As climate-related risks become increasingly frequent and severe across Europe, ensuring the resilience of electricity distribution networks has become a strategic priority for Distribution System Operators (DSOs). This publication presents the findings of a benchmarking analysis conducted across nine European DSOs from six countries, providing an overview of the current state of climate resilience within the electricity distribution sector.
Building on the E.DSO framework developed in the publication “Position Paper Climate Resilience Metrics for Electricity Grids”, the analysis evaluates ten key resilience indicators across four dimensions: Robustness, Redundancy, Reliability, and Response & Recovery.
The analysis provides an aggregated overview of resilience performance across European regions, highlighting variations in the application and maturity of resilience measures while taking considering differences in climate exposure, geography, network density and regulatory incentives.
The benchmarking exercise is not intended to rank individual operators, but to identify the general state of resilience across the sector, highlight areas of common strength or widespread vulnerability, and provide a basis for peer learning and targeted investment planning. All data has been anonymised and aggregated to support knowledge sharing and peer learning across the sector.
The findings show strong performance in established resilience measures, such as vegetation management, network redundancy, and spare capacity, while also highlighting the growing importance of digitalisation, automation, and advanced monitoring solutions in strengthening response and recovery capabilities. Overall, the results demonstrate a sector progressing towards a more adaptive and climate-resilient electricity network, supported by targeted investments and data-driven resilience planning.
