Smart energy services and technologies can revolutionise Europe’s energy system, driving it towards energy efficiency and sustainability. New tools and emerging cutting-edge technologies provide huge opportunities for the energy sector to meet energy efficiency goals. Technologies such as blockchain can support energy management and energy-related applications such as smart grids, microgrids, energy trading, storage, energy management, electric cars, carbon reduction, and smart meters.
However, the great potential offered by blockchain comes with barriers faced by most new technologies. Technical constraints, such as scalability, security threats, as well as socio-political and regulatory barriers, need to be addressed.
In its new report, InEExS identified two different roadmaps. The first roadmap for overcoming barriers in regulation, finance, and market design provides an analysis of the factors impeding the adoption of smart services and technologies at both the Member State and EU levels, within its five distinct Business Cases (BCs). Each case represents various energy services and technology applications, from residential heating optimisation to decentralised energy efficiency power plants.
InEExS has identified key barriers hindering the successful integration of energy services and technologies, as well as proactive solutions to address them:
- Regulatory barriers– lack of or unclear regulations related to energy efficiency and integration of smart services and technologies, unclear data privacy rules, limited support for energy communities, and insufficient transition policies for natural gas systems.
- Financial barriers – limited access to funding, high upfront costs, lack of standardised financial models and incentives, and risk aversion among financial institutions.
- Market barriers – the lack of blockchain case studies in the EU, which impedes the scalability and integration of technologies into the energy market.
The roadmap on the identification and prioritisation of viable smart services and technologies focuses on connecting energy sectors and carriers. It prioritises smart services and technologies based on sustainability, scalability, and cross-sector impact, and offers guidance on which services and technologies should be emphasised to maximise energy efficiency and sustainability outcomes.
The integration of smart services offers significant opportunities to optimise energy management, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve consumer engagement. The InEExS Business and Policy Roadmaps provide a clear path to overcome barriers and enable widespread adoption.
For more information, read the report here
For a visual summary, discover an infographic of the recommendations from the roadmap on overcoming barriers in regulation, finance, and market design, and a prioritisation matrix from the roadmap on the prioritisation of smart energy services.
