Empowering Tenants through Smart Energy Solutions: Insights from Replication Workshops in Berlin
Digitalisation and smart energy services are transforming how citizens interact with energy systems. By combining photovoltaics, smart meters, blockchain-based data processing, and gamified apps, the InEExS project explores innovative business models that encourage behavioural change and optimise energy consumption. Within this framework, two replication workshops were organised by Berliner Energieagentur GmbH (BEA) in May and July 2025 to engage stakeholders, validate technological solutions, and assess the replicability of the Berlin pilot model.
First Workshop: Showcasing innovation at the Greentech Festival
On 21–22 May 2025, the first workshop took place during the Greentech Festival in Berlin, organised by BEA in collaboration with IOmeter. The Berlin pilot was presented, featuring PV systems installed on five residential buildings combined with smart meters, provided by IOmeter, and the “Zählerfreunde” app to visualise energy consumption and rooftop solar production.
The workshop demonstrated how data collected via IOmeter is evaluated using blockchain-based tokenisation through the EnergyWeb platform, supporting new user-centred energy contracts with three key KPIs:
- PV-self-consumption rate
- PV system utilisation
- EV-specific consumption
Visitors engaged in interactive Q&A sessions, explored tools and services, and discussed technical challenges such as device malfunctions, declining user engagement, and the complexity of blockchain integration. Solutions presented included the use of reference data to reconstruct baselines when smart meters failed, weekly monitoring of meter functionality, a dashboard battery status display for proactive maintenance, and gamification incentives such as competitions, rewards, and climate-conscious messaging.
Second Workshop: Smart Solutions for Tomorrow
The second workshop was held on 10 July 2025 at BEA’s offices in Berlin in a hybrid format, gathering over 20 stakeholders including energy providers, housing associations, researchers, and policy experts.
Key highlights included:
- Demonstrations of IOmeter’s smart meters, the Zählerfreunde app, the Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) system and the DLT-implementation.
- Insights on digital nudging and behavioural change from Fraunhofer ISI and on opportunities, technologies and challenges of the digital energy transition from Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University.
- Joint discussions on user engagement, financing opportunities, data protection, and regulatory barriers based on the Berlin pilot and wider nudging research.
Participants examined how Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) can enhance data transparency and incentivise efficient energy use, while also recognising that there are currently no commercial DLT applications in the energy sector, and that integration remains technically complex and costly.
What’s next…
Both workshops underline the potential of digital tools, smart meters, and user-centred business models to drive more efficient and participatory energy consumption.
The next phase of InEExS will focus on testing the market readiness of the Berlin pilot, evaluating replication potential in other cities and countries, and refining the user-centred design of the tools to ensure long-term engagement. Partnerships with housing associations, municipalities, and energy providers will be explored to enable scaling, while continued stakeholder dialogue will address regulatory barriers, financing models, and interoperability challenges. These steps aim to position InEExS as a replicable blueprint for citizen-driven energy services across Europe.
