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The massive penetration of Renewables into the energy mix and the existence of IoT-enabled Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) in the emerging smart grid, while a blessing towards de-carbonization, increase considerably the operations and planning functions of the grid. Cloud processing of IoT/DER data facilitates the deployment of various Demand-Response (DR) and other DER asset scenarios, the organization of distribution grids into Local Energy Markets (LEM) and the efficient computation of load forecasting and power flow. Cloud computing enables a plethora of service provisions to the grid including frequency response. The decentralized nature of DERs at the edge of the distribution grid requires nodal approaches for the computation of power grid congestion constraints and power flow solutions. We present here a cloud-edge continuum approach, anchored on the new generation of communications infrastructure, which expedites the computation time of the load and DER forecasting and optimal power flow calculations. The proposed approach allows the LEM operator to respond to Fast Frequency Response service procurement signals issued by the balancing authority requiring even sub-second latency for service settlement. The proposed cloud-edge architecture has been tested on the IEEE European Low Voltage Benchmark model and provides scalability and elasticity for various DR/DER configurations. 1 BACKGROUND T HE massive penetration of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) and the Internet of Things (IoT) devices in the grid, physically located everywhere, in all shapes and sizes, both in front (FTM) and behind the meter (BTM) are fundamentally changing the operating characteristics of the power grids. It also transforms the current electricity market architectures towards an hierarchical energy market model under which DERs can voluntarily participate simultaneously in multiple markets to maximize their value to the grid. The deployment of low latency 5G network along with the installment of vast amount of IoT devices enable assets at the edge of the distribution grid to participate in the wholesale energy markets by implementing [1]. The successful implementation of such hierarchical market architecture, under which transactions will take place across all levels in the supply chain, namely wholesale, retail, BTM and under the Transactive Energy (TE) paradigm requires the presence of a comprehensive and consistent set of market prices for various products and services such as energy, °). capacity, ancillary and grid network services [2]. In the emerging energy marketplace, cloud computing is expected to act as an enabler to future electricity markets, since it provides the necessary computational resources to process the vast volume of data from the IoT devices, coordinate the operation of DERs and offer scalability to the system. Effective control of the emerging smart grid will be made possible through ICT, intelligent terminal technology, industrial IoT and cloud computing. These technologies will enhance the effectiveness of Demand Response (DR) solutions by enabling electricity prices and control signals to be processed in real-time. DR schemes along with electric storage assets are expected to play a fundamental role in the successful integration of massive penetration of renewable energy assets in organized energy markets. However, the processing of massive amount of data in real-time is expected to increase the computational burden and is prone to communication delays, transmission failures and communication network imbalances. In this environment, single cloud computing might not be able to deal with the additional computational burden. Emerging edge computing combined with cloud computing in a "cloud continuum" is expected to enable IoT devices to unprecedented DER balancing ancillary services including frequency control in hard real-time. Edge computing provides computational resources at the edge of the grid, closer to terminal devices and users, and potentially relieves the pressure on cloud computing and the latency requirements of the communications network. The services that are getting substantial attention in the European Continental Synchronous Area in recent years are related to the standardization of Frequency