EMAX

Their core work

EMAX is a Belgian SME specializing in smart grid flexibility solutions, energy market integration, and digital infrastructure for power distribution networks. Their work focuses on enabling TSO-DSO coordination, managing grid congestion, and integrating distributed energy resources through IoT, blockchain, and advanced data management platforms. They bring practical expertise in translating EU energy market regulations (network codes) into operational software and grid service architectures.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

EMAX entered H2020 in 2017 with a broader scope that included energy storage and market coupling in transmission grids (FLEXITRANSTORE). By 2019, their focus sharpened significantly toward distribution-level grid services, digitalisation, and flexibility platforms, with two concurrent projects (INTERRFACE and FLEXIGRID) diving deep into IoT, blockchain, and TSO-DSO interfaces. The trajectory shows a clear shift from transmission-level market design toward hands-on digital tools for distribution grid operators.

EMAX is moving toward practical digitalisation tools for distribution system operators, with growing capability in blockchain-based flexibility markets and sector coupling — positioning them well for the EU's Clean Energy Package implementation.

How they like to work

EMAX operates exclusively as a project participant, never as coordinator, which is typical for a specialized SME contributing focused technical expertise to large Innovation Action consortia. With 82 unique partners across 24 countries from just 3 projects, they work in very large consortia (averaging 27+ partners per project). This means they are comfortable operating within complex multi-stakeholder environments and can integrate their work with many parallel workstreams.

Despite only three projects, EMAX has built a remarkably wide network of 82 partners across 24 countries — nearly covering all of EU-27. This breadth comes from participating in large-scale Innovation Actions that span pan-European energy market demonstrations.

What sets them apart

EMAX sits at the intersection of energy market regulation and digital implementation — a niche where many large players are too slow and most startups lack domain depth. Their consistent focus on grid flexibility across all three projects signals genuine specialization rather than opportunistic participation. For consortium builders, they offer a Belgian SME that understands both the regulatory framework (network codes, market coupling) and the technical stack (IoT, blockchain, data platforms) needed to make flexibility markets work in practice.

Highlights from their portfolio

• FLEXIGRID
  Largest funding (EUR 979,863) and broadest technology scope — combining blockchain, IoT, vehicle-to-grid, and power-to-gas in a single distribution grid project.
• INTERRFACE
  Addresses the critical TSO-DSO interface challenge with pan-European market scope, covering network codes, congestion management, and wholesale market integration.