As a result of energy transition and decarbonisation policies promoted at national and European level, the need for energy flexibility in Europe is set to grow dramatically. The FLEXIA project (acronym for: local FLEssibility services enabled by interoperable digital platforms X Aggregated Industries) was created to meet this need, exploiting the untapped potential of the industrial sector by promoting collaboration between six Italian partners who bring digital, engineering and scientific expertise to the table.
The daily demand for energy flexibility in Europe is set to increase, with an estimated growth of 133% by 2030 and up to 250% by 2050. In this context, demand-side flexibility (DSF), particularly industrial demand-side flexibility (iDSF), represents a low marginal cost resource that is still largely untapped, despite the industrial sector being the third largest energy consumer in the EU. The implementation of iDSF could reduce peak load by between 4.7% and 7.1%, contributing to the stability of the energy system, but its development is currently hampered by economic, regulatory, technological and organisational barriers.
In this context, FLEXIA aims to support the aggregation of different Energy Management Systems (EMSs) with the goal of optimising the flexibility of collaborative demand from industries in close physical proximity.
The FLEXIA Knowledge Hub will serve as a single point of reference for a wide range of information and resources, including FLEXIA-Assistant, an innovative approach to assessing the flexibility potential of industries and performing an initial validation of their accessibility in different flexibility markets, using a standardised metric. Finally, the reliability of energy distribution increasingly depends on the cybersecurity of the physical and digital infrastructure used. Consequently, a robust cybersecurity posture is essential, not only for the resilience of energy distribution systems, but also to ensure compliance with European regulations, such as European Directive 2022/2555 (NIS2).
FLEXIA solutions will be analysed and supported at a pilot site in Storo (Province of Trento, Italy), in a collaboration between EMS developers, DSOs, industries and research centres (in the energy and digital sectors), laying the foundations for the future use of aggregated industrial EMSs for local grid flexibility services.
Hydroalp’s role in FLEXIA
Hydroalp will be responsible for the development of the EMS system interface.
FLEXIA is developed by a multidisciplinary consortium of six Italian partners:
- Maps S.p.A. (Capofila)
- Consorzio Elettrico di Storo, Società Cooperativa (CEDIS)
- Fondazione Bruno Kessler con i Centri Sustainable Energy e Cybersecurity
- HYDROALP S.r.l.
- INNOVA Group S.r.l.
- RINA Consulting S.p.A.
More information about the project:
Project Acronym: FLEXIA
Full title: Local FLExibility services enabled by interoperable digital platforms X Aggregated Industries
Funding programme:
MASE – Italian Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security
Strategic area: Data and network digitalisation
Topic: Interoperable digital platforms
Project coordinator: Maps S.p.A.
Starting date: 01st October 2025
Duration: 15 months
Project code: MI_DDR_00210
Contacts