by Bill Chard Resillion was pleased to sponsor and attend the OpenADR Alliance's User Conference Europe, held in London on June 6th and 7th. Over two full days and a packed agenda, we were treated to presentations and case studies across a broad range of energy flexibility topics, and took part in some insightful and sometimes challenging discussion sessions between the 100+ attendees.
Here are four of my main takeaways from the event.
There's Global momentum behind energy flexibility innovation.
This conference was hosted by the UK Government Department for Energy Security & Net Zero, and we heard lots about the UK's Interoperable Demand Side Response programme, which is part of the up to £65m Flexibility Innovation Programme within the Department's £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio, and the policy work driving these initiatives. The IDSR programme focuses on the consumer energy sector, but we also heard from Pearlstone Energy how they are using OpenADR for demand side response in the industrial sector in the UK. From further afield there were presentations from ElaadNL on OpenADR for smart EV charging, and from Cortexo on trials of an energy flexibility system in New Zealand. It's clear that industry and governments worldwide see energy flexibility as vital in addressing future energy challenges.
The range of Distributed Energy Resources that can play a role is remarkable.
Electric vehicles are a huge factor in this whole movement, especially once bi-directional charging stations become mainstream and the EV battery becomes a true grid resource. This is reflected in the growing number of auto manufacturers taking an active interest in OpenADR and other energy flexibility standards, and indeed this conference included a session dedicated to the challenges of EV charging management.
There are challenges in using EVs as DERs though: for a start, it can be hard to manage a grid resource that by definition is mobile! The UK IDSR programme includes other types of resource: home battery storage, heat pumps and other home and water heating systems. Any system that heats a significant volume of water is a potential energy flexibility resource; a system that stores heat can be just as effective a resource as a battery that stores electricity. There's also innovation in other types of thermal battery such as Sunamp's products which are based on high performance phase change materials.
Consumer buy-in is critical.
This event was mostly focused on energy flexibility in consumer markets, and there was unanimous agreement that it's better to achieve adoption through consumers opting in, than to force change directly through legislation. As a start, the industry needs to do more to help consumers understand how they can benefit: installing appliances that can support flexibility and signing up for flexibility services can offer significant financial savings. It's not a silver bullet that will mean cheap energy for ever the cost of energy is still likely to increase as the industry addresses environmental challenges - but consumers can help themselves by making the right choices.
Several speakers also noted the complexity of DSR and the potential for multiple actors and interface points a consumer may have to deal with: Virtual Power Plants and other aggregators, home energy management systems, the energy supplier and the various device manufacturers. Simplicity in both the onboarding and user experience (allowing a consumer to set their key constraints, like I want my car charged for 7am every day and leaving the rest to the system to manage) will be key, which means all parts of the process need to work smoothly together and be robustly tested functionally, for performance and security, and for useability.
Regulation and standardisation need to hit the right balance.
This is important for successfully winning consumer support: people will buy in to the concept of energy flexibility providing it delivers value, and providing it doesn't restrict choice. This means appliances in the home that support energy flexibility must work together, and with any flexibility service, not just tying a consumer to a single platform. This interoperability comes from conformance with common standards. Standards conformance and product labelling also help to assure consumers that the products they are buying meet certain levels of quality. At the moment there is huge activity around standardisation in all areas of energy flexibility: the UK's PAS 1878 for Demand Side Response, existing industry standards like OpenADR and EEBUS, EV smart charging standards like ISO15118 and OCPP, IEEE 1547 for interconnection of distributed energy resources with the grid the list seems endless. As with any large-scale technology evolution, the standards, and the regulatory frameworks that government policies will require, will set the parameters within which industry stakeholders will continue to innovate and add value.
For example, while the UK standard PAS1878 requires OpenADR for communications between the grid actors and the home interface, it is agnostic about protocols between Energy Smart Appliances and that interface. Consider a consumer who wants to buy an electric vehicle charger from one provider that works with any V2X capable vehicle and can communicate DSR options alongside a heat pump from second vendor, and a PV system from third. Consumer choice and flexibility may require convergence at this level to common standards like Matter to achieve both national and consumer energy objectives.
The energy sector is undergoing massive change and the levels of innovation and activity are truly inspiring. At Resillion we're excited to be a part of this, working with partners to enable innovation across the whole energy ecosystem through testing, demonstration an
Europe Stories
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
14/03/2026
Combines mic, USB interface & wireless IEMs
Following a successful Kickstarter campaign, HISONG have announced that their innovative AirStudio S1 device is ...
13/03/2026
Spotify has always been built around your taste. More than 80% of listeners say personalization is what they love most about us. Now we're taking that even ...
13/03/2026
The new Spotify Legends Club has opened its doors. Its members: select German-sp...
13/03/2026
Pushing drum sampler technology into new territories
The latest version of Klevgrand's software drum sampler has just arrived, boasting a newly designe...
13/03/2026
Expanded headphone support & engine improvements
IK Multimedia's recently introduced ARC On-Ear system brings the power of their monitoring-correction s...
13/03/2026
Extra sound collections, more presets & new Keys category
UVI's rhythm and pattern instrument has just received a major update that introduces four new ...
13/03/2026
13 Mar 2026
VEON Delivers Record Digital Growth: 4Q25 Digital Revenues Grow 84%...
13/03/2026
Friday 13 March 2026
Sky Adds Blood on Snow to Original Film Slate in Acquisiti...
13/03/2026
RT has announced today that Rick O'Shea is the new presenter of Arena RT Radio 1's flagship weeknight arts and culture programme. Rick has been pres...
13/03/2026
Lights! Camera! Action! The 98th Oscars set to air live as RT backs the Irish n...
12/03/2026
Staines-upon-Thames, UK, 11th March, 2026 - Yospace, the trusted leader in Dyna...
12/03/2026
In Latin America, women are shaping music and defining its future. To kick off t...
12/03/2026
En Am rica Latina, las mujeres est n moldeando la m sica y definiendo su futuro....
12/03/2026
Let's turn back the clock 20 years: The music landscape was a world away fro...
12/03/2026
Bad Bunny is no stranger to Spotify's Billions Club. In fact, he has a whopp...
12/03/2026
Spotify was at the London Book Fair this week, joining conversations across the publishing industry about how people can make reading part of their daily lives....
12/03/2026
Mastering tool improves mono compatibility
Tokyo Dawn Labs' Ohlhorst Digital range is a series of mastering-focused plug-ins developed by Jan Ohlhorst, ...
12/03/2026
Wave FX processor integrated into four products
Lewitt have teamed up with Elgato to create a new processor for the company's Wave Next product range, i...
12/03/2026
Free tool for annotating audio files
Mix Notes is a new, free iOS App that provides users with a simple way to annotate their audio files. It's been cre...
12/03/2026
Side-chain ducking tool gets an upgrade
Devious Machines' popular side-chaining and envelope-shaping tool has just been kitted out with an improved enve...
12/03/2026
Ceremony to take place on 16 April 2026
The MPG (Music Producers Guild) have revealed the full shortlist for this year's MPG Awards, which will be takin...
12/03/2026
Emulates three classic dbx 160 variants
The latest arrival to Overloud's Gem Series plug-in range faithfully recreates not one, but three versions of th...
12/03/2026
New granular soft synth announced
Said to be their most advanced software synthesizer to date, Baby Audio's latest release has been built on a new granu...
12/03/2026
Latest version now live!
Edit 11 March 2026 - Bitwig Studio 6 is now live, and available for all to download!
The latest version of Bitwig's DAW softwa...
12/03/2026
Latest free eBook now available!
Designed for recording engineers, audio-technology students and technically minded musicians, our latest free eBook deliver...
12/03/2026
Rohde & Schwarz Cybersecurity expands SITLine network encryptor portfolio - more...
12/03/2026
Rohde & Schwarz to showcase future-proof EMC testing solutions at EMV 2026 Rohde & Schwarz will participate in EMV 2026, Europe's premier trade fair and c...
12/03/2026
Modern media operations demand a platform that unites automation, orchestration, and human oversight without compromise. In this post, we explore the six key te...
12/03/2026
A deep dive into the platform
Architecture The Blue Lucy platform follows a distributed microservices architecture, meaning the overall operational capability...
12/03/2026
Orchestration platform enables broadcasters to deploy multiple AI models safely with full auditability, rights protection, and regulatory oversight.
LONDON, En...
12/03/2026
Wuppertal March 12, 2026
Riedel Expands Managed Technology Division in the Ame...
12/03/2026
Advanced Media Server Delivers Double the Channel Density at Half the Cost per C...
12/03/2026
The Late Late Show Show St Patrick's Day special
Dancing with the Stars f...
11/03/2026
First Medium-Earth Orbit (MEO) deployment of the emergency.lu platform for refugees and their host communities' use provides dependable broadband for humani...
11/03/2026
Following a successful first series, UKTV today announces the commission of two ...
11/03/2026
Wednesday 11 March 2026
Sky and CANAL launch new partnership to develop English-language drama
Sky and CANAL are today announcing a strategic co commissioni...
11/03/2026
NTCA, Cartesian Release New Report on the Business Case for USF
March 11, 2026
Network Economics
News
NTCA - March 11, 2026 - As the FCC and Congr...
11/03/2026
TELL US YOUR (SHORT) STORIES
The 2026 RT Short Story Competition is now open for entries
Recognising and rewarding the best new Irish fiction writing for...
11/03/2026
RT 's The Traitors Ireland is among the nominees for the 2026 Celtic Media Festival Torc Awards for Excellence, announced today....
10/03/2026
10 Mar 2026
VEON's Largest Market Pakistan Almost Triples Mobile Spectrum i...
09/03/2026
Contains all six dual-ensemble libraries
VSL's Duality Strings series offers an intriguing alternative to your average string library, capturing two str...
09/03/2026
Outstanding Contribution To UK Music
Photo: Samuel Bradley
Ahead of their upcoming MPG Awards, the Music Producers Guild (MPG) have revealed the latest win...
09/03/2026
Two new high-quality DI boxes announced
Boasting some impressive technical specifications and versatile routing options, Strymon's latest active DI boxe...
09/03/2026
Latest MPE-capable Soundbox library released
The follow-up release for Sonora Cinematic's Pure Nylon has arrived, and becomes the latest addition to the...
by Bill Chard Resillion was pleased to sponsor and attend the OpenADR Alliance's User Conference Europe, held in London on June 6th and 7th. Over two full days and a packed agenda, we were treated to presentations and case studies across a broad range of energy flexibility topics, and took part in some insightful and sometimes challenging discussion sessions between the 100+ attendees.
