The first day was about demonstration. CARTIF leads the demonstration work (WP6). It presented the common evaluation methodology, the KPI framework and the demonstration roadmap. The three front-runner pilots in Greece, Italy and Portugal reported on deployment, community engagement, technical set-up and data availability, and the six follower pilots gave short updates. A cross-pilot discussion followed on shared challenges and on harmonising data collection.
In the afternoon, partners travelled to Vila Nova de Famalicão to visit the Portuguese pilot at CEVE, a cooperative local distribution system operator. CEVE, Coopernico and INESC TEC led a guided tour of the community PV units, the low-voltage distribution network and substation, and the storage and monitoring infrastructure. An on-site technical session then covered pilot data flows, KPIs and next steps. The pilot aims to optimise collective self-consumption and flexibility services, and to test energy sharing, peer-to-peer exchange and the flexible scheduling of batteries and EV chargers.
On the second day, partners focused on the core focus of the project
- inclusive energy communities and governance models
- cyber-secure, smart-grid-ready communities
- digital solutions across the PV lifecycle
- the AI-driven PVSmile Digital Assistant
- scale-up and replication across the Mediterranean
- impact maximisation
The meeting closed with a joint session on integrating the work packages and on the Year 2 work plan (months 13–24). It also started preparations for the first reporting period.