After three and a half years of intensive research, development, and validation, the project FlexCHESS has come to a close, marking a milestone in the optimization of European energy systems. This initiative, funded by the Horizon Europe program, has proven to be a key component in the transition toward smarter, more resilient, and more sustainable power grids.
How can you turn uncertainty into an advantage?
Renewable energy faces a key challenge: intermittency. When production does not match demand, the lack of large-scale storage makes it difficult to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. To achieve true decarbonization, consumers need to take an active role in coordinating consumption and production.
This is where energy flexibility is crucial: the FlexCHESS project has revolutionized this model through virtual storage systems and hybrid assets (electric and thermal) that dynamically adjust to demand, weather, and market signals.
A smart platform for comprehensive energy management
FlexCHESS is a management platform designed to make it much easier to monitor energy resources. Thanks to its modular system, this tool allows users to manage everything from short-term consumption forecasting to direct participation in electricity markets, optimizing how energy is used and distributed at all times.
This solution has proven its effectiveness in real-world situations during its testing phase, successfully processing nearly 60,000 market signals at the five pilot sites located in Spain, Slovenia, Italy, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.
The Spanish pilot executed in Bullas (Murcia)
Located within the Bullas Local Energy Community, this pilot project has served as the setting where Voltiva Energy, in partnership with La Solar, has tested the FlexCHESS solution to facilitate the implementation of energy communities, with the goal of extending this technology to the rest of the community’s members in the future.
With 18 active participants (15 residential units, three commercial spaces, and one municipal building), the project integrated IoT technology to enable real-time monitoring of energy consumption, solar power generation, batteries, and HVAC systems.
The results from the Spanish pilot are very positive, confirming that this energy management model is fully scalable and adaptable to other environments:
- Operational capacity: A total of 42,621 flexibility service activations were carried out, representing 76% of all activations across all project pilots.
- Peak Load Management: Peak consumption was reduced by between 25% and 30% during the tests, significantly easing the load on the power grid.
- Maximizing self-consumption: Thanks to smart optimization, the self-consumption rate exceeded 70%, reducing energy imports from the grid by 30% and achieving a self-sufficiency rate of 30%.
The FlexCHESS Solution: From Pilot to Market
FlexCHESS has concluded its project after successfully validating its energy management platform, laying the groundwork for a new way of understanding electricity consumption. The technology developed is now operational, proven, and ready for commercial deployment.
The goal now is to implement this solution. The flexibility models successfully tested in the pilot countries are ready to be replicated in new municipalities and settings, ensuring that this technology becomes a key component of the European power system.
With this validated technology, the energy sector now has a proven, ready-to-use tool for optimizing energy consumption on a large scale, accelerating the transition to a more flexible, responsible, and responsive electric system that meets today's needs.
