Reasons behind this project

A deep transformation of our energy system is imperative to tackle the climate crisis and reduce the external energy dependency of the EU in line with the goals set by the EU Green Deal and REPowerEU Plan. Digitalisation has thus become a top priority to enhance system interoperability and connectivity, accelerate grid investments and empower consumers while addressing cybersecurity corners.

In this context, with the publication of the Digitalising the Energy System EU Action Plan, the European Commission pledged support to Distribution System Operators (DSOs) and Transmission System Operators (TSOs) for the creation of a digital twin of the European electricity grid to boost its efficiency and smartness and enhance the energy system as a whole. The effort will be supported by continuous innovation and coordinated investments in five key areas: (a) observability and controllability; (b) efficient infrastructure and network planning; (c) operations and simulations for a more resilient grid; (d) active system management and forecasting to support flexibility and demand response; and (e) data exchange between TSOs and DSOs.

Project objectives

From Jan/24 to Dec/26, TwinEU will leverage on the experience of the CoordiNet and OneNet projects on TSO-DSO-Consumer coordination and the expertise of grid and market operators, to create a Pan-European concept of digital twin, based on the federation of local twins. The large-scale implementation of this concept, validated in 8 pilots across 11 EU countries, will enable a reliable, resilient and safe operation of grid infrastructure while supporting the emergence of new business models to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy sources in Europe.

The main goals of the project are:

• a set of scenarios for the use of a digital twin benefitting from intra and cross-country data sharing among system operators
• Define and implement a reference architecture for the creation of a Digital Twin at the EU scale.
• Define and implement a federated digital twin to support EU-wide replication
• Enhance data models and semantic interoperability and leverage advanced technologies, to better support the digital twin use cases
• Develop and deploy digital twin services for a more resilient and reliable EU power network
• Demonstrate the TwinEU approach across the complete energy and data value chains and promote its real, long-term implementation at the EU scale.

Project members

TwinEU gathers 77 partners in 15 countries, coordinated by the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft.

The project is sponsored by the Horizon Europe program under grant agreement n° 101136119 for 20 M€ (with a total budget of 25.2 M€).