The European Union, in pursuit of the goal of reducing emissions by at least 55% by 2030 and achieving climate neutrality by 2050, is deploying different actions, with industry decarbonization as a key strategy. However, increasing electricity demand requires an intensification of energy generation from clean technologies, and the energy system’s expansion is hindered by renewable generation’s climatic dependencies and the imperative for substantial electrical infrastructure investments. Although the transmission grid is expected to grow, flexibility mechanisms and innovative technologies need to be applied to avoid an overwhelming growth. In this context, this paper presents a thorough assessment, conducted within the FLEXINDUSTRIES project, of the flexibility potential across seven energy-intensive industries (automotive industry, biofuel production, polymer manufacturing, steel manufacturing, paper mills, pharmaceutical industry, and cement production). The methodology followed during the analysis entails reviewing the state-of-the-art existing flexibility mechanisms, industries’ energy markets engagement, and technical/operational readiness. The results highlight the feasibility of the proposed actions for enabling energy market flexibility through demand-response programs, quantifying energy opportunities, and pinpointing regulatory and technical barriers.

The residential building sector is critical to the success of Europe’s 2030 and 2050 decarbonization targets. To achieve that success, this paper demonstrates how advanced Pay-for-Performance (P4P) energy services for energy service companies (ESCOs) can address challenges by leveraging low-cost data collection systems in buildings to offer a combination of revenues stemming from informed decision-making, energy management optimization, and active participation in demand response schemes. Our methodology includes (i) preliminary assessments to identify each building’s occupancy patterns, equipment, and smart readiness, (ii) the installation of sensors and data gateways, (iii) the deployment of data-driven energy efficiency and demand response measures, and (iv) the evaluation of non-energy services such as comfort and air quality monitoring. We conducted empirical tests in three distinct building typologies: a multi-apartment residential building in Spain, detached dwellings in Croatia, and a hotel bungalow in Greece, to measure self-consumption savings, occupant-driven energy use behaviour changes, and the potential for explicit demand response. The results indicate overall payback periods of less than 10 years, although effectiveness varies depending on occupant engagement, building suitability, and the local energy market context. These findings reinforce the technical and economic feasibility of enhanced ESCO smart services and provide practical insights for scaling up data-driven solutions to advance Europe’s energy and climate objectives.

Under the Positive Energy Districts framework, cities authorities must be informed of the energy demand of districts to design tailor-made policies and strategies to promote the deployment of energy efficiency, sharing and transition actions. However, the diverse data sources and long procedures to collect data because of privacy permissions may result in a slow-down of the development of these roadmaps. To overcome these challenges, this paper is the outcome of the methodology developed under the UP2030 Project designed to estimate the energy demand and energy profile consumptions within urban areas to contribute to the stakeholders involved in decision making processes to inform them about the savings potential related with the use of energy in geographically delimitated areas. The methodology was validated in CIRCE’s headquarters, where the yearly energy estimation consumption is about 98% of the real energy consumed. The main finding of this study is obtaining a model that can estimate the energy usage for occupants’ comfort with minimal data required from the citizens’ side, which will allow stakeholders to consider global energy estimations at the district level in a fast and reliable way to design strategies in a timely manner as required by the energy transition and efficiency standards proposed by the European Union.