LEONARDO – fLexibility sErvices prOvision eNAbled fRom aggregated inDustrial prOsumers

Europe’s diffusion of distributed renewable sources will double daily flexibility needs by 2030. Yet the industrial sector—one-third of EU power demand—remains largely untapped. Low revenue expectations, complex interoperability between heterogeneous Energy Management Systems (EMSs) and restrictive market rules keep industrial Demand-Side Flexibility (DSF) on the sidelines. Uncoordinated actions by Transmission System Operators (TSOs) and Distribution System Operators (DSOs) risk turning a balancing service into local grid stress, while high entry thresholds bar smaller plants. LEONARDO addresses these gaps by proving, in three distinct regulatory environments—Italy, Austria and Bulgaria/Greece—that aggregated industrial flexibility is reliable, profitable and scalable.

Overall vision: shift industry from energy consumer to active provider of grid services.
Specific objectives:
1. Securely pool flexible assets via advanced EMSs.
2. Deploy an open Interoperability Framework to avoid vendor lock-in.
3. Trial market strategies in local, regional and cross-border contexts, including future congestion-management markets.
4. Enable non-discriminatory market access through proportionate entry requirements and new evaluation metrics.
5. Equip TSOs, DSOs, aggregators and industries with decision-support tools—readiness indicators, investment planners.
6. Establish a Flexibility Knowledge Hub to spread skills and ensure replication.

The LEONARDO project will develop the Industrial Platform for Flexibility Activation and Aggregation (iFAAP) — a digital system based on artificial intelligence designed to aggregate and optimize the flexibility of loads, generation, and storage systems within industrial clusters. An open Interoperability Framework will ensure full integration and communication among various Energy Management Systems (EMS), aggregator platforms, and Transmission and Distribution System Operators (TSO/DSO).
The initiative will be tested across three pilot sites: a manufacturing cluster in Italy, an agri-food cluster in Austria, and a cross-border metalworking cluster between Greece and Bulgaria. In each site, iFAAP will enable advanced services for grid balancing, congestion management, and tariff optimization. The Italian pilot will further integrate a flexibility system combining a battery energy storage system (BESS) and a hydrogen generator, enabling the testing of innovative scenarios that link electrical and hydrogen-based technologies.
Testing activities will deliver performance indicators, validated business cases, and regulatory recommendations to support the opening of energy markets to industrial flexibility providers. Finally, the project will produce replicable guidelines, a readiness indicator for enterprises, and training materials to facilitate the adoption of new market models.