In a six-part blog series, InEExS spotlights solutions to help accelerate Europe’s transition to a smart, resilient, competitive and more efficient energy system. Each blog will explore the solutions, technologies and approaches, from energy communities to the role of blockchain in energy management, that can make our homes and buildings smarter and more energy-efficient.
Interoperability and Energy Data Management at Scale
In a high-tech home in Sweden, a smart thermostat, an electric vehicle charger, solar inverters, and a battery system hum along—but are they speaking the same language? As energy systems become increasingly digital and distributed, ensuring that devices and platforms interoperate is becoming just as important as the hardware itself. Interoperability in energy is about connecting the dots between different devices, systems, and stakeholders so that data can flow seamlessly and actions can be coordinated efficiently. Without it, the energy transition risks becoming fragmented: a landscape of smart gadgets and renewable assets that cannot work together. At scale, this could lead to wasted energy, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and frustrated consumers juggling multiple apps and service providers with lower overall benefit.
The InEExS project, funded under the EU’s LIFE Clean Energy Transition programme, recognised this challenge and embedded a strong focus on data management and interoperability across its pilot actions. Whether gathering real-time meter data from thousands of Spanish cooperative members or steering a range of EV chargers and heat pumps in Finland via a single platform, the project is stress-testing what it takes to integrate many moving parts in a greater energy system. It also leverages blockchain technology to create a trusted backbone for data exchange. This practical work aligns with broader European Union policy moves towards establishing a Common European Energy Data Space, a framework designed to support interoperability and data-sharing across the energy sector.
The Interoperability Imperative
Modernising Europe’s energy system brings a flood of new devices—smart meters, electric vehicles, solar panels, battery storage, and Internet of Things (IoT) sensors. However, if each operates using different communication protocols or closed ecosystems, the grid risks descending into digital cacophony. Interoperability ensures that these devices and systems, even when developed by different manufacturers or operated by different entities, can communicate and coordinate effectively.
In energy, interoperability has multiple layers: at the device level (for example, an EV charger communicating with a home energy management system), system level (such as a distribution grid platform interacting with building management systems), and market level (for example, energy suppliers and aggregators exchanging information with customers and grid operators).
The European Union has made interoperability a policy priority. The Clean Energy for All Europeans package, the Data Governance Act, and the proposal for a Common European Energy Data Space all point towards enabling secure, standardised, and interoperable data flows across the energy system. Without this foundation, services like demand response, integrated energy management, and decentralised energy trading cannot scale effectively.
Interoperability Challenges in InEExS Pilots
The InEExS pilots across Spain, Germany, Greece, and the Nordic countries encountered several real-world interoperability challenges—and developed solutions.
In Crevillent, Spain, the energy cooperative Enercoop gathered granular energy consumption and production data from thousands of members. However, the diversity of smart meters and data formats meant that building a unified platform for real-time data access and analytics required significant effort. The project deployed middleware to harmonise data streams and developed standardised APIs to allow different devices and systems to communicate.
In the Nordic pilot, InEExS worked with the startup HIVEN to steer EV chargers and heat pumps across Finland and Sweden. Here, interoperability involved integrating devices from multiple manufacturers via open protocols such as OCPP (Open Charge Point Protocol) for chargers and using cloud-based APIs for heating systems. The platform had to translate and aggregate data from disparate sources into actionable insights for smart home energy management.
In Greece, the pilot focused on retrofitting gas boilers with smart controllers provided by DomX. Older heating systems were never designed for digital communication. The solution involved installing IoT modules that could connect these legacy devices to the cloud, effectively upgrading them to interact with energy management platforms.
In Berlin, Germany, the pilot has made recommendations for an Energy Performance Contract (EPC) with Pay-for-Performance guarantees in residential buildings. This required installing smart meters capable of real-time measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) of solar generation and consumption. Different brands of meters and data platforms had to be integrated under a common reporting framework to ensure transparency and accountability.
Across all sites, interoperability was not just a technical issue but also a business and governance one. Contracts, data ownership agreements, and cybersecurity frameworks needed to be aligned to ensure that data could flow while respecting privacy and commercial confidentiality.
Blockchain for Trustworthy Data Exchange
A distinctive feature of the InEExS approach was the use of blockchain technology to support trusted data exchange across diverse actors and systems. By recording energy consumption, generation, and savings data onto a blockchain ledger, the project created an immutable, transparent record accessible to authorised stakeholders.
For instance, in Crevillent, energy-saving actions by cooperative members—such as shifting appliance use to solar hours—were logged and tokenised on the blockchain. This provided a verifiable record of individual and community contributions to self-consumption goals, building trust among participants.
In Berlin, the blockchain system supported performance guarantees in the EPC model. Smart meter data was collected, validated, and recorded, ensuring that the ESCO’s performance could be objectively verified against contractual targets.
The blockchain platform used was Energy Web Chain, designed specifically for the energy sector with low energy consumption and enterprise-grade security. By combining decentralised identifiers (DIDs), permissioned access, and public verification, the platform balanced the need for transparency with GDPR compliance and data privacy protections.
Towards a Common European Energy Data Space
The work of InEExS reflects wider developments at EU level. The European Commission’s vision for a Common European Energy Data Space aims to create an interoperable data ecosystem where energy data can flow securely and efficiently across borders and sectors. Key features of this vision include:
- Common standards for data formats, interfaces, and protocols
- Governance frameworks to ensure data privacy, security, and ethical use
- Support for innovation by enabling new services based on shared data
- Empowerment of consumers to access, control, and share their own energy data
The Data Governance Act, adopted in 2022, sets a foundation for such spaces by creating mechanisms for voluntary data-sharing and trusted intermediaries. Meanwhile, initiatives like the Smart Grids Task Force and the International Data Spaces Association (IDSA) are working on technical specifications and governance models.
In the energy sector, interoperability frameworks such as the European Smart Metering Architecture and the Open Smart Grid Protocol (OSGP) are being developed to standardise device communications. The EU also promotes the use of open-source reference architectures, such as SAREF (Smart Applications REFerence ontology), to enable semantic interoperability between devices and platforms.
InEExS pilots effectively acted as testbeds for these ideas, demonstrating that with careful design, diverse energy assets can be integrated into coherent, responsive, and user-centric systems.
Lessons Learned and Recommendations
The experience of InEExS highlights several lessons for scaling up interoperability and data management in the energy transition:
| Start with open standards | Wherever possible, select devices and platforms that support open communication protocols. This reduces vendor lock-in and facilitates integration. |
| Build flexible middleware | Even with standards, differences in device implementation require adaptable middleware solutions that can harmonise data streams |
| Secure data governance early | Agreements on data ownership, access rights, and privacy protection must be established at the outset of projects to avoid conflicts later |
| Use blockchain judiciously | Blockchain can add trust and transparency but should be used where it adds real value, such as performance verification or decentralised incentive schemes |
| Think modular | Systems should be designed with modularity in mind so that new devices and services can be added over time without needing a complete overhaul |
| Invest in cybersecurity | Interconnected systems increase exposure to cyber risks. Robust security measures must be built into device design, data exchange protocols, and platform management |
| Engage users | Interoperability and data-sharing must ultimately serve the needs of users. Clear communication, transparency, and user control over data are essential for acceptance |
A Foundation for the Future
Interoperability and effective data management are not glamorous aspects of the clean energy transition, but they are essential. Without them, efforts to deploy renewables, smart grids, energy communities, and demand-side flexibility will stumble.
The InEExS project has demonstrated that achieving interoperability is possible, even in complex and fragmented real-world environments. It is possible to create integrated energy systems that are resilient, efficient, and consumer-friendly by combining technical solutions, governance frameworks, and supporting user engagement.
In the context of the Common European Energy Data Space, the experiences and insights from projects like InEExS will be invaluable. They show that connecting the dots between devices, systems, and stakeholders is a critical enabler of the energy transition.
Read more about the InEExS business cases:
Improved self-consumption of DER in Energy Cooperatives (Crevillent, Spain)
Recommendations for innovative energy contracts with Pay4Performance guarantees (Berlin, Germany)
Smart energy management for EV chargers and electricity- based HVAC appliances (Sweden)
