How can flexible electricity consumption and generation assets (ranging from electric vehicles and heat pumps to data centers) be managed in such a way as to relieve pressure on electricity grids, better integrate renewable energy and enable new, economically viable utilisation pathways?
This is precisely where ACTIVATE comes in: the project is developing an AI-powered, cyber-physical system that orchestrates flexibility in a grid-, market- and tariff-based manner. At its core is a self-learning AI-driven Load Controller and a distribution-level aggregator, designed to harness local flexibility at distribution network level.
The focus is on three practical use cases:
– The company car fleet of Sparkasse Oberösterreich
– A multifunctional building complex on the campus of Johannes Kepler University Linz
– Geographically distributed flexibility potential in the ‘100% EE Waldviertel’ real-world laboratory
The aim is for ACTIVATE to help reduce peak loads, make more efficient use of electricity grids and further advance the integration of renewable energy.
On Tuesday 23 June 2026, the online kick-off meeting for the ACTIVATE project took place.
Under the consortium leadership of the Energieinstitut an der JKU Linz, partners from the fields of research, the energy sector, technology development and industry are thus working together to harness flexibility as a key resource for a climate-resilient energy system.
Project partners:
– EVN AG
– impeect GmbH
– Pro2Future GmbH
– Reallabor 100% EE Waldviertel BetriebsgmbH
– Sparkasse Oberösterreich
– LIT Future Energy Lab, Johannes Kepler Universität Linz
– Sustainability Unit of the Johannes Kepler Universität Linz
– Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Österreich
A big thank you to all project partners for the constructive dialogue and the enthusiastic start. We look forward to the next steps and the joint in-person kick-off in the autumn!
ACTIVATE is funded as part of the FTI initiative ‘Energy Research 2025’ with funding from the Federal Ministry for Innovation, Mobility, and Infrastructure.
More information about the project: here