This paper presents the work done to represent the complete chain of information exchanges between DSO (Distribution System Operator), aggregator, and utilities, using the end-user emulation platform built in Project 2.3 of the three-year period 2019-21 triennium ‘Applicazione al sistema elettrico di tecnologie dell’informazione, internet delle cose peer to peer’ (Application of information technologies, peer-to-peer Internet of Things to the electricity system), with the aim of emulating the real scenarios in which flexibility requests are operated.

Updates made to the platform that allow the aggregator to reschedule the use of appliances following a next-day flexibility request operated by the DSO are described. In this regard, the features added to the aggregator’s information platform to enable proper information exchange with the DSO by sending the aggregate’s estimated power curve and receiving the next-day flexibility request are described.

Finally, the DSO emulator is described. The use case considered is that of a medium-voltage network in which a group of end users are connected to a specific network node and are managed by a single aggregator. In response to the communication of the aggregator’s forecast of the overall load profile for the node, and downstream of a technical verification, the emulated DSO communicates to the aggregator the permissible limit profile for power exchange at that node, which the aggregator is responsible for enforcing through the coordinated management of the users and the use of their flexibilities.

In addition to the emulation of aggregate users, experimentation with a physical user represented by RSE’s PREVO (PRosumer EVOluto) laboratory is also shown. In particular, in order to demonstrate the flexibility solutions applicable to meet the demands of an aggregator, a smart appliance present in the laboratory was used and controlled, taking advantage of the capabilities provided by the manufacturer’s cloud platform.

The paper considers second-generation electronic meters as a very importante technology for end users. In this case, metering data made accessible to end users in various ways were used to perform consumption analysis of a real non-residential consumer, and an actual user experience is illustrated for a residential consumer of a user device connected directly to the meter on the Chain 2 channel. For the Chain2 channel, the intended use in relation to electric vehicle charging is also analyzed according to the regulatory developments envisaged by Controller of Charging Infrastructure (CIR) in Annex X of IEC 0-21.