Final Event in Brussels
On 23 October 2025, the FLEX4FACT consortium gathered in Brussels for its Final Event, hosted at SINTEF’s Brussels Office. After years of research, collaboration, and innovation, the day served as both a celebration of achievements and a reflection on the shared journey that brought together industrial leaders, researchers, and innovators from across Europe.
Opening: From Vision to Impact
The event was opened by SINTEF Research Director Silje H. Aschehoug, who welcomed participants and highlighted the broader significance of Horizon Europe projects in driving real change across Europe.
She emphasised that FLEX4FACT was “not just a project, but a mission driven by people with passion and purpose”—a reminder that beyond technology and data, it is collaboration and dedication that move innovation forward. The project, she noted, has not only grown in scope and impact but has also helped its partners grow together as a team—turning research into meaningful results.
Insights from Research and Industry
The presentations that followed showcased FLEX4FACT’s diverse expertise—spanning academia, energy providers, and manufacturing companies—illustrating how cross-sectoral collaboration has been key to success.
Dr. Alexander Bade (Albstadt-Sigmaringen University) shared insights on how digitalisation and AI are generating new business models in the energy flexibility market.
He summarised key learnings from the project:
- Modelling and scheduling industrial flexibility is complex.
- Flexibility markets themselves are complex.
- Flexibility has a potentially high value.
- Capturing, managing, and marketing flexibility requires sophisticated approaches—AI can enable these and foster new business opportunities.
Irene Martín Donoso (SENER) presented how variable renewable energy (VRE) price fluctuations are reshaping energy markets, illustrated through FLEX4FACT’s SENER use case.
She also demonstrated how the FLEX-AI tool supports industrial partners like CELSA in managing flexibility within real production contexts.
Alessandro Burgio & Domenico Cimmino (ENI Plenitude) introduced the Flex4Fact Cluster Platform and the Flex-AI tool, showing how integrated digital solutions can enhance transparency and interoperability across industrial systems.
Dr. Andriy Hryshchenko (University College Cork) highlighted ongoing digitalisation efforts in the energy flexibility market, presenting an energy-flow tool designed to optimise industrial energy use.
Prof. Endre Solvsberg (SINTEF) shared the progress and lessons learned from the Flex4Fact pilots, underlining how field testing has validated the project’s concepts in practice.
How It Started
Project Coordinator Ragnhild J. Eleftheriadis (SINTEF) and Technical Coordinator Chiara Caccamo introduced the origins of FLEX4FACT and its digitalisation focus.
They reflected on how the project’s tools—such as the FLEX-AI scheduling system, digital twins, and the cluster platform—have been applied in real industrial environments to optimise energy consumption, improve flexibility, and strengthen Europe’s sustainable manufacturing base.
Digital Twins and AI in Action
A special session on Digital Twins for Energy in Industrial Contexts, led by IFE’s Krister Haugen, presented three different perspectives from the project’s use cases.
The discussion demonstrated how virtual replicas can simulate, predict, and optimise industrial operations—helping companies to anticipate equipment failures, enhance energy efficiency, and reduce emissions.
A Project from the Heart
Looking back on the entire project, one message resonated throughout the event:
“FLEX4FACT is not only a Horizon Europe project—it’s a project from the heart, driven by people with passion.”
Over the years, the consortium—spanning energy providers, industrial companies, software developers, and research institutions—has shown how cross-sectoral cooperation can deliver tangible impact.
Together, the partners identified challenges, developed innovative solutions, and proved that flexibility can be both economically valuable and environmentally transformative.
Future Outlook
While the project formally concludes, its outcomes and insights will continue to inspire and guide future innovation. The tools, methods, and pilots developed by FLEX4FACT lay the foundation for replication, scaling, and new collaborations across Europe’s industrial landscape.
As participants agreed, this is not the end—but the beginning of a broader journey toward smart, flexible, and sustainable manufacturing.
Acknowledgement
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 101058657.
Learn more at www.flex4fact.eu