EDGING INTO THE FUTURE OF NETWORKS – Livo Gallo on the launch of E.DSO’s 1st Stakeholders and Innovation Council
The energy transition, driven in Europe by the EU 2050 energy decarbonisation target, is shaping the future electricity systems: the traditional meaning of “demand” and “supply” is about to be overcome and the distribution grid is and will be the crossroad for flexible power supply options from decentralised sources of generation, storage and demand response.
DSOs will play a pivotal role among customers who actively participate in the energy market, capacity and ancillary services markets, embedded generators, and TSOs.
On one side, the addition of a large amount of generation on the distribution network will present challenges in network planning and operation, on the other side, the available flexibilities from this generation and new technologies such as storage facilities, e-mobility and demand response will provide the DSOs with more options for network management and planning.
Network operators could manage constraints in real-time to either defer or avoid costly grid reinforcement or expansion and to unlock other system-wide benefits, including reduced outages, improved response times, operational cost savings and optimising balancing and congestion management.
New technologies that are currently being deployed will result in a paradigm change in the way distribution networks are planned and operated. Demand will be driven by different consumption mode and distribution grids will carry two way flows. This is both a challenge and an opportunity for utilities while at the same time offering the opportunity of new business models with flexible, customer centric relations. DSOs will continue to be responsible for the delivery of high quality electricity and their present role as neutral market enablers will expand.