Large amounts of valuable data are available in energy systems. However, they are often underused, and their full potential is not being extracted. The smart energy system of the future can be more efficiently operated and designed through a holistic approach that considers its multiple energy vectors (electricity, gas, heat…). This means dealing with diverse data inputs, which is feasible if the interoperability between their corresponding data platforms is ensured. OMEGA-X, a European funded project, aims to tackle this challenge and to implement an Energy Data Space.

Many challenges exist in this sense, as even for each of these energy sectors, a single data platform does not exist. For instance, there is not a single data platform connecting data from generation, transmission, distribution, and consumption domains in the electrical power sector. The barriers also imply the lack of proper mechanisms and policies that ensure secure, sovereign and fair data sharing. Thus, interoperability inside each sector and between other sectors needs to be promoted and also achieved transnationally, across European countries.

The European Commission is setting a clear goal of boosting the European data economy in alignment with its core ideas of privacy, fairness of competition and self-determination, as outlined in the European Strategy for Data announced in February 2020(i). The cornerstone for this strategy is the “Data Space”, specifically included and correlated with nine initial domains, including Energy. 

The Data Space that OMEGA-X aims for, is one based on European common standards, including federated infrastructure, data marketplace and service marketplace, involving data sharing between different stakeholders and demonstrating its value for real and concrete Energy use cases and needs, while guaranteeing scalability and interoperability with other Data Space initiatives, not just for energy but also cross-sector.

“There will be no Green Energy Transition without full digitalization. There will be no EU data strategy without data sharing. Data Spaces can answer to both challenges at once, being Energy one of the flagship use cases.” Javier Valiño - Atos. 

The OMEGA-X project includes setting up 4 use cases families that will showcase the value of having a common data space for a particular problem identified by energy stakeholders:

• Renewables: Having renewable plant owners and service providers to optimize operation and maintenance to increase renewable energy sources (RES) availability and reducing CO² footprint.
• Local Energy Communities: exploiting data from different energy vectors to optimize the overall performance of a local community, instead of optimizing each vector individually.
• Collaboration among Electromobility actors: demonstrating how data sharing can ease and scale up services such as booking and building innovative services such as cross-border self-consumption of renewable energy. It will involve the electricity system from charging points to transmission system operators (TSOs) in different EU countries.
• Flexibility: Aiming to demonstrate the performance upgrade that can be achieved for the flexibility identification and provision at local/municipality level when service providers can have access to extended data sets from multiple origins.

The OMEGA-X project runs from May 1^st 2022 till April 30 2025 and was officially kicked off on May 11-12 in Bilbao. This three year’s project is led by Atos in collaboration with a European consortium of 30 partners from 11 different countries, including universities, cities and key players from the energy sector:

Atos Research & Innovation (SP, coordinator), Atos Worldgrid (FR), Tecnalia (SP), EDF (FR), ENGIE (FR), EDP (PT), Estabanell (SP), Elia (BE), Polytechnic University of Catalunya (SP), IDSA (GE), Intracom (GR), Odit-e (FR), Open & Agile Smart Cities (BE), RINA Consulting (IT), Revolt (IT), Municipality of Maia (PT), Aarhus University (DK), IMT Transfert (FR), Maieutica Cooperativa de Ensino Superior (PT), Institut Mihajlo Pupin (SRB), SENER (SP), Estabanell y Pahisa MERCATOR (SP), Astea (IT), Universidade Catolica Portuguesa (PT), GIREVE (FR), Energy Web (GE), LichtBlick (GE), Power & Mobility (IRL), Meteo for Energy (SP), NORCE Norwegian Research Centre (NO).

The architecture and recommendations of the Data Space Business Alliance (DSBA, an alliance of Gaia-X, the Big Data Value Association (BDVA/DAIRO), FIWARE Foundation, and the International Data Spaces Association (IDSA)) will be used as baseline for the design of the OMEGA-X framework. The first communication activities linked to these initiatives have been initiated: during the Gaia-X Energy Data Space Steering Committee, on March 16th and the BDVA Data Week, on June 1st and during the OASC Annual Meeting on June 7th.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe Framework Programme under grant agreement №101069287.