The first day began with a presentation from the Lead Partner, ERNACT, covering reporting, horizontal principles (including inclusivity, gender balance, and sustainability practices), and the next steps for the upcoming six months. This was followed by an update from the communications manager. With project management tasks completed, the focus shifted to the workplan. As we met in Iceland for the beginning of the 2nd year of the COPOWER project, a presentation by Centria University of Applied Sciences reviewed the achievements from the first work-package. The success of the first year energised the group as we moved into the technical aspects of the second work-package, ‘Distributed Energy Resources (DER) pilot implementation and integration.’ 

The University of Oulu, the coordinator for WP2, initiated a discussion with an overview of each partner's pilot projects. This provided an opportunity for partners to discuss the aims, visions, and goals of their pilots, leading to rich and productive discussions. The first day concluded with a visit to IceWind, a company specialising in extreme energy solutions. IceWind develops robust vertical axis wind turbines designed to withstand all weather conditions, suitable for installation in the most remote areas. 

Day two featured the 3rd Thematic Seminar, focused on disseminating the community-based virtual power plant (cVPP) concept to key project beneficiaries and end-users. Presentations from key experts and master students from the University of Iceland sparked further discussions on topics such as storage and battery size, datasets for predictive algorithms, and the differences between cVPP and smart grids. This session was recorded, and interviews with partners were conducted to create a video for disseminating the session to stakeholders. 

The partnership will meet again in December in Finland for the 4th Partner Meeting and Thematic Seminar hosted by the University of Oulu.