Between 7-8 of October, the X-FLEX consortium officially started its activities with a General Assembly hosted by ETRA GROUP at the Valencia Institute for Business Competitiveness (IVACE).
The opening session counted with the welcome of IVACE’s General Director, Júlia Company Sanus, and its Head of Unit of EU Programs & Servicies, Francisco Ferrando.
In total, more than 30 experts from the 12 European entities participating in this international research effort met during two days in different workshops and sessions in order to define the demonstration activities that will be run by the project during the next four years.
Besides, other Horizon 2020 related projects were invited to showcase their developments, such as WiseGRID, CoordiNet, INVADE, FLEXCoop, MEISTER, Holisder and Compile.
X-FLEX, which means “Integrated energy solutions and new market mechanisms for an eXtended FLEXibility of the European grid”, is a project funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and led by ETRA GROUP.
Up to now, the projects and research activities in this area have been focused mainly on specific energy sources and actors, considering only a very limited and isolated part of the distribution network, leaving aside all the opportunities existing throughout the flexibility offered by the energy value chain.
However, X-FLEX will propose a new concept that will integrate and create synergies among all energy flexibility sources and technologies, promoting cooperation of all the actors of the smart grid and energy market, in an efficient and cost-effective manner. This flexibility will make it possible to maintain a stable and secure electricity system with a growing role of variable renewable generation, yet resilient to extreme climate events.
X-FLEX project proposes a set of efficient, cost-effective and integrated solutions, which will be tested in real conditions in 4 pilot sites in 3 EU Member states (Bulgaria, Slovenia and Greece), with different needs and socioeconomic and technological boundaries, involving multiple flexibility assets (batteries, power to heat/cold, vehicle to grid and other storage solutions) and all complementary actors of the energy network (DSO, TSO, microgrid operator, utilities, flexibility providers, local communities).
