Facilitating the adoption of energy flexibility services in buildings and industry

The EU-funded INDEPENDENT project is developing an interoperable software platform for standard compliant energy management systems in buildings and industry.

The European energy system is undergoing a fundamental shift driven by decarbonisation, decentralisation and digitalisation. Amidst increasing reliance on renewable energy sources, managing demand side flexibility has become essential to balance variable supply and optimise grid operations.

Despite its potential, large-scale adoption of demand side flexibility remains limited due to market fragmentation, integration complexity and lack of interoperability.

To address these issues, the INDEPENDENT project aims to facilitate the deployment of customer and aggregator energy management systems (CEMS and AEMS) that are scalable, secure and compliant with European standards.

The project’s vision is to enable seamless, multi-market deployment of flexibility services, supporting energy efficiency and sustainability across the built environment and industry.

Integrated development and operations platform

The INDEPENDENT platform is built as an integrated development and operations platform consisting of three core components:

1. CEMS and AEMS development packages: Built on a microservice architecture with open interfaces, fully compliant with EN 50491-12, IEC 62746, and SAREF ontology and compatible with over 40 energy management systems and 60 smart appliance vendors.
2. Operations and deployment support package: Provides a Gaia-X-compatible data space for secure data governance, includes tools for investment planning, system configuration and monitoring, and designed for seamless integration with legacy systems and existing platforms.
3. Advanced machine learning tools: Hybrid modelling and neural networks for precise forecasting of loads and flexibility potential, probabilistic bidding algorithms for multi-market energy participation and support for automated control strategies to optimise energy usage in real-time.

First validation cycle started in Finland, Sweden, Slovenia and Germany

The INDEPENDENT platform is currently undergoing its first validation cycle at four pilot sites in Finland, Sweden, Slovenia and Germany. These pilots collectively aim to harness 1.4MWh of flexibility capacity across residential, commercial, and industrial buildings and sites. Each pilot connects to real-time flexibility markets, including wholesale energy markets, TSO markets and DSO markets.

Through these pilots, the platform demonstrates interoperability across varied energy systems and appliances, scalability through modular deployment and economic viability of demand side flexibility services in real market conditions.

Importantly, the pilots show that the platform supports simultaneous participation in multiple markets, addressing a major limitation of current flexibility systems that are confined to market silos.

Our goal is to demonstrate how flexible energy use can create measurable value for energy service providers, technology vendors, and end users alike.

A validated pathway toward large-scale demand side flexibility

The INDEPENDENT project offers a validated pathway toward large-scale deployment of demand side flexibility services across Europe. By focusing on standard compliance, interoperability, and cost-effective integration, the platform addresses longstanding barriers to adoption.

Key takeaways include:
• Verified interoperability with dozens of EMS and smart appliance vendors.
• Demonstrated real-time flexibility in multiple European markets.
• Reduced complexity and cost of integration with legacy systems.
• Support for multi-market bidding and optimisation.

As the energy landscape evolves, the INDEPENDENT platform positions itself as a foundation for future-ready, sustainable, and smart energy systems.

Future development will focus on expanding platform compatibility, increasing automation, and preparing for scalability and replicability beyond pilot countries.

For more details, visit the official project website independent-project.eu

About the author

Markus Taumberger is Research Director at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Project Coordinator for the INDEPENDENT and RESONANCE projects. He holds a Diplom-Ingenieur degree in Electrical Engineering from the Technical University of Munich and has worked as a Senior Software Designer for embedded systems at the engineering consultancy SWECO PIC.