Plug&plAy eneRgy ManagEmeNt for hybrID Energy Storage

Project Information

PARMENIDES

Grant agreement ID: 101096453

DOI

10.3030/101096453

Project closed

EC signature date 7 December 2022

Start date 1 January 2023

End date 31 December 2025

Funded under

• Climate, Energy and Mobility

Total cost

€ 3 626 814,50

EU contribution

€ 2 990 477,00

Coordinated by

AIT AUSTRIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY GMBH
Austria

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - PARMENIDES (Plug&plAy eneRgy ManagEmeNt for hybrID Energy Storage)

Reporting period: 2024-07-01 to 2025-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The PARMENIDES project develops, deploys, and validates innovative, interoperable, and secure concepts and solutions for providing flexibility services through the use of Hybrid Energy Storage Systems (HESS). Four Specific Technical Objectives (STOs) have been defined:

STO1: Identify key end-users, stakeholders, and use cases, deriving technical, economic, regulatory, and social requirements.
PARMENIDES will conduct end-user research with 30+ participants, including energy communities and key stakeholders, to define 8 use cases (3 implemented in pilots). The project will engage stakeholders in participatory design to optimize both technological and business approaches.

STO2: Define an interoperable, secure ICT architecture and a generic ontology for energy communities and HESS flexibility.
PARMENIDES will develop a system architecture based on existing frameworks, sharing insights with collaborative initiatives. The PARMENIDES Energy Community Ontology (PECO) will describe energy communities and support virtualization of at least 6 storage technologies within the Hybrid Energy Storage System (HESS).

STO3: Develop an ontology-based, plug & play energy management system for various storage technologies, time scales, and aggregation levels.
PARMENIDES will create EMS4HESS, managing virtual storage technologies across different time resolutions and levels. The system will ensure fast integration, interoperability, scalability, and use AI-based modules for forecasting.

STO4: Demonstrate solutions in diverse pilots, evaluating technical, economic, and social potential.
PARMENIDES EMS4HESS will be tested in Austrian and Swedish pilots, with trials across different seasons and a virtual environment for interoperability and scalability analysis. The validation will include technical, economic, and social aspects, leading to recommendations and informing standardization efforts.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

WP2:
- Engagement Models: Developed a replicable, human-centered governance model using behavioral dashboards to increase citizen participation and trust in Energy Communities (RECs).
- Efficiency Gains: Validated that transparent data visualization significantly boosts energy self-sufficiency while reducing grid dependency and costs.
- Inclusivity: Integrated gender-responsive and comfort-sensitive optimization to ensure social equity and long-term community resilience.

WP3
- ICT Framework: Established a secure, SGAM-based architecture tailored for diverse pilot sites.
- PECO Ontology: Created the PARMENIDES Energy Community Ontology (PECO), a semantic layer supporting six storage technologies (batteries, EV, hydrogen, thermal mass, etc.) and five constraint categories.
- Standardization & Security: Delivered vendor-neutral models for Hybrid Energy Storage Systems (HESS) and implemented a robust Privacy and Security Plan (PSP).

WP4
- EMS4HESS Platform: Refactored the Energy Management System for enhanced modularity and multi-vector optimization.
- Virtual & Field Validation: Developed a virtual lab for specification testing and successfully demonstrated closed-loop operations in Austrian pilots, optimizing assets within grid limits.

WP5
- Pilot Success: * Austria: Validated Grid Capacity Management to improve self-consumption via BESS and EV charging.
- Sweden: Demonstrated flexibility strategies that balance grid activation with user comfort and environmental impact.
- Cybersecurity: Conducted extensive training and risk analysis to ensure all systems are secure and replicable.

WP6
- High Visibility: Achieved a 25% increase in social presence and received prestigious award nominations (ISGAN 2025, Houska 2026).
- Policy & Standards: Actively influenced international standards (IEC, ISO) and defined regulatory pathways for the market introduction of HESS solutions.

WP7
- Market Readiness: Identified Key Exploitable Results (KERs) with clear ownership and business models.
- Replication Tooling: Developed a quantitative tool to assess replication potential across different European regulatory frameworks.
- Post-Project Impact: Initiated ongoing exploitation through scientific publications, AI integration, and the application of lessons learned to new EU initiatives.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The PARMENIDES project focused on developing and validating innovative, interoperable, and secure solutions for providing flexibility services through Hybrid Energy Storage Systems (HESS). Below is an overview of its relevant results and potential impacts:

The project achieved its core mission by delivering a functional, validated ecosystem for HESS. Key results include:
- EMS4HESS (Key Exploitable Result): A new generation of Energy Management Systems (EMS) capable of managing diverse storage technologies (e.g. batteries, heat pumps, electric vehicles) as a single virtual "Hybrid Energy Storage System".
- PECO (PARMENIDES Energy Community Ontology): A semantic interoperability layer that captures six storage technologies and five constraint categories (technical, economic, regulatory, behavioral, and social). It simplifies the onboarding of diverse energy assets regardless of the manufacturer.
- Pilot Demonstrations - Austrian Pilot: Operationalized use cases on grid-friendly energy communities with interactive dashboard screens (e.g. ecosystem overview, battery storage, and weather-context screens) to improve community transparency.
- Pilot Demonstration - Swedish Pilot: Validated behavioral and usability requirements, particularly regarding thermal comfort and user acceptance of comfort–energy trade-offs using Reinforcement Learning (RL).
- User-Centric Design: Developed gender-responsive design guidelines, recognizing that "comfort" and "trust" are experienced differently across gender lines (e.g. addressing women's preferences for warmer indoor conditions).
- Regulatory & Security Alignment: Adapted to the NIS2 Directive by upgrading system logging and supply-chain security in the Austrian pilot.

Potential Impacts - The project's solutions contribute to several long-term environmental and economic goals:
- Climate Change Mitigation: The RL-based control strategies allow for grid flexibility while tracking CO2 emissions, enabling users to make informed decisions that align with decarbonization targets.
- Resource Efficiency: By using a "virtual abstraction" of existing assets (like building thermal mass and hot water tanks), PARMENIDES reduces the need for new chemical batteries and raw materials.
- Grid Stability: The solutions mitigate voltage rises and reverse power flows in low-voltage grids, preventing premature infrastructure degradation and avoiding costly physical grid reinforcements.
- Market Growth & Scalability: The flexibility market is estimated at €71 billion. PARMENIDES supports this by providing vendor-neutral information models that prevent vendor lock-in and encourage SMEs to deploy storage solutions.
- Standardization: Results - particularly PECO and the system architecture - are being used to inform future European standardization work (e.g. through IEC and ISO/IEC).