E.DSO holds 4th Stakeholder and Innovation Council at Enlit Europe
The 4th edition of the Stakeholder & Innovation Council is over, and we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did! Under the headline “The Thin Veil of Renewal: Building the Next Grid Generation” this year’s edition addressed three of the most topical issues of the decade:
- Future investments (link with Green Deal & Fit for 55 Package)
- Regulatory framework and financial enablers
- Parameters and features of new DSOs role
Each of these three themes were presented, discussed, and interactively tackled from different angles by no less than 20 speakers, panellists, and experts.
This year edition could not come at a better time. As we will emerge from the pandemic, innovation and investments will be key for the success of the digital and green agenda. DSOs are nearing a once-in-a-generation peak for electricity infrastructure investment, which provides both the opportunity and necessity to develop, test, and deploy leading-edge grid modernisation technologies.
“Innovation” was one of the keywords of the 2021 Council. The experts had the opportunity to discuss how to unlock a more sustainable, green, and digital future, as well as to experience first-hand what this future could look like.
“It is only through innovation that we will achieve climate neutrality. The goal of the Stakeholder and Innovation Council is to make this innovation possible.” – these were the opening words for E.DSO’s 4th Stakeholder and Innovation Council by Joao Torres, Strategic Advisor at EDP and Chair of the event.
Key novelties of the Stakeholder and Innovation Council
Council was an opportunity to advance shared understanding, identify concerns and develop solutions on the future role of DSOs and investment needs for electricity grids:
- The current investment framework must change to foster the evolution of DSOs as enablers of distributed flexibility and decarbonisation.
- Green Bonds will increase their attractiveness on capital markets.
- The biggest obstacle to decarbonisation is the failure to create an effective public-private partnership to finance change.
The Council was moderated by Mark McGranaghan, Fellow EPRI, and Philip Lewis, Founder and CEO at VaasaETT and Co-Founder of The Traxis Group.
In his concluding words Mark van Stiphout, Deputy Head of Unit for Innovation, Research, Digitalization and Competitiveness, DG Energy, emphasised: “There is a key role for network operators to enable innovation for the energy transition”.
The Council was attended by more than 120 people. If you missed or want to review specific sessions (idea labs) you can now find the link to the presentations and to the recording.
The organisers want to thank all the speakers, moderators, and participants who made this success possible! We look forward to seeing you again at #EDSOCouncil22!
Council Contributors
