Energy Research and Innovation Discourses, Applications, and Future Directions: A Review and Case Discussions from National and International Projects. AM. Belay * and H. Tuiskula * * Smart Innovation Norway, Håkon Melbergs vei 16, 1783, Halden, NORWAY, alemu.belay@smart innovationnorway.com , heidi.tuiskula@smartinnovationnorway.com ABSTRACT The research investigates the trends and state of art on energy research and innovation by closely looking into energy-focused literature and mapping the review results and making a reflection using ongoing and completed projects of the case organization. For this, more than 20 national and EU-funded international projects of Smart Innovation Norway (SIN) were considered. Both the projects’ mapping and the literature showed the trend toward community and citizens-oriented solutions. The solutions cover multifold dimensions including multivector, flexibility services, modular tools, active engagement of the community, social innovation, etc. In this regard, the content analysis of SIN’s completed and ongoing projects seems to emphasize socio-economic values whereas most of the literature focused on technology advancement. E- LAND, which is one of the EU-funded projects that bring together society, business, and technology, is discussed as an example. E-LAND puts society (community and citizens) at the center and provides modular tools for energy communities. The research has implications for energy research, energy communities, businesses, policymakers, and academia in the context of creating synergy and developing an innovative solution that helps to accelerate the green transition. Keywords: Research and innovation, energy community, citizens, energy technology, flexibility, energy efficiency, demand response, business model. 1 INTRODUCTION The impacts of climate change have long been discussed and have recently become a crucial challenge for the globe more than ever before. Consequently, in responding to this challenge, various research and innovations are done to overcome and mitigate the risks associated with it. In general, the energy research areas seem diversified which covers the development of smart technological and digital solutions, new business models, impact assessment methods, energy communities, and citizen engagement. Nevertheless, the energy research and innovation trajectory/trends seem less studied in a structured way. Looking at closely the state of art energy research and the general literature on the innovative solutions proposed, there is not one universal method and solution for all applications and it differs from one case to another and varies from one context to another context. Now, the question is to answer ‘is there any focal point where all the smart energy research solutions and innovations come together for a better impact?’ Indeed, it is understandable that each energy research has its own thematic goal with the overall objective of leveraging various new and better alternative technologies which enable efficient energy consumption and help with GHG emission reduction. But, how it can be sustainable and ensure these solutions are acceptable to the communities and citizens? In this paper, energy-focused literature is reviewed to understand the energy research trajectory and mapped with practical reflections on completed and ongoing projects of the case organization (SIN). 2 METHODOLOGY AND CASE DESCRIPTION 2.1 Methodology The research used a mixed strategy by looking at the selected key literature (Table 1) from the past decade and the alignment is mapped with the general trajectory of energy research and innovation in the case organization (SIN). Furthermore, a selected case is discussed from one of the ongoing projects which is in line with the trend of the research foci. Title Aligned Keywords Literature Search criteria & results Energy research (a) Technology [1] [2] [3] [8] Searched the publication year 2011- 2021, a total number of articles found 72, published both in journals and other channels including books. Engine: Harzing's publish or perish (b) Business model [13] (c) Flexibility [3] [11] (d) Demand response, [1] [3] (e) ICT &integration [1] [10] (f) Storage [1] [3] (g) Societal (Community, citizens) [4][5][6][10] [12] [13] (h) Innovation [1] [7] (i) Efficiency [3] [7] [9] (j) Optimization [1] [3] [7] (k) Sustainability & policy [1] [7] [9] Table 1. research methodology with search criteria. 2.2 Case Description TechConnect Briefs 2022, TechConnect.org, ISBN 979-8-218-00238-1 152