Periodic Reporting for period 2 - HESTIA (Holistic dEmand response Services for European residenTIAl communities)
Reporting period: 2022-05-01 to 2024-09-30
HESTIA aims to provide a cost-effective solution for the next-generation DR services which will leverage the consumer engagement, energy and non-energy services, while dealing with both energy supply and demand side in a holistic manner. HESTIA intends to engage with residential consumers representing a still largely untapped sector, while enabling them to play an active role in flexibility sharing and grid balancing. HESTIA will enable residential DR services through: (i) exploitation of energy demand flexibility by engaging the consumers in demand side management activities, and (ii) valorization of energy efficiency in multi-carrier energy dispatching and optimal operation of building systems. HESTIA will exploit the consumer engagement as part of cooperative DR strategy at the community level, i.e. clusters of individual consumers and prosumers. To motivate the consumers to actively participate, HESTIA will leverage the financial, environmental and social drivers, while cross-fertilizing them to maximize the impact. HESTIA will involve the residents in the designing of the solutions through participatory codesign processes. HESTIA will create community engagement methodology and organizational tools with a high acceptance, that can be replicated and provide the corresponding tailored toolsets for a broader rollout. HESTIA will exploit the aggregated energy resource flexibility at the demand-side, in terms of cumulative energy consumption, distributed energy generation and storage, to better manage the disparity between energy demand, RES availability and grid requirements. User-personalized services will be delivered via a fully service-oriented, flexible ICT platform, underpinned by agent-based concepts, consumer digital twin and non-intrusive data analytics. This way, HESTIA will set the foundation for an open marketplace and a new grid reality, while steering consumer engagement according to the grid requirements and promoting RES and sustainable behavior.
With the goal to deliver tangible benefits along the energy value chain, HESTIA will cross-fertilize and bring together the community centric and grid-centric business models. In this way, HESTIA will demonstrate its potential to deliver 20-50% energy cost savings for the end consumers, depending on the level of engagement, and up to 20% of final consumption energy savings to be unlocked by multi-carrier energy dispatching and optimized operation of building systems. At the same time, HESTIA will bring benefits to grid stakeholders owing to the exploitation of demand-side flexibility, demonstrating at least 30% of total load as reschedulable (demand flexibility), owing to the consumer engagement in load shifting activities and improved self-consumption of locally produced and stored energy. This will further contribute to the RES uptake by reducing the payback period for capital investments in RES production and storage assets
With the goal to deliver tangible benefits along the energy value chain, HESTIA will cross-fertilize and bring together the community centric and grid-centric business models. In this way, HESTIA will demonstrate its potential to deliver 20-50% energy cost savings for the end consumers, depending on the level of engagement, and up to 20% of final consumption energy savings to be unlocked by multi-carrier energy dispatching and optimized operation of building systems. At the same time, HESTIA will bring benefits to grid stakeholders owing to the exploitation of demand-side flexibility, demonstrating at least 30% of total load as reschedulable (demand flexibility), owing to the consumer engagement in load shifting activities and improved self-consumption of locally produced and stored energy. This will further contribute to the RES uptake by reducing the payback period for capital investments in RES production and storage assets
Since its launch in November 2020, the HESTIA project has pursued its goal of transforming residential energy management through a combination of innovative technological tools, social science insights, and collaborative approaches. By engaging directly with residential consumers, the project developed demand-side response (DR) services designed to enhance energy flexibility, efficiency, and sustainability.
The project implemented and validated its solutions in three pilot sites across Europe—Voorhout in the Netherlands, Berchidda in Italy, and Camille Claudel in France. These sites provided diverse regulatory, infrastructural, and consumer contexts, enabling HESTIA to fine-tune its approach and demonstrate its potential across varying conditions.
Key results from the pilots underline the tangible impact of HESTIA's innovations:
• In Italy, a 9% reduction in grid energy imports and a 20% increase in self-consumption were achieved, underscoring improved energy independence.
• in the Netherlands, overall energy consumption dropped by 27%, with grid energy imports reduced by 12%, reflecting enhanced energy efficiency.
• In France, a 10% reduction in energy use during critical hours contributed to grid stability and increased energy awareness.
Across all pilots, CO2 emissions were reduced by 10%, contributing to EU climate goals, while households that fully engaged with the HESTIA platform reported a 10% increase in energy performance.
HESTIA’s success relied heavily on tailored user engagement strategies, which prioritized co-design and active involvement of residents at every stage. Engagement activities, such as workshops, focus groups, and hands-on demonstrations, were critical in ensuring that solutions were user-centric and accessible. These strategies not only fostered trust but also empowered participants to adopt new energy-saving behaviors and routines, as seen in pilot sites:
• In Berchidda, Italy, households embraced habits like shifting water heating to solar-optimized times, demonstrating enhanced energy literacy.
• In Voorhout, the Netherlands, residents reduced energy use during peak hours, improving grid stability and reducing reliance on imports.
• In Camille Claudel, France, participants adjusted their use of energy-intensive appliances, reinforcing the project's emphasis on behavioral change.
HESTIA’s innovative services included:
• A Consumer Behaviour Digital Twin for analyzing and predicting household responses to energy-saving strategies.
• Energy Demand and Production Forecasting Services to optimize household energy planning.
• A Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring Service, allowing users to track appliance-specific energy consumption without additional metering.
• An Open Flexibility Pooling Marketplace that promoted community energy trading for efficiency gains.
Dissemination and exploitation of results have been central to HESTIA’s strategy. By leveraging collaborations with sister projects like SENDER, ACCEPT, iFLEX, and REDREAM, HESTIA ensured the scalability and transferability of its solutions across Europe. Moreover, its active participation in the European Commission’s BRIDGE initiative has shaped policy discussions on energy flexibility, positioning HESTIA as a leader in consumer-centric energy innovations.
The project implemented and validated its solutions in three pilot sites across Europe—Voorhout in the Netherlands, Berchidda in Italy, and Camille Claudel in France. These sites provided diverse regulatory, infrastructural, and consumer contexts, enabling HESTIA to fine-tune its approach and demonstrate its potential across varying conditions.
Key results from the pilots underline the tangible impact of HESTIA's innovations:
• In Italy, a 9% reduction in grid energy imports and a 20% increase in self-consumption were achieved, underscoring improved energy independence.
• in the Netherlands, overall energy consumption dropped by 27%, with grid energy imports reduced by 12%, reflecting enhanced energy efficiency.
• In France, a 10% reduction in energy use during critical hours contributed to grid stability and increased energy awareness.
Across all pilots, CO2 emissions were reduced by 10%, contributing to EU climate goals, while households that fully engaged with the HESTIA platform reported a 10% increase in energy performance.
HESTIA’s success relied heavily on tailored user engagement strategies, which prioritized co-design and active involvement of residents at every stage. Engagement activities, such as workshops, focus groups, and hands-on demonstrations, were critical in ensuring that solutions were user-centric and accessible. These strategies not only fostered trust but also empowered participants to adopt new energy-saving behaviors and routines, as seen in pilot sites:
• In Berchidda, Italy, households embraced habits like shifting water heating to solar-optimized times, demonstrating enhanced energy literacy.
• In Voorhout, the Netherlands, residents reduced energy use during peak hours, improving grid stability and reducing reliance on imports.
• In Camille Claudel, France, participants adjusted their use of energy-intensive appliances, reinforcing the project's emphasis on behavioral change.
HESTIA’s innovative services included:
• A Consumer Behaviour Digital Twin for analyzing and predicting household responses to energy-saving strategies.
• Energy Demand and Production Forecasting Services to optimize household energy planning.
• A Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring Service, allowing users to track appliance-specific energy consumption without additional metering.
• An Open Flexibility Pooling Marketplace that promoted community energy trading for efficiency gains.
Dissemination and exploitation of results have been central to HESTIA’s strategy. By leveraging collaborations with sister projects like SENDER, ACCEPT, iFLEX, and REDREAM, HESTIA ensured the scalability and transferability of its solutions across Europe. Moreover, its active participation in the European Commission’s BRIDGE initiative has shaped policy discussions on energy flexibility, positioning HESTIA as a leader in consumer-centric energy innovations.
HESTIA’s legacy lies in its holistic approach to energy management—combining technological advancements, strategic community engagement, and a commitment to sustainability. Its achievements serve as a benchmark for future initiatives, empowering consumers to actively participate in the energy transition while advancing the EU’s energy and climate goals.
Results from the pilot sites demonstrated the large potential of combining the two dimensions and the prevalence of the human factor in the development of effective IT solutions that are more acceptable for the users.
The design, development and test of an integrated solution and the study of its market readiness has revealed to be complex, for which the solution we learned in HESTIA, lies in clustering markets and utilising a modular platform where different services can be adapted to various contexts. The HESTIA model exemplifies such a platform, allowing you to decide which services or models to include in specific regions, and customising the dashboard accordingly. This approach offers numerous possibilities, enabling users to personalise the platform to their needs.
Results from the pilot sites demonstrated the large potential of combining the two dimensions and the prevalence of the human factor in the development of effective IT solutions that are more acceptable for the users.
The design, development and test of an integrated solution and the study of its market readiness has revealed to be complex, for which the solution we learned in HESTIA, lies in clustering markets and utilising a modular platform where different services can be adapted to various contexts. The HESTIA model exemplifies such a platform, allowing you to decide which services or models to include in specific regions, and customising the dashboard accordingly. This approach offers numerous possibilities, enabling users to personalise the platform to their needs.