Integrating Digital Twins and Positive Energy Districts: A Framework for Scalable Urban Energy Transformation

Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) offer a path to urban climate neutrality but present significant management complexity. Digital Twins (DTs), dynamic virtual replicas, provide powerful tools for monitoring, simulation, and control needed for PEDs. This paper proposes a structured conceptual and architectural framework for DT-PED integration, delineating functional layers (Data Acquisition, Virtual Modeling, Analytics Engine, Control, Stakeholder Interface) and their interdependencies. This framework provides a blueprint to leverage DTs for managing heterogeneous systems and data streams inherent in PEDs. Addressing key challenges in data, modeling, interoperability, and scalability, identified herein, is crucial for realizing robust, integrated DT-PED solutions needed to accelerate sustainable urban energy transformation.