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SESSION II: A SMART ELECTRICITY INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE FUTURE
The first projects to start this year will concentrate on sustainable living, working, mobility and public space. “The effects of micro combined heat and power (CHP) and heat pumps applications, plus the electric vehicles on the distribution net are evident” he told the delegates, adding: “we have a reliable network and are looking to add new innovative solutions to make them work even better.” The initial list of the ASC initiatives includes a complete set of activities including operation of solar panels on roofs, sustainable (decentralised) buffering, laundering with wind (demand response), smart building, better use of and delivery of energy, public lighting, and electric transportation. “There is a need to know more about how customers will react and also a big need to increase cross-boarder interconnection capacity in Europe” he told the audience.
In terms of investments, the results of EURELECTRIC analysis show that the present replacement rate of assets in DSOs is being maintained, except for smart metering, but there is a significant need for many DSOs to install higher distribution capacity wires and cables to integrate new renewable energy. The future electricity business model for smart grids should be defined and the question “who will invest in what?” should be answered as a priority, he underlined. Electronic voting Responding to a series of questions put before the panel debate by Serge Colle from Conference sponsors ACCENTURE, the conference audience saw:
Joining the panel debate moderated by Professor Ronnie Belmans were Peter Birkner, Chairman of the EURELECTRIC Networks Committee, Martin Crouch, Director of European Strategy and Environment at UK regulator Ofgem; Livio Gallo, Chief Operating Officer of the Networks and Infrastructures Division of Enel and President of Enel Distribuzione, Pier Nabuurs, Chairman of the EU Technology Platform on Smart Grids and CEO of consultancy KEMA; Andreas Umbach, President & COO of Landis+Gyr AG and Chairman of Smart Metering Association ESMIC.
Traditionally, the primary role of metering has been to accurately measure usage of electricity, gas, water and heat. Until now this usage data has been - with some exceptions - manually collected by utility companies, who consequently lack quality data on their customers’ consumption. “This limits the frequency and accuracy of consumers’ bills, and companies’ ability to engage with customers,” he pointed out.
Mr Umbach stressed that Smart Metering is not an end in itself, but without
AMM alone none of the European Union’s ambitious energy-climate policy goals
will be met, he told the conference. Future infrastructure development
should be based on growth in power generation but there is a need here for
decentralised power generation and automation, he argued. |
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Introducing the second session of the day, Ronnie Belmans,
Professor at the University of Leuven and President of electricity end-use
association UIE, set out the framework for the debate on smart grids, focussing on the role of regulators,
the need for research and development and means of financing. Research efforts should be undertaken with the
post-2020 world in mind. When building the electricity system of the future the key is to listen to customers
and work in concert with other stakeholders, he underlined.
“Demand side management partnerships are needed, with a strong focus on customer service,” he told the audience.
Paul Agterberg, Vice-President for Strategy at Dutch energy company Alliander
- “a niche player working actively on distribution networks with a particular focus on smart meters” -
outlined the Amsterdam Smart City (ASC) worldwide initiatives on demand-side management (DSM), demand response,
smart energy programmes and smart grids, consumer energy management, storage and renewable energy.
ASC is a non-profit foundation facilitating sustainability initiatives and projects in the Amsterdam region with its 2.1 million inhabitants.
Cooperating partners in these projects include energy and infrastructure companies, service providers, universities, research institutes and consultancies.
ASC projects are based on the principles that (i) many partners work together,
(ii) projects have a real impact on energy-use behaviour and (iii) are profitable and can therefore be sustained.
Per Hallberg, Chairman of the EURELECTRIC Working Group on Smart
Grids / Networks of the Future, pointed out the main Benefits and Challenges
of New Technologies in the Power Grid. “Cooperation with regulatory
authorities both in Brussels and at national level, participation in joint
programmes, industry initiatives and information sharing are the key
elements enabling future development and deployment of smart grids” he
told the audience. Mr Hallberg stressed that with the EU ‘2020’
energy-climate goals and the ongoing market liberalisation, “Distribution
System Operators (DSOs) have a new mission in addition to delivering
electricity reliably for low cost” and the legislators and regulators
must take these goals into account when forming the regulatory framework. As
smart grids will help improve the functioning of the electricity market and
provide benefits to a range of stakeholders, regulators must improve the
incentives for DSOs to develop smart grids and to connect renewable energy
sources to the network and they must also remove barriers to investing in
new technologies, said Mr Hallberg. In other words, we need “smart
regulation for smart grids” that appropriately reflects the external
benefits to stakeholders and does not leave DSOs to bear all the costs.
There is a clear need to define the objectives and the functionalities of
all projects. Expenses must be recognised by regulators and governments,
Peter Birkner told the audience. “The benefits are shared between the
customer, the society and grid operator and therefore costs should be
supported by several players as well, not only by the grid operators. The
regulators must accept this,” he stressed. Moreover, the EU climate
goals will require more use of electricity in the overall energy
consumption, which make grid development a central issue.
Martin Crouch pointed out that for interoperability “standards for
communication with customers and applications are key, not the meter
itself”. The meter can be like other electronic devices, but interaction
with the customer is key. He stressed that the role of regulators is a key
factor in the development and deployment of smart grids and Ofgem has now
started allowing DSOs to recover part of their research costs and will
increase the budget during this regulatory period. “We want to encourage
DSOs to interact more with stakeholders, in particular customers,” he
added.
Livio Gallo pointed out that “There are three main targets and
objectives DSOs should concentrate on: enabling RES while dealing with
multidirectional flow, enabling network management while offering price and
volume information to customers plus allowing active participation of the
customer in the market”. Most of the panellist agreed that there is a
trend towards DSOs acting more like transmission system operators (DSOs). Mr
Gallo argued that the EU ‘2020’ energy-climate targets will not be reached
unless considerable investments are made in the grids.
Pier Nabuurs highlighted Demand Side Management (DSM) as “one of
the simplest drivers for the grid to support lower CO2 emissions”.
DSM will also help to avoid the need to invest in peak load plants and will
contribute to the energy independence of Europe, he argued. When new items
are installed in a system it always also increases the performance which is
why the replacement of ageing equipment is not enough as a driver for smart
grids. Should this be the only driver the “USA will soon overtake Europe
in smart grids development considering the state of their infrastructure”.
He reminded the audience of the role service providers play in helping
electricity companies to develop their networks. DSOs should not only rely
on their internal resources but also work with other energy related
industries such as construction and wind and solar companies, he argued.
Andreas Umbach explained that the European Smart Metering Industry
Group ESMIG has the objective of delivering the benefits of Smart Metering
across Europe. For smart meter roll-out, regulators must assess what the
limits of the markets are, analyse existing technology and then formulate
clear overall targets that do not necessarily contain all the details but
they should formulate what level of return on investment is to be allowed to
DSOs and formulate functionalities such as Advanced Meter Management (AMM)
and information to the customer.