The Bloomin Vet

On 17-19.04.2026, the IPTO-Independent Power Transmission Operator Department of Research, Technology and Development (DRTD) team attended the 17th Electrical and Computer Engineering Student Conference of Greece - ECESCON at the Technical University of Crete, where we had the opportunity to meet with young talents, discuss about IPTO’s culture, and to present our work at a specially dedicated workshop under the subject “Digitalizing the Energy System: Markets, Flexibility, and Grid Intelligence”. Within that workshop we presented several research projects that DRTD participates, namely the CRETE VALLEY , THEUS Project , SINNOGENES , HEDGE-IoT , TwinEU , UNITY-6G , and cape-project.eu and covered different topics, i.e. Flexibility Markets, Digitalization of Power Systems, 6G Integration in the future power systems, etc. while our colleagues from the Crete Regional Control Center (CRCC) described thoroughly the current status of the Crete power system. All research projects aim at introducing new technologies to the design and operation of the Transmission System and promoting the Energy System digitalization and the enhanced operation of the Electricity Market. In particular, me and my colleague Angelos Nousdilis presented the CRETE VALLEY project that aims at transforming Crete into a sustainable, decentralized energy system, enabling the island to meet its energy needs on an annual basis by renewable energy carriers for electricity, heat, and fuels, and leveraging energy storage technologies. Its main objective is to develop an innovative Renewable Energy Valley ‘Living Lab’ (REV-Lab) consisting of four Community Energy Labs (CELs) located across Crete. Each CEL will rely on different renewable sources and promote the active participation of local communities to achieve both energy independence and energy democracy.