On the 19th of May the European Technology Platform on SmartGrids (ETP SG) celebrated its 6th General Assembly, which was inaugurated by Marie Donnelly, Director for Renewables, Research and Innovation, Energy Efficiency at the European Commission.

During the conference the debate centred on the barriers to be overcome and in particular, the required reform in the market design, to allow smart grids to develop and integrate further variable renewables, such as photovoltaic energy. European Union objective, amongst others, is to turn into a Low Carbon energy economy and maintain its leadership in renewable energies; this will require a shift in the way the electricity networks are planned and operated.

ETP smartgrids 3_ Closing Session

ETP Smartgrids General Assembly 2016

 

Key challenges for the next decade

The main challenges in the area of smartgrids, highlighted during the conference are:

– The increasing penetration of distributed renewable energy sources,

– The increasing electrification of several sectors and the appearance of new loads, such as electric vehicles, and local storage.

– SmartGrids should become seamlessly Digital to enable local balancing, self-generation, wide electrification of mobility, flexibility for any User, full open Market Access

– Future grids require to be versatile to accommodate the highly local volatility of the active components (sources and loads) of the integrated grid

– Networks investments should be incentivized to consider the increased benefits provided by smartgrids in increasing efficiency and lowering costs at medium- and long term.

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