and impacts on vulnerable consumers
• LL3 (Northern Italy, Italy): Energy flexibility and interoperability at the residential scale
• LL4 (Dublin, Ireland): Empowering consumers for energy management
• LL5 (Thessaloniki and other cities, Greece): Smart energy services for multi-energy vectors
• LL6 (Aalborg, Denmark): DT-enabled residential IoT microgrid

“These innovative tools will translate intricate energy market details into everyday language, making energy management accessible and understandable. The AI-based assistant will act as an energy attorney for users, optimizing energy settings according to individual preferences, while the NLP intermediary will facilitate seamless communication in layman’s terms,” explained João Catalão, full professor, Faculty of Engineering at the University of Porto (Portugal).

The Irish LL4, led by SSE Airtricity in collaboration with EPRI Europe and DCSix Technologies, aims to address consumers’ ability to optimise energy usage in Ireland through real-time data analysis and AI algorithms, ensuring efficient usage and minimizing grid reliance. “Innovations that help with an equitable, affordable clean energy transition are key to meeting net-zero targets,” said Mário Couto, technical leader at EPRI Europe. “We are pleased to work with SSE Airtricity and DCSix Technologies on the lab, which could provide consumers with the tools needed as part of an effective energy transformation.”

Additionally, a Digital Twin (DT) of households will be created using real-time data from sensors, allowing for precise monitoring and optimization of energy use. These household DTs will integrate into broader community DTs, providing valuable insights for new market designs and consumer-oriented business models.

The project, from July 2024 to December 2027, is funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe program, under agreement no. 101160614.

For more information about EU-DREAM and its initiatives, please visit https://www.linkedin.com/company/eu-dream/.