Entitled "GLACIPTO Hop-On: Bridging the Gap in Energy Management," this proposal underscores a strategic partnership between the GLACIATION project and the Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO). Our shared objective is to enhance the energy sector by integrating intelligent Internet of Things (IoT) devices into vital energy infrastructure, including power plants, pipelines, and wind turbines. Through this collaboration, we aim to improve the efficiency and resilience of the Electrical Power and Energy System (EPES) while minimizing operational redundancies and errors. A key focus of our partnership is the establishment of a unified and sustainable OT/IT ecosystem. This entails effectively merging various datasets, energy consumption insights, and computing capabilities to support advanced analytics. This represents a significant step toward bridging the divide between Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT), resulting in a more robust energy system poised for efficiency gains. IPTO's contribution to this initiative is instrumental. As an experienced energy operator, they provide valuable insights and expertise, ensuring that the solutions developed within the GLACIATION project are not only theoretically sound but also practical and effective in real-world energy operations. In return, IPTO gains access to cutting-edge research and technology, aligning with their mission to advance smarter substations and data-driven energy management capabilities. In summary, the "GLACIPTO Hop-On" proposal signifies a joint commitment to improve the energy sector, fostering innovation, operational excellence, and sustainable energy management.

The increasing need for cloud services at the edge (edge–services) is caused by the rapidly growing quantity and capabilities of connected and interacting edge devices exchanging vast amounts of data. This poses different challenges to cloud computing architectures at the edge, such as i) ability to provide end-to-end transaction resiliency of applications broken down in distributions of microservices; ii) creating reliability and stability of automation in cloud management under increasing complexity iii) secure and timely handling of the increasing and latency sensitive flow (east-west) of sensitive data and applications; iv)need for explainable AI and transparency of the increasing automation in edge-services platform by operators, software developers and end-users. ACES will solve these challenges by infused autopoiesis and cognition on different levels of cloud management to empower with AI different functionalities such as: workload placement, service and resource management, data and policy management. ACES key outcomes will be: i) autopoiesis cognitive cloud-edge framework; ii) awareness tools, AI/ML agents for workload placement, service and resource management, data and policy management, telemetry and monitoring; iii) agents safeguarding stability in situations of extreme load and complexity; iv) swarm technology-based methodology and implementation for orchestration of resources in the edge; v) edge-wide workload placement and optimization service; vi) an app store for classification, storage, sharing and rating of AI models used in ACES. ACES will be demonstrated and validated in 3 scenarios demanding for support of highly decentralised computing, ability to take autonomic decisions, reducing costs of cloud-edge management and increasing their efficiency ,thus reducing impact on environment. To foster the uptake of ACES outcomes beyond its lifespan, different activities are foreseen to drive adoption to a wider network of stakeholders in key sectors

CAPE (European Open Compute Architecture for Powerful Edge) aims to redefine the landscape of edge-cloud computing infrastructures by developing the EdgeMicroDataCenters (EMDC's) and eHPS as a 'new unit of computing' for data-dense edge environments. The project designs and showcase an innovative, open hardware platform that is dynamically composable via CXL to answer the end user needs. EMDC and eHPS provides an open high density platform for heterogeneous computing units (XPU), RISC-V architectures all based on industry-standard form factor, COM-HPC that is supported by a robust ecosystem of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) within Europe, ensuring wide accessibility and adoption. To allow end users to be digital sovereign e.g. manage the governance of data, AI models, applications deployed across an ‘edge-first’ edge to cloud continuum, CAPE will employ a cloud-agnostic overlay known as Infrastructure from Code (IfC). This innovative approach abstracts the complexities inherent in diverse cloud computing infrastructures and services, empowering software developers to deploy applications effortlessly across the edge-to-cloud continuum. This is achieved without necessitating extensive knowledge of the underlying cloud infrastructure, enabling deployments across on-premise and off-premise, public and private cloud environments with minimal complexity. CAPE's solution will be validated in 3 use cases: the management of intelligent electric energy microgrids, edge AI and satellite communications. All usecases will evaluate RISC-V (EPI) and CXL solutions. Each usecase will be evaluated on technical, economical and sustainability aspects and benchmarked against legacy hardware in local clouds against edge-optimized data centers.

The stability and security of the traditional electrical power systems is largely based on the inherent properties of synchronous generators (SGs). Such properties are: the grid-forming capability, the inertia, the damping of transients, and the provision of large currents during faults. The growing penetration of converter-interfaced (thus inertia-less) Distributed Renewable Energy Sources (DRES) will eventually replace dispatchable SGs and increase power volatility, causing large frequency deviations and voltage regulation problems. The increase of SG spinning reserves, the grid reinforcement and the use of central electric energy storage systems are some solutions proposed to tackle this problem. However, due to their centralized approach and high cost, these actions can be undertaken only centrally by TSOs and DSOs. By adopting a unified bottom-up approach, EASY-RES will develop novel control algorithms for all converter-interfaced DRES, to enable them to operate similarly to conventional SGs, providing to the grid inertia, damping of transients, reactive power, fault ride through and fault-clearing capabilities, and adaptable response to primary and secondary frequency control. These new functionalities will be transparent to all grid voltage levels. The EASY-RES approach is based on the distribution network segmentation into small Individual Control Areas, where the DRES and properly sized storage systems will be optimally coordinated via suitably designed ICT infrastructure to provide Ancillary Services (AS) such as inertial response, reactive power support, power smoothing, and contribution to fault-clearing in a bottom-up approach: prosumers and independent RES producers to DSOs, and DSOs to TSOs. By evaluating the costs and benefits of the developed functionalities, viable business models will be developed for the aforementioned stakeholders. Finally, modifications to the existing grid codes will be suggested for the implementation of the developed AS.

The EU's ambition to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 and increase networks interconnection, makes the proliferation of hybrid AC/DC grids a promising solution towards a more interoperable and resilient pan-European system. In this context, THEUS project aims to showcase advanced methodologies and tools supporting hybrid grids implementation across High Voltage (HV), Medium Voltage (MV), and Low Voltage (LV) levels. To successfully achieve its objectives, the project will develop a set of six planning and six operation solutions, that will be validated in five use cases addressing the most representative challenges faced by European grids. These use cases will rely on accurate models and will be fed with data from five real grids representing different project stages and voltage levels: a planned transnational HVAC/HVDC transmission interconnector connecting Crete-Cyprus-Israel; an existing distribution hybrid grid in Italy; a planned MVDC distribution grid in Turkey; an existing HVAC/HVDC link between Attica-Crete; an existing MVAC/MVDC/LVDC microgrid in Spain. The validation will be conducted on six test benches that will allow to reach TRL 5 by the end of the project. THEUS assembles a competitive consortium of 15 partners from 8 EU countries, including research organizations, technology manufacturers, electric system operators, a wind farm operator, a SME to guarantee the exploitation of the project solutions, and a European Association to ensure the successful dissemination of the project outcomes. THEUS will directly impact in the electricity system orchestration of future pan-European AC/DC hybrid architecture by performing a validation campaign in which 2 under-planning networks will be designed, and 3 existing networks will be improved in terms of management and operation. Overall, THEUS is expected to achieve 10-30% reductions in energy losses and 15-20% in O&M costs while ensuring the safe operation of hybrid grids with a higher penetration of RES.