Digitalisation is at CELINE’s core, but our focus goes beyond technology. By combining digital innovation with real-life communities, we aim to create meaningful tools for people and redefine the way Europeans produce, share, and consume energy.

The recent Steering Committee Meeting of CELINE took place in Vienna, Austria on 22-23 October 2025

Nearly a year after the launch of CELINE, our team gathered in Vienna at the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology for our inaugural in‑person Steering Committee meeting. Over two dynamic days, we engaged in a vision workshop organized by LUT University, aligning our technical tasks with our overarching goals.

Our three demonstration tracks presented their progress, KPIs, and next steps, fostering a collaborative environment for knowledge exchange. A highlight was our visit to AIT's SmartEST Laboratory, one of Europe's most advanced testing facilities for smart grid components.

Team pictures from the inaugural in-person Steering Committee meeting.

This meeting not only enhanced our understanding of risk management but also reinforced our commitment to achieving CELINE's KPIs through structured and transparent collaboration!

CELINE’s methodology: the Digital Toolbox and Living Labs

Digitalisation can often feel distant, a concept buried in complex, technical language. CELINE brings it closer to people’s everyday life.

Meaningful innovation happens when technology and participation move hand in hand. Our methodology builds on the Digital Toolbox, a modular platform designed to connect data, flexibility, and community action. It integrates three key dimensions:

• Data management: Helping communities monitor and optimise their consumption.

• Smart energy services: Allowing households and businesses to adapt to fluctuations and support the wider grid.

• Community governance: Providing shared digital spaces for collective decision-making.

To ensure these tools address real needs, CELINE operates through Living Labs: participatory spaces where citizens, municipalities, and experts co-design and test solutions together. These spaces help ground innovation in lived experience rather than theory.

CELINE’s website launch

In April, we launched the official CELINE website. The platform serves as a hub for everything related to CELINE: from the latest project updates to insights from our demonstration sites across Europe. The website will keep visitors informed about CELINE’s ongoing progress in accelerating the digital energy transition.

As CELINE moves from design to implementation, its three demonstration sites in Spain, Italy, and Finland are translating the project’s vision into tangible results. Each demo site adapts CELINE’s methodology to its local context, exploring different aspects of energy consumption and citizen engagement.

Spain: Empowering energy communities through digital management tools

Located in Valencia, the Spanish pilot - led by Sapiens Energia with technical support of Beedata, Ecoserveis, and CIMNE - connects eight local energy communities and over 170 participants, including households, businesses, and public institutions.

Through advanced digital tools, solar and battery data generated by the energy communities is leveraged to improve energy management.

Scaling remains complex, but enthusiasm among local communities shows a promising engagement. As the pilot expands, new features like electric vehicle integration and cross-sectoral data integration will help turn the Spanish model into a blueprint for data-driven, citizen-centered urban energy systems.

Finland: Optimising district heating virtual power plant

In Lappeenranta, CELINE explores how digital solutions and citizen participation can optimise heating generation, and consumption across multiple sites.

Led by the City of Lappeenranta, LUT University, and the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), the pilot connects nine distinct building blocks - totalling 267 apartments, including vulnerable groups - into a Virtual Power Plant (VPP). By processing the data available and monitoring district heating response, the demo aims to guide future optimisation and reduce collective emissions.

While the process requires adaptation to the local infrastructure and the diversity of buildings involved, the result so far shows how even dispersed communities can act together as one energy entity.

Italy: Data-driven energy community in the Alps

In the Italian Alps, CELINE supports Green Land, a renewable energy community established in 2023, covering three municipalities and around 10,000 inhabitants.

Together with FBK-SE | The Centre for Sustainable Energy | Bruno Kessler Foundation and Spindox Labs, the Italian energy community is implementing a data-based ecosystem that connects energy, transport, and tourism. In this context, interoperability and data analytics are experimented to explore the ecosystem's replicability.

By improving the efficiency of public buildings and ski resorts and leveraging real-time data from photovoltaic systems and sensors, the pilot is fostering energy awareness and shaping a replicable model of digital and sustainable transformation.

E-NERGY Cluster - initiative and brochure

CELINE is an active member of the E-NERGY Cluster, a collaborative initiative comprising five Horizon Europe projects. This cluster aims to empower consumers in the energy sector by utilising digital technologies to make energy information more accessible and engaging. By working together, these projects seek to break down barriers and foster greater public participation in the energy transition.

The E-NERGY Cluster meets monthly to discuss shared interests and coordinate communication and dissemination activities. These regular meetings facilitate the exchange of knowledge and best practices, enhancing the collective impact of the participating projects.

For more information, you can check the E-NERGY Cluster brochure!

BRIDGE - initiative, working groups and brochure

CELINE is proud to be an active member of the BRIDGE community, specifically engaging in the Data Management and Consumer & Citizen Engagement Working Groups. In these spaces, CELINE contributes to ongoing discussions, shares experience, and benefits from the exchange of knowledge with peer projects. By participating in BRIDGE, CELINE reinforces its commitment to advancing smart grids, energy storage, and digitalisation in a cross-sector collaborative context, fully aligned with our mission to build a more resilient, interconnected, and sustainable energy system.

We’re thrilled to announce that CELINE has been spotlighted in the 2025 BRIDGE Brochure, a flagship publication that showcases the key EU-funded projects driving innovation in Europe’s energy landscape.

Bridge General Assembly (25-26 March)

In March, the CELINE project joined the BRIDGE General Assembly 2025, taking place in Brussels. The event reflected on the 2024 achievements from the BRIDGE Working Group Chairs and set the course for new objectives and deliverables with DG ENER.

During the event, CELINE featured in the New Projects Area and was honoured to present key project insights during the Networking Coffee & New Projects Showcase, connecting with fellow innovators and relevant stakeholders.

smartEn Summit 2025 (20 May)

Under the theme, “Great Flexpectations: The Flexible Demand Management Industry for a Decarbonised and Competitive Europe,” this year’s smartEn - Smart Energy Europe Summit featured panel sessions and talks, highlighting how demand-side flexibility can make energy more affordable while improving the system reliability.

Credit: smartEn - Smart Energy Europe

FlexCon 2025 (24-25 September)

The annual two-day energy flexibility conference FlexCon - co-organised by smartEn - Smart Energy Europe and Flexiblepower Alliance Network (FAN) - brought together innovators, system operators, and policymakers at a pivotal moment. CELINE was proud to join the conversation on flexibility solutions and their crucial role in Europe’s clean energy transition.

Credit: smartEn - Smart Energy Europe

14th International Conference on Renewable Energy Research and Applications (27-30 October)

During the conference taking place in Vienna, the paper titled “Integration of Cloud Computing and Real-Time Simulation Systems for Validating Energy Management Solutions” (paper ID 190) was presented. This work is expected to be of significant value to CELINE, as it offers a robust framework for validating digital energy management tools prior to their implementation on the operational site. Check the full program here.

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