Partners

Meet all
project partners

ViaEuropa Competence Centre s.r.o., Slovakia

VIAEUROPA was established to support and develop activities aimed at providing advice to companies, trade associations, employers association, European Commission, European Parliament and MSs’ governments on management and regulatory issues such as:

  • Energy efficiency, internal energy market;
  • Regulatory requirements on energy services and markets;
  • Internal Market organization in different sectors;
  • Business models in energy, telecom and other networked industries;
  • Price models in telecom sector;
  • Digital layers application in different sectors and relevant privacy protection and cybersecurity;
  • Industry 4.0 concepts;
  • Concept and technologies brought about by the 4th industrial revolution based on emerging technology breakthroughs in fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT), machine to machine communication (M2M), big data analysis, 3-D printing, nanotechnology, materials science, and energy storage;
  • Competition law compliance;
  • Development of competence centres for improving skills and knowledge of human resource.

ViaEuropa is aspiring to develop start-ups and scale-ups with cutting edge innovations that are helping to drive the development of smart EES.

VOLTALIS SA, France

VOLTALIS is a French company based in Paris. As the first operator of Internet of Energy, Voltalis has developed and operates a unique technology based on Big Data to steer electric systems through demand. This solution aims to connect (through a smartbox) on-site flexible devices (like heaters, aircons, solar PV, storage) and to operate micro shedding, resulting in energy savings when the grid needs it without any impact on the comfort of the house. 

Aggregation of such shedding, on a very large number of appliances, allows to reduce in real time and very precisely the global electric load. It offers a very flexible solution to the electric system that avoids using thermal power plants and saturated grids and generates energy savings for the households equipped. Voltalis is the largest scale real-time aggregator worldwide with close to 1,000,000 appliances connected in more than 100,000 homes, commercial buildings and offices and has sold its demand-side capacity to utilities and energy markets on a daily basis since 2010. Voltalis has received funding from several partners including the European Investment Bank to install an additional 150,000 sites.

SEVEn z.ú., The Energy Efficiency Center, Czech Republic

SEVEn, The Energy Efficiency Center is a non-profit consulting organisation that has been operating in the Czech Republic since 1990. The organisation’s mission is to protect the environment and support economic development by encouraging more efficient use of energy. It focuses on consultancy in the area of business development and cost-effective use of energy, employing its extensive knowledge of the transforming Central European economies together with the experience and approach of other European countries and the USA. It cooperates with a number of domestic and foreign partners, including state authorities, financial institutions, industrial enterprises, municipalities, schools, hospitals, and energy generators and distributors.

SEVEn has had a leading role in a number of EU – funded projects supporting ESCO market development. SEVEn coordinated the IEE “Transparense” project, which supported the development of a trustworthy Energy Performance Contracting (EPC)/ESCO market in Europe by creating European Code of Conduct for EPC, providing training to market stakeholders and knowledge transfer. The Transparense project involved partners from 20 European countries and had a budget of 2.1 mil. EUR. At the same time, SEVEn was a partner of another IEE “EESI2020” project, leading the work package on building essential instruments for EPC/ESCO market, such as model contracts, manuals, guidelines, technical standard documents, tools, and others. In the past, SEVEn participated in a number of other international energy efficiency projects, many of which are focused on the energy services development: ClearContract, ChangeBest – Promoting the development of an energy efficiency service market, EESI – European Energy Service Initiative. Currently SEVEn supports EE financing development via H2020 project called Triple-A.

Relevant Skills and Expertise

  • Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) projects
  • ESCO market projects
  • Horizon 2020 projects
  • Energy consumption in buildings and nearly Zero Energy Buildings
  • Energy poverty
  • Energy audits
  • Energy Performance Certificates
  • Lifelong education etc.

Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI, Germany

Adding new perspectives for decision-making processes, Fraunhofer ISI in Karlsruhe analyses the scientific, economic, social and political origins and market potentials of innovative technological developments and their impacts on the economy, state and society. The inter-disciplinary research teams focus on emerging technologies, industrial and service innovations, energy policy and energy systems, sustainability and infrastructure systems, innovation and technology management and foresight, policy and regions as well as regulation.

Scientists of the institute process around 280 research and consultancy projects per year, some in close cooperation with other research institutions inside and outside the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft. The budget of Fraunhofer ISI amounts at present to € 16 million per annum. ISI’s most important client is the public sector, for instance several German federal ministries and ministries of the federal states with a contract volume of ca. 50 per cent, as well as the European Union with a share of about 23 per cent. Further important clients are industrial enterprises and industrial associations with a share of ca. 24 per cent. Approx. three per cent of the budget comes from research promotion funds (DFG and other sources). The Competence Center Energy Policy and Energy Markets examines how the political and institutional framework of sustainable energy systems can be designed, further developed and evaluated. It is structured in the three Business Units Renewable Energies, Energy and Climate Policy and Electricity Markets and Infrastructures.

The Competence Center Energy Technology and Energy Systems analyses innovative energy technologies and their contribution to a sustainable energy system from a strategic perspective. It consists of the Business Units Energy Efficiency, Energy Economy and Demand Analyses and Projections.

ENI PLENITUDE IBERIA SL, Spain

PLENITUDE represented by ENI PLENITUDE IBERIA SL is one of the main independent energy retailers in Europe. It supplies energy to around 10 million customers throughout Italy, France, Greece, Slovenia, Spain and Portugal including electricity and gas. As well it provides energy efficiency services to its customers such as capacitors, LED lightning, EV charging points, self-production, etc.

In this sense, being a retailer PLENITUDE is the last mile to the energy customer. Therefore, its participation in the project as pilot coordinator is key to involve customers and assure the future development of the project.

ENI PLENITUDE IBERIA SL as a retailer has very well-developed skills in energy measurement and management as well as in energy business models. Also, impact and omni-channel access to consumers is a key tool to assure the successful achievement of the project objectives.

Institute of Systems and Robotics – University of Coimbra (ISR-UC), Portugal

The Institute of Systems and Robotics – University of Coimbra is a private non-profit research institution founded in 1992 with the global purpose of setting up a first-class multi-disciplinary research team, able to carry out leading edge research in several important areas of science and technology. ISR promotes advanced multidisciplinary R&D in the areas of Advanced Industrial Automation Technologies, Intelligent Transportation Systems and Intelligent Energy Systems.

ISR gives special attention to international scientific research cooperation with centres of excellence, as well as to advanced training and education initiatives. ISR has also developed strong research links with industry, either existing national and international companies, or promoting the creation of spin-offs. The dissemination activities included the organization of prestigious International Conferences and a strong international publication track-record in top journals and conferences. ISR-UC was classified as Excellent, by an international evaluation panel of experts in 2015, again obtaining the same classification in 2019.

The Intelligent Energy Systems group develops research on energy-efficient electrical technologies, sustainable transportation systems, electric vehicles, power drive systems, as well as renewable energy and energy storage systems. ISR has been developing research work on advanced charging systems for electric vehicles, assessment the lifecycle environmental impact of different vehicles considering different electricity mixes, as well as its impact on the electrical grid. ISR is also working on architectures of smart charging and V2G systems to ensure the optimization between the charging of EVs and the integration of renewable generation.

The Intelligent Energy Systems group have a strong Collaboration with the Portuguese, TSO, Directorate General for Energy, Energy Agency and companies and has coordinated and participated in more than 60 European projects related with energy efficiency and smart grids. ISR-UC participated on European projects to define methodologies to the assessment of energy savings and White Certificates schemes (EMEEES and EuroWhiteCert), as well as on tools to promote the development of an energy efficiency service market (ChangeBest, Transparense and EPC+). ISR-UC has coordinated the group of smart metering and billing of the European action to support on the implementation of the Energy Services Directive.

ISR-UC has also an important experience in the dissemination of projects, outreach activities and training. ISR-UC has organized and co-organized several International Conferences and Workshops, such as UIE Electricity for Sustainable Urban Development (2000), Fuel Cells for Stationary Applications (2001), 2nd International Conference Energy Efficiency in Motor Driven Systems (2004), 11th IEEE Conference Electrical Power Quality and Utilization (2011), 2nd Portuguese Conference for an Energy Efficient Economy (2012) and 7th International Conference on Energy Efficiency in Domestic Appliances and Lighting (2013).

ISR-UC is the National Administrator of the EPC European Code of Conduct (EPC CoC) – http://www.efiees.eu/code-of-conduct/.

Joule Assets Europe, Italy-Belgium

Joule Assets Europe provides financing solutions and strategic support for Sustainable Energy Assets (SEA), including energy efficiency, distributed renewables, storage, and building control measures. Joule’s online platform, eQuad, provides third-party project valuation, performance insurance, project certification, due diligence, and introductions to prequalified capital sources in the form of off-balance sheet financing. Joule helps energy service companies (ESCOs), engineering firms, and construction companies across Europe access appropriate investment for their energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Joule introduces investors to opportunities in the form of already vetted viable projects according to their own investment criteria. Joule Assets team developed Joule’s business opportunities in Europe, building an investment pipeline and actively engaging the energy efficiency industry in their deployment of innovative financing solutions.

Joule Assets has developed and commercially launched eQuad, a Software-as-a-Service web application that supports SEA investments through providing standardised project descriptions to investors, automated insurance quotations for small projects and a hand-shake service with appropriate investors. The eQuad platform therefore simplifies the complex process of matchmaking project owners and developers with investors, of all kinds, interested in funding SEA projects.

Association of Construction Entrepreneurs of Slovakia (ZSPS), Slovakia

The Association of Construction Entrepreneurs of Slovakia (ZSPS) was established in 1990 as an independent, voluntary, non-political interest group of construction entrepreneurs/companies associating entrepreneurs and companies specialized in delivering works and services in the area of civil engineering, production of building materials, research, development and engineering design. 

The Association is represented in many international, European and national institutions and organizations, including the European Construction Industry Federation FIEC. It is the sole representative association of employers in the construction sector in Slovakia. The Association promotes common and specific interests of its members and joint projects to create a transparent and fair market conditions vis-a-vis European and national authorities and institutions, European and national legislators, professional bodies and organizations and creates platforms for facilitating dialogue among stakeholders, decision makers and rule makers. The Association promotes projects and actions aimed at supporting investments in the skills and cooperate with professional and certification bodies to promote quality management systems. It promotes research, technical development and innovations in the construction industry. Moreover, the Association provides information, consultancy, and educational and training services. The Association led several initiatives aimed at decarbonizing the economy and reducing the carbon footprint of buildings in response to the EU 2020 energy targets and collaborated with the government and its agencies on delivering contribution of the construction sector. It led the EASME’s Build Up Skills initiative in Slovakia, produced Roadmap and Action Plan and ensured contribution of the construction sector to its implementation, also with help of 4 projects (2 under IEE programme and 2 under Horizon 2020 programme). The association is currently the leader of the Green Deal for Buildings project, which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program. The project began in June 2021. The overall goal of the project is to set up a Slovak and Czech round table for the implementation of the European Commission’s Smart Financing Initiative, to develop roadmaps and stakeholder action plans aimed at developing the three pillars that underpin this initiative. Energy efficiency roundtables will be permanent multilateral discussion forums involving relevant stakeholders such as government, regional and local authorities, the financial sector, ESCOs, homeowners, operators throughout the energy efficiency value chain and construction.