Photo: Both winning teams celebrating their „The smarter E AWARD 2025“ trophies
Every year, The smarter E Europe exhibition—Europe’s largest alliance of energy exhibitions—recognizes pioneering innovations that shape the future of the energy world. At this year’s edition, we are proud to celebrate two projects powered by OpenEMS that received the coveted „The smarter E AWARD 2025“.
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🏆 FENECON wins in “Smart Integrated Energy” category
FENECON, a long-time OpenEMS contributor, was honored for its FENECON Energy Management System (FEMS). The jury recognized FEMS for its comprehensive and intelligent energy management capabilities that benefit homeowners, businesses, and the grid alike.
FEMS orchestrates battery storage systems, solar inverters, EV chargers, and heat pumps to ensure grid-friendly, energy-efficient operation. Its modular architecture, AI-based forecasting, and grid monitoring capabilities make it a powerful, future-ready platform. The fact that FENECON offers FEMS as open-source software with free lifetime updates sets a benchmark for transparency and long-term sustainability in the energy sector.
This award highlights FENECON’s ongoing commitment—since 2011—to democratizing energy technology and empowering prosumers around the world.
🏆 KIT’s BiFlow wins in “Outstanding Projects” category
The BiFlow project by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) took home the award in the „Outstanding Projects“ category for a groundbreaking installation at a student residence in Bruchsal, Germany.
BiFlow combines lithium-ion and vanadium redox flow battery systems with an intelligent energy management system to store both electricity and thermal energy. Its standout innovation: the redox battery tanks are modified to run hotter, allowing recovery of waste heat that is directly used in the building’s heating system. This unique approach eliminates the need for separate hot water storage, reduces CO₂ emissions by up to 20 tons annually, and saves over €18,000 per year—directly benefiting 150 students with lower rental costs.
OpenEMS at the Core
Both award-winning solutions run on or integrate with OpenEMS, the open-source Energy Management System. These recognitions validate the power of open, modular, and community-driven software in driving forward real-world energy transformation.
Congratulations to FENECON and KIT! Your work not only sets technological milestones but also shows the real impact of OpenEMS in creating sustainable, flexible, and accessible energy systems.
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