Interconnect’s Portuguese pilot project, led by E-REDES, continues to organize workshops to demonstrate how the project works and solve some questions raised by consumers. INESC TEC, leader of the Interconnect project, was in Guarda for another gathering to explain to consumers how to interact with the project through the app HEMS and program their smart machines. Through the mobile app, consumers can schedule the start of a load of laundry or dishwashing and get notified if there’s a time of day when they can save more. "The aim is that you plan when the machine is going to start and that you can adhere, or not, to the HEMS proposed schedule; the choice is yours", explained INESC TEC’s researcher Vasco Campos. The project will test its technology in five cities, having chosen a group of citizens to participate in demonstrations, following a customer recruitment process that took place in the first half of 2022. The Portuguese pilot will allow two types of consumers — residential and commercial — to access solutions that will connect them to the energy of the future. There are tow more workshops directed at residential consumers: one in Braga, the other in Porto.