UC joins international consortium to revolutionise energy efficiency in Europe

The Institute of Systems and Robotics (ISR), a research centre affiliated with the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of Coimbra (FCTUC), aims to transform the energy efficiency landscape by promoting the development of new intelligent services designed to optimise and reduce global energy consumption.

The BungEES project – Building Up Next-Generation Smart Energy Services Offer and Market Uptake Valorising Energy Efficiency and Flexibility on the Demand-Side – focuses on reducing consumption and integrating non-energy benefits, further enhancing energy efficiency.

"One of the first objectives is to identify regulatory, technical or market barriers to the large-scale deployment of integrated energy efficiency services, and to make recommendations on legal, financial and regulatory policies to overcome these barriers and promote a more competitive market for energy services," explains Nuno Quaresma, researcher at ISR.

In addition, the project will examine the regulatory framework that could unlock the full potential of these services and, if necessary, suggest reforms to the energy market. According to Nuno Quaresma, "the main focus of the project is to develop an integrated package of smart energy efficiency services integrating energy efficiency and distributed generation, demand response, electric mobility and energy storage"

BungEES also aims to integrate different energy sectors, such as electricity, heating and cooling, to create innovative financing and reward solutions for the most efficient consumers.

"We are developing a business model that values energy efficiency and demand-side flexibility and promotes the integrated marketing of energy services. This model should make life easier for consumers and optimise the operation of energy service companies. BungEES also has several pilot projects underway in Portugal, Spain and France, two of which are collecting data in Portugal," says Nuno Quaresma.

The researcher adds that in Coimbra, "we are testing the integrated management of energy services in the residential sector, specifically the automation of the control of air-to-water heat pumps for heating and cooling, while ensuring user comfort. Another pilot project, carried out at the FCTUC's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (DEEC), involves the integrated management of several services, including air-to-air heat pumps, electric vehicle charging, solar photovoltaic generation and energy storage in batteries".

"BungEES is a significant step towards transforming Europe's energy sector, setting the stage for a more efficient and sustainable future," he concludes.