R²D² Workshop in Serbia Highlights Innovation and Future Opportunities
R²D² Workshop in Serbia Highlights Innovation and Future Opportunities
At the end of May 2025, the mountain resort of Kopaonik became a meeting point for experts, researchers, and industry leaders in the energy sector. As part of the 37th Session of CIGRE Serbia, the R²D² project held a workshop showcasing the progress and achievements of its Serbian Pilot Site, titled “R²D², Reliability, Resilience and Defense technology for the grid – Achievement of the Serbian Pilot Site”. The workshop was organised by the R²D² partners EMS Services (EMSS), Institute Mihajlo Pupin (IMP), and Security Coordination Centre SCC Ltd. Belgrade.
The event drew around 50 participants from across Serbia and neighboring countries, eager to learn how R²D² is shaping the future of grid reliability, resilience, and defense.
Bringing Innovation Closer to Practice
During the session, three tools developed within the Serbian Pilot Site were in the spotlight:
- The KSI Tool (PRECOG product): Provides an additional layer of trust for electricity grid operations. It uses blockchain-based signatures to secure data exchanges between Transmission System Operators (TSOs) and Regional Coordination Centres (RCCs), ensuring integrity, preventing manipulation, and strengthening cybersecurity in grid and IoT data processes.
- The Remedial Action Automation Tool (IRIS product): Automates the determination and execution of remedial actions, which are essential for maintaining operational security in power grids. By enabling fast and accurate responses to unexpected system changes, it supports dispatchers in emergencies, reduces manual workload, and strengthens grid resilience at critical moments.
- The Outage Planning (OP) Tool (EMMA product): Designed to improve outage planning coordination at national and regional levels. It streamlines a process that often relies on human negotiation and experience, providing faster security analysis, scenario testing, and better visualization (such as automated Gantt charts) for Transmission System Operators and RCCs.
Each represents a step forward in tackling complex challenges in energy system management. While still at the stage of concept validation, they have already proven their value in real environments — a rare achievement in such an early phase of development.
The discussion revealed strong interest from the audience, particularly in the RA automation tool, which supports operators in decision-making during emergencies. Rather than replacing human expertise, the tool is designed to help dispatchers handle the overwhelming flow of data that modern power systems generate.
Achievements and Challenges
One of the major takeaways from the workshop was the recognition that these tools are not only practical but also carry academic and scientific potential, with applications in research and education. Their proactive approach, anticipating problems and offering solutions in advance, was praised as essential for building a more resilient energy system.
At the same time, participants noted the road ahead: to reach full market readiness (TRL9), tools will need to become more user-friendly, more responsive, and equipped with stronger cybersecurity features. Some solutions may also deliver their greatest impact at the Pan-European level, requiring alignment with organizations such as ENTSO-E or ACER.
Looking Forward
Perhaps the most exciting news came during the discussion of next steps. The Serbian partners are already exploring commercialisation opportunities, with trilateral talks under way and the first agreements expected before the end of 2025.
What started as pilot-site experimentation is now on track to become part of the region’s operational toolbox — a clear sign that R²D² is not only advancing research but also creating tangible pathways to strengthen Europe’s energy resilience.
Replay the session conducted in Serbian here:
Further information:
info@r2d2project.eu
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101075714.
BRIDGE Newsletter: R2D2 Advancing Cybersecurity in Energy Systems
BRIDGE Newsletter: R2D2 Advancing Cybersecurity in Energy Systems
The latest BRIDGE Newsletter explores how the R2D2 project is advancing state-of-the-art cybersecurity solutions to strengthen the resilience and reliability of Electrical Power and Energy Systems (EPES) in response to growing threats and vulnerabilities.
The featured article focuses on R2D2’s development of advanced tools designed to help EPES operators identify and address supply chain security gaps. These tools detect vulnerabilities and provide actionable insights, empowering organizations to mitigate risks, improve supply chain resilience, and contribute to a more secure energy ecosystem.
Among the key innovations is the R2D2 Self-Assessment Tool, part of the PRECOG solution (Prevention Systems for Energy Infrastructure Security). This tool enables EPES operators to evaluate their cybersecurity posture and take informed steps to enhance their defenses.
Read the full article here: ETIP SNET – BRIDGE – R2D2: Advancing Cybersecurity in Energy Systems
Further information:
info@r2d2project.eu
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101075714.
R2D2 Progresses Toward Its Final Year: Key Discussions Held in Paris
R2D2 Progresses Toward Its Final Year: Key Discussions Held in Paris
As the R2D2 project enters its final year, the consortium convened in Paris on November 19–20, 2024, for a critical Plenary Meeting. Hosted by RTE, this gathering focused on assessing the progress of innovations and refining plans for implementing the project’s use cases across its four pilot sites (Serbia, Greece, Spain and Slovenia).
This milestone meeting addressed vital project areas, including dissemination strategies, tool integration, deployment, and the validation of solutions. Special emphasis was placed on the demonstration activities for use cases such as operational planning tools, crisis handling for cascading effects, wildfire impact simulations, and dynamic cybersecurity risk assessments among many others. Partners discussed the status of these use cases, challenges faced, solutions proposed, and the next steps to ensure their successful execution.
The R2D2 project has made significant progress in standardization and recommendations by identifying relevant legislation and standards for its products, along with challenges and gaps for compliance and operation. Solutions were proposed to enhance legislation and standards, while addressing interoperability issues and applying security-by-design measures. Additionally, the project aligned its efforts with the objectives of the Digitalising the Energy System – EU Action Plan, contributing to a more secure and standardized energy ecosystem.
Spotlight on Cybersecurity
A dedicated session led by CyberNoesis highlighted the importance of addressing cybersecurity in energy systems. During this session, partners were introduced to the Self-Assessment Tool, as part of the PRECOG product (Prevention Systems For Energy Infrastructures Security). This tool is specifically designed to help Electric Power and Energy Systems (EPES) operators enhance the security of their supply chain practices and identify any possible gaps in their security controls regarding their supply chain practices. Once these gaps are identified, EPES operators can use the insights to develop actionable plans to implement the necessary controls. The tool also supports defining good vendor management practices, such as supplier qualification and auditing, which operators can adopt to strengthen their supply chain security. By leveraging these measures, EPES operators can effectively identify and mitigate security risks, reduce the likelihood of cyberattacks, enhance resilience to disruptions, and safeguard critical assets.
Now fully deployed, this tool is now ready to support stakeholders in strengthening their cybersecurity frameworks. From now, R2D2 partners will test the tool to ensure its effectiveness in practical scenarios and provide valuable feedback.
The session also highlighted CyberNoesis’s efforts to finalize a demonstration plan aimed at engaging EPES stakeholders and ensuring the tool’s practical application. Recorded for wider accessibility, the session provided valuable insights into the tool’s capabilities and broader cybersecurity challenges. A recording of the session will be made available soon.
Replay the recorded session:
The Case for Open Source
RTE partner brought an expert on Open Source, Boris Dolley – Head of Open Source Program Office and Sustainable IT, who provided an inspiring perspective to the meeting by advocating for open-source principles in software development. As energy systems grow more complex, with distributed renewable energy sources, electric mobility, and third-party smart services, solutions must evolve to monitor, control, and optimize these networks effectively. Boris encouraged the consortium to embrace a cultural shift “move from ‘control and forbid’ to ‘motivate and enable’: foster openness, trust in technical communities, and collaboration to create value and drive innovation.” This sparked a robust debate among attendees, highlighting the opportunities and challenges of adopting open source in the energy sector.
Beyond the project
Finally, a discussion took place regarding the exploitation plans for the various products of R2D2. While a preliminary plan was defined by partners at the beginning of the project, efforts are now being focused on refining and implementing it. Partners have already defined the intellectual property and are currently working on identifying and detailing the Key Exploitable Results (KERs). Internal discussions are ongoing to finalize the identification and definition of these KERs. The next steps involve outlining the exploitation intentions, conducting a thorough characterization and risk assessment, exploring use options, and defining a comprehensive roadmap. Additionally, recognising the importance of replication and scalability in this process, partners have developed a scalability questionnaire to support this analysis.
Further information:
info@r2d2project.eu
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101075714.
R2D2 Project Highlights AI Innovations in Critical Infrastructure Protection Webinar
R2D2 Project Highlights AI Innovations in Critical Infrastructure Protection Webinar
In September, the R2D2 project took part in the webinar “The Double-Edged Sword of AI in Critical Infrastructure Protection,” organized by the EU-CIP project in collaboration with the European Cluster for Securing Critical Infrastructures (ECSCI). The webinar is now available to replay, providing an excellent opportunity to explore the intersection of AI and critical infrastructure protection.
In the webinar, S2Grupo presented our innovative AI-driven tool for Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) detection, a key feature of the R2D2 PRECOG product. This tool represents a major advancement in the cybersecurity of power systems, using AI to bolster defenses against evolving threats.
The discussion shed light on AI’s dual role in critical infrastructure protection. While AI offers powerful capabilities to detect, defend, and respond to threats, it also introduces new security challenges and vulnerabilities that must be managed proactively. This double-edged nature of AI was a focal point, emphasizing the need for robust, adaptable cybersecurity frameworks.
One of the key outcomes was recognizing the importance of a shared European knowledge hub. By connecting insights and tools from various EU projects, we can build a centralized repository to enhance collaboration, share best practices, and streamline access to innovative solutions for infrastructure protection across Europe.
The webinar also aimed to foster dialogue among professionals and stakeholders from different sectors. Although time constraints limited the depth of discussion, it was a productive starting point for future conversations and collaborations in critical infrastructure protection.
Further information:
info@r2d2project.eu
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101075714.