Live event

OpenADR European Flexibility Initiative – workshop

Wednesday March 4th 2026 / 12.15 hours till Thursday March 5 15.00 hours

OpenADR Alliance and co-hosted by ElaadNL

Flexibility markets across Europe are rapidly moving from pilots to business as usual. DSOs, TSOs and regulators are defining new products and market rules, while aggregators and technology providers are scaling platforms and devices that can deliver flexibility reliably. In parallel, OpenADR 3 is increasingly being selected as the communication standard connecting utilities, aggregators and customer-side equipment.

This offers a clear opportunity and a real risk:
– Without coordination, OpenADR 3 is likely to be implemented in slightly different ways by each country or utility, creating a patchwork of interfaces. That fragmentation raises integration costs, slows deployment, and undermines scalability for aggregators and manufacturers.
– With coordination, Europe can converge on a coherent, reusable OpenADR-based flexibility interface that works across borders and programmes, while still allowing for national specifics where needed.

To address this, the OpenADR Alliance, in cooperation with ElaadNL, is convening a founding workshop for a new, Europe-focused initiative: OpenADR European Flexibility Initiative.
You are invited to participate in this founding workshop on March 4 and 5.

Who should attend

This workshop brings together leading stakeholders from:

DSOs and TSOs
Flexibility market/platform operators and aggregators
Equipment and gateway manufacturers (EV charging, heat pumps, batteries, building automation, etc.)
Regulators, energy agencies and research organizations

Why participate

For utilities and market operators, this initiative supports:

Lower integration costs for flexibility providers
Faster onboarding and more competition in flexibility markets
Alignment with international standardization and best practices

For aggregators and OEMs, it offers:

More predictable interface requirements across Europe
“Design once, deploy many” potential across multiple markets
A direct role in shaping European OpenADR profiles and test cases

Registration via OpenADR Alliance

What we aim to achieve

During the workshop (see below for the full program) we will work with stakeholders to:

Map existing and planned flexibility programs that use or consider OpenADR 3
Identify common requirements across Europe
Define a concrete European workplan

Program

Wednesday March 4

12.15 – 13.15 hrs Networking lunch
13.15 – 13.45 hrs Welcome at ElaadNL . ElaadNL developments and scope of work
13.45 – 14.15 hrs Status and new developments at OpenADR Alliance. Global outlook
14.10 – 15.00 hrs Dutch developments. Grid Aware charging with OpenADR. Incl Q&A
15.00 – 15.15 hrs Break
15.15 – 16.00 hrs UK developments. Flexibility extraction with OpenADR. Incl Q&A
16.00 – 16.45 hrs Demo V2G with OpenADR
16.45 – 17.15 hrs Closing discussion day 1
Evening: Networking drinks at location in Arnhem

Thursday March 5

09.15 – 09.45 hrs Recap of day one and hardware developments at ElaadNL
09.45 – 10.30 hrs German developments. Flexibility extraction with OpenADR. Incl Q&A
10.30 – 11.15 hrs Belgian developments. Flexibility extraction with OpenADR. Incl Q&A
11.15 – 12.00 hrs Austrian developments. Flexibility extraction with OpenADR. Incl Q&A
12.00 – 12.15 hrs First recap of the morning of day 2 & discussions
12.15 – 13.15 hrs Networking lunch
13.15 – 13.45 hrs Intermezzo: ElaadNL work on in-home connectivity
13.45 – 14.45 hrs Conversation on alignment / cooperation between the different EU initiatives

Practical details

Date: March 4 and 5, 2026

Location:
ElaadNL Headquarters,
Westervoortsedijk 73, Gebouw KB-7
6827 AV Arnhem
The Netherlands

Cost: Small expense covering fee

We look forward to working with you to make flexibility markets in Europe more interoperable, scalable and customer-friendly.
And to ensure that implementations of OpenADR 3 support that vision.