WMCL participates in the H2020 MERLON Innovation Action that started on January 2019, it has duration 36 months and involves 13 partners. Integrated Modular Energy Systems and Local Flexibility Trading for Neural Energy Islands – MERLON is funded by European Commission under the program H2020-EU.3.3.4. – A single, smart European electricity grid.

MERLON introduces an Integrated Modular Local Energy Management Framework for the Holistic Operational Optimization of Local Energy Systems with high shares of volatile distributed Renewable Energy Systems (RES). MERLON will enable the realization of novel business models, allowing local energy communities to introduce local flexibility markets for local energy system optimization. It will also pave the way to the realization of novel Microgrid-as-a-Service models, assigning to local Distribution System Operators (DSOs) the role of “Aggregator of Aggregator s” for the provision of added value services to the overlaid distribution grid. It equips local stakeholders (DSOs, energy cooperatives, prosumers) with innovative and highly effective tools for the establishment of robust business practices to exploit their microgrids and dynamic Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) as balancing and ancillary assets, toward grid stability and alleviation of network constraints.
The role of WMCL in MERLON focuses on contributions towards the development of EV flexibility profiling models and WSN topologies for optimal data gathering and processing.