Carlos Manuel Pereira

Abstract
Ensuring robust semantic interoperability is essential for efficient data exchange in the energy sector. This paper introduces SEMAPTIC, a lightweight framework that simplifies semantic interoperability by providing a standardized approach for attaching metadata to exchanged data. SEMAPTIC utilizes ontologies to define the meaning of data elements and employs a new structured metadata map to guide data interpretation. This approach simplifies data exchange, minimizes maintenance effort, and fosters unambiguous data understanding across heterogeneous systems. Compared to traditional methods that often require complex data transformations, SEMAPTIC offers greater flexibility and reduced overhead. The paper explores the benefits of SEMAPTIC, including simplified integration, minimal maintenance, enhanced interoperability, reduced misinterpretation, facilitated data reuse, and future-proofing. A practical example showcases how SEMAPTIC enriches a JSON data structure with semantic context without the need of modifying the original structure and without inflating data size. Finally, the importance of well-defined ontologies is emphasized, highlighting how SEMAPTIC empowers the energy sector to achieve seamless and reliable data exchange, paving the way for a more efficient and intelligent energy ecosystem. © The Institution of Engineering & Technology 2024.

Abstract
This paper presents an innovative digital platform for managing energy communities with self-consumption and energy trading in a local electricity market. Its architecture is based on micro-services, such as the energy transaction service, the settlement service to compute the financial compensations among community members for the energy transacted, or a resource sizing service. This approach enables the platform to be more efficient and scalable, making easier to incorporate new functionalities while maintaining a secure community and energy transactions management. The transactions and settlement procedures, adapted to the Portuguese regulation, are described, and the results of the platform operating a post-delivery pool market are presented and analyzed. This paper contributes to the understanding and improvement of renewable energy communities' business models and management, offering insights for policymakers, researchers, and practitioners in the field.