Power systems are the most complex infrastructure systems ever built. Research & development (R&D) and electricity grids are intrinsically linked. In the last decade, the importance of R&D is growing as European power systems experience the greatest revolution of their history.
The integration of European electricity markets and the transition towards more renewable energy sources are requiring fundamental changes in the way electricity grids are built, and in the way electricity systems and markets are operated. New technologies are required to accommodate a more and more volatile generation and demand into a power system which needs to be balanced every second, 365 days a year. R&D is crucial in delivering the secure supply of electricity each European is increasingly depending on.
Furthermore, "an innovation-driven transition to a low carbon economy offers great opportunities for growth and jobs", as pinpointed by Vice-President Šefčovič in his communication on the Energy Union in February 2015. ENTSO-E and its member TSOs are active partners of this ‘innovation-driven’ transition.
ENTSO-E is a partner of the "Grid Storage" project supporting the European Electricity Grid Initiative (EEGI), which forms part of the EU Strategic Energy Technology (SET)-Plan. This project is ensuring the continuation of the cooperation of ENTSO-E and its member TSOs with the distribution system operators (DSOs) and paves the way towards the cooperation with the storage community on R&D issues.
ENTSO-E, within the framework of its ten-year R&D Roadmap 2013–2022, is developing a detailed rolling plan: the R&D Implementation Plan. It identifies the R&D actions needed by TSOs while taking into account the fast evolutions of the European political context. In its latest edition, the ENTSO-E R&D Implementation Plan 2016-2018 showcases TSOs led activities for the period 2016 -2018: the integration of storage into the electricity system, innovative control systems, power market operations and the much needed cooperation between TSOs and DSOs on demand-side response and balancing/ancillary services.
What the Implementation Plan 2016-2018 highlights is the growing disconnection between the ambition of EU for Europe’s electricity power grid, the need for more research and innovation in transmission systems, and the actual funding available. ENTSO-E calls for greater harmonisation of regulatory frameworks at EU level and for national transmission tariffs allowing TSOs to invest more in R&D and prepare the electricity networks of the future. The Implementation Plan takes stock of TSO-led research against the objectives set by the EU (the SET-Plan Integrated Roadmap and Horizon 2020, the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation).
Quelle: www.entsoe.eu