Interview with Alexandre Lucas on Interoperability and InterSTORE
Interoperability remains a key challenge in modern energy systems, where diverse technologies such as batteries, EV chargers, PV systems, and building management platforms often rely on proprietary data models and protocols. In this interview, we explore how projects like InterSTORE and PARMENIDES aim to overcome these barriers by introducing shared semantic frameworks and standardized data structures. Through approaches such as the PECO ontology and technology-agnostic middleware, these initiatives enable heterogeneous energy assets to communicate meaningfully, support hybrid storage integration, and unlock scalable, resilient, and cost-effective solutions for local energy communities and future flexibility markets.
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Interoperability Challenges in Energy Technologies
According to Alexandre Lucas, one of the main challenges is that energy technologies, from batteries to inverters, EV chargers, PV systems, and building management systems, often come with vendor-specific, proprietary protocols and data formats. As a result, integrating a heterogeneous mix of storages, generation units, loads and control systems becomes complex: every new system may need custom interfaces or middleware, increasing cost and reducing scalability. The PARMENIDES project helps by defining a common semantic framework (PECO) that offers a shared vocabulary and data model for those use cases that require interoperable reasoning that could be in energy communities assets, such as storage systems, community members consumption data, flexibility signals, and so on. By using such an ontology layer, different technologies and platforms can exchange data in a harmonized way, reducing ambiguity and enabling interoperability without bespoke adapters for every device.
The Role of Shared Ontologies in Energy Storage Integration
A shared ontology provides a semantic interoperability layer: rather than just agreeing on data format (syntax), systems agree on what data means. In the context of storage, energy assets, community members, and grid flexibility, PECO defines entities (e.g. “battery storage unit,” “community member,” “flexibility service”) and their relationships. “In InterSTORE we ensure the proper communication and syntax with the IEEE2030.5 as a common vocabulary for a common understanding. If there are cases in which reasoning capabilities exist, solutions such as PECO could be an option.” – highlights Lucas.
Standardized Data and the Future of Storage System Design
Over the next ten years, Lucas expects standardized data structures and shared ontologies to become foundational for designing modular, interoperable storage solutions. Rather than building bespoke systems for each site or vendor, storage-plus-DER deployments will likely be conceived from the start as part of a plug-and-play ecosystem: storage, PV, EVs, thermal storage, building loads all defined under a common semantic framework. This will enable easier asset swapping, upgrades, and expansion. Moreover, it will facilitate data-driven services: predictive maintenance, aggregated flexibility markets, virtual storage pools, dynamic grid support — because all assets will report and behave according to shared definitions. As energy systems grow more complex (hybrid storage, multi-vector coupling, flexibility markets), this common language will reduce friction, speed up deployment, lower costs, and make integration more robust and scalable.
Bridging Interoperability Gaps in Energy Storage Deployment
Alexandre Lucas states that existing gaps include: proprietary vendor protocols preventing seamless integration; legacy storage or DER equipment lacking support for modern communication standards; heterogeneous data models across platforms (making centralized monitoring, analytics, or aggregated control difficult); and lack of common frameworks for hybrid storage systems combining different technologies (e.g. batteries, thermal storage, EVs). InterSTORE specifically addresses this by creating technology-agnostic middleware that abstracts away hardware differences, presenting all storage assets and DERs through a common interface, enabling hybridization, flexible use, and monetization of storage flexibility. Meanwhile, PARMENIDES with PECO provides the semantic “glue,” allowing different systems, storage types, and data sources to be combined under a unified data model.
Interoperability for Resilient and Cost-Effective Energy Communities
Interoperability is crucial for local energy communities because it allows diverse resources, PV, batteries, EVs, thermal storage, flexible loads, to coordinate and be optimised collectively. This enables more efficient self-consumption, local energy sharing, demand response, and flexibility provision to the wider grid. For consumers and communities, this means lower costs (less waste, better use of renewables), reduced reliance on centralized generation, and increased resilience against outages or grid stress. For small-scale systems, interoperability reduces vendor lock-in and lowers the technical barrier to participation. Communities can gradually add or change assets without redoing the entire IT/communication infrastructure. Also, open-source interoperable tools make it more accessible and economically viable for end-users, aggregation platforms, or third-party service providers to offer services, boosting adoption, scalability, and innovation. “Projects like InterSTORE and PARMENIDES accelerate this by making hybrid storage, data-sharing, and flexibility accessible to all types of communities, boosting overall energy system resilience and cost-efficiency.” – concludes Lucas.
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