Publications
The decarbonisation of our economies and the consequent process towards a more sustainable society are at the core of the set environmental policies. Distribution System Operators (DSOs) as responsible of delivering electricity from High Voltage level to final customers are among the top players in the paved transition. As part of the Clean Energy for All Europeans legislative package, the DSOs have an important role in the European energy market as neutral market facilitators, but also as innovators driving the transition of the energy system towards a more sustainable future.
The distribution system is a key part of the electricity chain. It links bulk production with end consumers. Recently, radical changes have taken place in every segment of the power industry. These are calling for a changing role of the Distribution System Operators (DSOs) in Europe. This report provides a clear picture of the features of distribution grids in Europe, on the way they are operated and how far DSOs are from the paved provisions proposed in the recent Electricity Directive of the European Commission.
The European Union is increasingly considering energy cooperation with Central Asia as this is a relatively nearby and stable region with tremendous energy resources. Locally produced electricity – i.e. predominantly from gas and hydro and potentially from solar and wind energy – offer opportunities for beneficial electricity trade, both among the Central Asian countries and with the European Union. As such, Central Asia may contribute to the European Union’s security of electricity supply and the achievement of its renewable energy targets.
The document presents the outcome of the evaluation process of candidate projects of common interest in the priority thematic area of smart grids deployment, as set out in Regulation (EU) No 347/2013. The evaluation follows the guidelines of the Assessment framework for projects of common interest in the field of smart grids — 2017 update developed by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) and adopted within the smart grid priority thematic group.
This report provides an analysis of digital transformation (DT) in a selection of policy areas covering transport, construction, energy, and digital government and public administration. DT refers in the report to the profound changes that are taking place in all sectors of the economy and society as a result of the uptake and integration of digital technologies in every aspect of human life. Digital technologies are having increasing impacts on the way of living, of working, on communication, and on social interaction of a growing share of the population.
Distributed Computing is growing up in interest in many applied fields of scientific research. Power system operation is becoming increasingly complex due to the Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) integration at various voltage levels. In this context, the need to automate grid operation is ever fundamental in order to ensure adequate levels of reliability, flexibility and cost effectiveness of power systems.
The availability and continuity of energy supply play a key role in qualifying the energy security of a country. This report explores the meaning of energy security, according to the perceptions and preferences of a broad range of market actors. Making use of interviews and survey data taken in Estonia, the Netherlands and Portugal, the importance of an encompassing set of policy topics/measures is explored and described to investigate the relevance of different dimensions of energy security.
The report presents the results of a multicountry survey providing qualitative and quantitative information on the level of appreciation of customers and of regulators, suppliers and other key actors involved in electricity markets. The survey was conducted in Estonia, the Netherlands and Portugal.
The Value of Lost Load (VoLL) is an indicator of the economic value that consumers place on the energy not served in case of a supply disruption, e.g. an electricity outage (blackout). VoLL is broadly used by industry and regulators for benchmarking the operating conditions of an energy system. The perceived worth of the reliability of the energy system can be used for assessing the economic convenience of future improvements, e.g. infrastructure investments, or to assess the damages caused by disruptions.
This report presents the results of a study on the Value of Lost Load (VoLL) in Greece for various scenarios of interruptions of power supply. The VoLL is the value of unserved energy, and quantifies the value of damages perceived by energy users, in case of a blackout. The VoLL is used as a proxy of the economic value of reliability or alternatively of the social costs of power outages.
Smart Grid pilot projects and their assessment through a cost-benefit analysis are crucial to ensure that Smart Grid and Smart Metering roll-out are economically reasonable and cost-effective. Analysing the Isernia pilot project, the key result of the investigation is that an extra remuneration for such ambitious projects has been crucial in turning the Distribution System Operator’s Return on Investment (RoI) positive.
This study analyses the performance of the power grid during 16 earthquakes, 15 space weather events and 20 floods. It concludes that different natural hazards affect the power grid in different ways. Earthquakes cause inertial damage to heavy equipment and brittle items, and ground failure and soil liquefaction can be devastating to electric infrastructure assets. Recovery time is driven by the balance of repairs and capabilities. Poor access to damaged facilities, due to landslides or traffic congestion, can also delay repairs.
This report looks at the potential routes for a future power interconnection between EU and China. China has launched in 2016 the idea of transmitting electricity as far as Germany via an Ultra High Voltage Direct Current (UHVDC) link. China intends to exploit its Renewable Energy Sources (RES) from north-eastern regions both for domestic use and for export. The country has the capabilities to design and build long and powerful systems to transmit electricity across the country for thousands of kilometres.
The document presents the outcome of the evaluation process of candidate Projects of Common Interest in the priority thematic area of ‘smart grids deployment’, as set out in the trans-European energy infrastructure regulation. The evaluation follows the guidelines of the assessment framework for smart grid Projects of Common Interest, 2017 update, developed by the JRC and adopted within the smart grid Regional Group.
The 2017 Outlook offers a snapshot of the state of play and of the latest developments in the field of smart grids in Europe. The analysis is based on a database of 950 R & D and demonstration projects, totalling around EUR 5 billion of investment. It aims to foster knowledge sharing and to inform future policymaking.
The document presents an update of the assessment framework, a methodology to assess smart grid projects of common interest, in line with Regulation (EU) No 347/2013 on guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure. In this context, every 2 years the European Commission establishes an EU-wide list of projects of common interest (PCIs), consisting of key energy infrastructure projects in the EU. These are essential for completing the European internal energy market and reaching the EU’s energy policy objectives of affordable, secure and sustainable energy.
The smart grid requires an effective energy management and for this a vast amount of information needs to be handled. Assessing the new technological solutions that would best accommodate the needs of a smart grid is of vital importance. This report aims at collecting information about the smart grid topics of research, the technologies and the standards used by top organizations that hold smart grid activities at a laboratory level. For this purpose an online questionnaire has been created and used.
The European electricity sector is undergoing radical changes in every segment of the power industry, from generation to supply. Ambitious policy goals set at European level to enhance the competitiveness, security and sustainability of the EU's energy system have called for major changes in the regulatory, technological, and market structure fields. The distribution sector is particularly affected by these changes.
- The Baltic States are strongly connected to the electricity transmission grids in Russia and Belarus
- The current policy activities are focused on secure energy supply alternatives
- To support these activities a Baltic power system model has been developed
- The power model can serve as a tool for techno-economic power system analysis
- Dependency of the Baltic States on outside resources has been found to be fairly low in 2020/30
The document presents the outcome of the evaluation process of candidate Projects of Common Interest in the area of Smart Grids, under the trans-European energy infrastructure regulation. The evaluation follows the guidelines of the assessment framework for Smart Grid projects, developed by the JRC within the EC Smart Grid Task Force.