Imagine the power grid is like a highway — when too many solar panels and wind turbines feed in at random times, you get traffic jams and blackouts. OSMOSE brought together 6 major European grid operators and 51 partners to figure out the best mix of batteries, smart controls, and market rules to keep electricity flowing smoothly even when renewables dominate. They ran 4 large-scale real-world tests across France, Spain, Italy, and Slovenia, proving that combining different flexibility tools — storage, demand response, cross-border energy trading — works better and cheaper than relying on any single fix. The results feed directly into planning for Europe's 2030 and 2050 energy targets.
Europe's electricity grids are struggling to handle the flood of renewable energy from wind and solar — supply fluctuates unpredictably, causing instability, curtailment, and rising balancing costs. Grid operators need a proven, cost-efficient combination of storage, demand management, and smart market mechanisms to keep power systems reliable as renewable shares increase toward 2030 and 2050 targets. Without the right flexibility mix, the energy transition stalls or becomes prohibitively expensive.
Four large-scale grid demonstrations were completed: hybrid storage providing multiple grid services (France), coordinated storage and FACTS device control (Spain), smart management integrating demand-response and renewable generation (Slovenia), and near real-time cross-border flexibility trading (Italy). The project also produced a shared database of real-life techno-economic storage performance data, long-term scenario models for 2030 and 2050 optimal flexibility mixes, market design recommendations, and validated IEC 61850 interoperability across multiple vendors.
If you are a grid operator struggling to balance supply and demand as renewable penetration grows — this project demonstrated 4 real-world flexibility solutions across 4 countries, including hybrid storage providing multiple grid services simultaneously. The tested coordinated control of storage and FACTS devices could reduce your balancing costs while maintaining system reliability.
If you are a storage company looking to prove multi-service business cases for your products — OSMOSE built a shared database of real-life techno-economic performance data from electrochemical storage devices tested across 4 TSO-led demonstrations. This data validates how batteries can stack revenue from multiple grid services, strengthening your commercial pitch to utilities.
If you are a renewable energy developer facing curtailment or grid connection delays — OSMOSE developed market design recommendations and cross-border flexibility trading tested in near real-time. Their 2030 and 2050 scenario modeling identifies the optimal mix of flexibility that enables higher renewable shares, giving you evidence to negotiate better grid access terms.
OSMOSE did not publish per-unit cost figures in the available data. However, the project built a database of real-life techno-economic performances of electrochemical storage devices from 4 TSO-led demonstrations, which contains actual cost and performance benchmarks. Access to this data through the project consortium would give you real-world pricing references.
Yes — these are not lab prototypes. The 4 demonstrations were led by major transmission system operators (RTE in France, REE in Spain, TERNA in Italy, ELES in Slovenia) on their actual grids. With 31 industry partners including manufacturers and solution providers across 9 countries, the solutions were designed for full-scale grid deployment.
The consortium includes 31 industry partners (manufacturers, solution providers, energy producers, ESCos) and 4 SMEs. IP arrangements would be governed by the consortium agreement. The project specifically planned exploitation strategies with specific messages for each category of electricity system participants, suggesting structured pathways for technology licensing.
OSMOSE specifically developed recommendations for improvements to existing market mechanisms and regulatory settings to enable flexibility asset development. Their market design work covers cross-border energy trading rules and TSO/DSO coordination, directly addressing the regulatory barriers companies face today.
The project ran from 2018 to 2022 and is now closed, meaning all 35 deliverables are complete. The demonstrations have been executed and validated. Results including the interoperability standards work based on IEC 61850 are available for adoption now.
Interoperability was a core focus. The project tested end-to-end interoperability processes based on the IEC 61850 standard, proving robustness across different vendors and partners. This standards-based approach means the solutions are designed to work with existing grid equipment, not replace it.
The consortium of 51 partners across 9 countries includes 6 TSOs, 14 universities, and 6 research organizations. The coordinator RTE (France's transmission system operator) led the project. SciTransfer can help identify the right technical contact within the consortium for your specific needs.
This is one of the strongest consortia you'll find for grid flexibility — 51 partners with a 61% industry ratio, meaning the majority are companies, not just academics. The project is led by RTE, France's national grid operator, and includes 6 TSOs total, which are the actual buyers and operators of grid flexibility solutions. With 31 industry players spanning manufacturers, solution providers, energy producers, and energy service companies across 9 countries (including major markets like France, Germany, Spain, and Italy), plus 14 universities and 6 research organizations providing the science, this consortium represents both the demand side and supply side of the flexibility market. The 4 SMEs in the mix suggest niche technology providers with specialized solutions worth watching.
RTE Reseau de Transport d'Electricite (France) — contact through SciTransfer for warm introduction to the right technical lead
Want to access OSMOSE's flexibility solution data or connect with their grid storage experts? SciTransfer can arrange a targeted introduction to the right consortium partner for your specific use case.
