SS03 The Future of Power Flexibility

ABSTRACT

This session will provide an overview of the future of flexibility in power grids and established power markets, as seen through the lens of the Horizon Europe projects STREAM, X-FLEX and OPENTUNITY. Speakers will share their experiences and insights from their respective projects, highlighting some of the key findings and innovations that are emerging in the field of flexibility. Below, we list the projects that will be involved and their brief description:
– Horizon Europe project STREAM (https://stream-he-project.eu/): The ambition of the STREAM project (STREAM) is the creation of an innovative and robust flexibility ecosystem (“STREAM Ecosystem”) on the low voltage (LV) grid side of existing power markets connecting data, technologies, stakeholders and markets, thus facilitating the flexibility provision.
– Horizon Europe project OPENTUNITY: OPENTUNITY aims to create a flexibility ecosystem reducing interoperability barriers and favouring the use of standards in order to decarbonize EU grids and put the end-user in the spotlight. It will support grid operators, prosumers, market actors via innovative methodologies, backed by advanced, interoperable software modules, in order to provide them with new features and related to boosting flexibility in prosumer’s environment and improving the grid operation management for grid operators. OPENTUNITY will adapt and integrate an energy specialized blockchain as a distributed, fast and reliable energy dataspace in which actors from different fields will share services and find synergies among them in order to create a reliable energy system in which different verticals (electromobility, gas, OEM etc.) will be able to seamlessly collaborate with each other.
– Horizon 2020 project X-FLEX (http://xflexproject.eu/): X-FLEX project will design, develop and demonstrate a set of tools in order to integrate the emerging decentralized ecosystem of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) and flexibility systems into the existing European energy system, in an efficient and cost-effective manner, in order to create more stable, secure and sustainable smart grid, with special attention to extreme weather conditions.
An opportunity for attendees to ask questions and engage in a dialogue with the experts. Overall, this session will provide attendees with a comprehensive overview of the future of flexibility in power grids and power markets, as seen through the eyes of the Horizon Europe projects. The session will be of interest to anyone working in the energy industry, including utilities, technology providers, policy makers, and academics. Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing the industry, and the latest trends and technologies that are driving innovation and growth.

CHAIR

Tomi Medved, UL FE

SPEAKERS

Tomi Medved, UL FE

Bojan Stojanović, PETROL

Jan Jeriha, UL FE

Edin Lakić, IRI UL

SHORT BIO

	Tomi Medved did his PhD studies at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, the University of Ljubljana. He is Head of the Laboratory of Energy Policy (LEST) where he leads several industrial and EU projects. His vision for successful energy transformation is in collective actions of all stakeholders as there is no “one solution fits all” and flexibility in all fields is necessary. Therefore, he is focussing on connecting LEST with various industries, policy makers, universities, and other stakeholders and developing and testing new solutions that will enable an energy transition and sustainable development. His main research topics are Smart Grids, renewable integration, demand response optimization, electricity markets modelling and policy design.
	Bojan Stojanović has more than 15 years of experience in the international sustainability arena working on nature protection, sustainable business practices, renewable energy sources and mitigating and adapting to climate change. Currently working in Petrol d.d., Ljubljana as Head of EU projects, Bojan is responsible for developing and managing innovative energy projects (Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe) and ensuring that developed solutions find their way to the market. Bojan holds a Master in Business Administration (MBA) and is representative of Petrol d.d. in different associations such as TECES and CER.
	Jan Jeriha completed his master’s study at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Ljubljana in 2018. Jan joined the Laboratory of Energy Policy (LEST) in March 2018 as a researcher and as a PhD student later in 2018. In the first years of his professional career he was active in two international research projects CROSSBOW and COMPILE and since October 2022, he is the Deputy coordinator of the Horizon Europe project STREAM. In his research, he focuses on the common European balancing markets and local flexibility markets. Since 2018 he is also the president of the Slovenian Chapter of the IEEE PES (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Power & Energy Society).
	Edin Lakić, M.EE, got his Master’s degree at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Ljubljana in 2012 and is employed as the Assistant Director of Innovation Institute for Innovation and Development of University of Ljubljana. He is active in projects with the EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) and Horizon Europe projects EBENTO, OPENTUNITY, 3DIVERSE and STREAM. Previously he worked at the power exchange BSP SouthPool as a Trading supervisor, Head of Key Account & Sales Management, and market specialist on several projects. Later on, as a senior researcher at Laboratory of Energy Policy, he was working on topics of smart grids, RES integration, operation of power systems, energy markets, and energy efficiency and was involved in EU projects CONSEED, COMPILE, CROSSBOW and X-FLEX.