The EU regulation has identified the independent aggregator, who is not affiliated to the customer’s supplier. However, the independent aggregator has not been fully implemented yet. There are existing aggregator services, but the challenges arise on how to accommodate diverse solutions from aggregator to support TSO-DSO coordination and enhance active customer participation.

This work investigated how aggregators can improve the TSO-DSO-Customer coordination in a digitalised power system by analysing existing policies, their role, possible coordination approaches, and addressing (non-) technical challenges.

FlexPlan created a new innovative grid-planning tool whose ambition is to go beyond the state of the art of planning methodologies by including the following innovative features:

• assessment of the best planning strategy by analysing in one shot a high number of candidate expansion options provided by a pre-processor tool,
• simultaneous mid- and long-term planning assessment over three grid years (2030, 2040, 2050),
• incorporation of a full range of cost–benefit analysis criteria into the target function,
• integrated transmission and distribution planning,
• embedded environmental analysis (air quality, carbon footprint, landscape constraints),
• probabilistic contingency methodologies in replacement of the traditional N-1 criterion,
• application of numerical decomposition techniques to reduce calculation efforts,
• analysis of variability of yearly renewable energy sources (RES) and load time series through a stochastic optimization approach.

Six regional cases covering nearly the whole European continent were developed in order to cast a view on grid planning in Europe till 2050.

FlexPlan ended up by formulating guidelines for regulators and planning offices of system operators by indicating to what extent system flexibility can contribute to the reduction of overall system costs (operational + investment) yet maintaining current system security levels and which regulatory provisions could foster such process.

After presenting a short overview of the project motivation and goals, the present report concentrates on the final regulatory reflections and the elaboration of the final regulatory guidelines.

Three regions, three successful online workshops: The Lighthouse Project has completed the first round of regional workshops and has drawn a positive interim balance. At the meetings, experts from Central and South America (16 May 2024), Europe (23 May 2024), and India and Africa (28 May 2024) presented the status of distribution grid modernization in their respective countries and reported on both challenges and opportunities. 

Having explored the experiences of national policymakers, regulators, and distribution grid operators from countries in these three global regions, it is evident that countries across these diverse geographies share many challenges, such as those related to the regulatory landscape, grid congestion, and issues concerning the availability and security of data. However, the context and preconditions to address these issues vary considerably between different countries and regions. 

Some important findings for the Lighthouse Project:

Challenges

In all workshops, speakers expressed their views on regulatory uncertainties, which are seen as a major source of concern. For example, the roles and responsibilities of key actors are not always clearly defined, the speed of technology development is not matched by regulatory adaptations, and there are often insufficient incentives for grid investment. 

The issue of data was another shared concern, particularly since access, quality, and exchange of data are crucial for planning processes to pave the way for smart distribution grids. Forecasting load and demand from decentralized Renewable Energy Sources (RES) and their integration into power systems is also a common challenge. Finally, the financial aspects of investment are a major source of uncertainty. Significant investments are needed, which require appropriate financing methods to ensure profitability.  

Region-specific aspects

The socio-economic, political, and geographic preconditions differ greatly between these global regions, as do the drivers behind efforts to modernize distribution grids with smart solutions.  

While Europe is primarily focused on transforming its energy system to achieve climate neutrality, many countries in Africa, South America, and India are also simultaneously striving to achieve full electrification for all citizens to foster socio-economic development. 

Although accelerating global heating causes calamities in all regions of the world, workshop speakers from South/Central America particularly emphasized the acute challenges caused by climate conditions and events in their countries. In particularly affected areas, grids can benefit from efforts to improve resilience. 

Different regions also have diverse technical and implementation developments that need to be considered in planning processes. In many African countries, for example, there are areas currently lacking grid connection. Microgrids not connected to national grids are increasingly common in this region and offer benefits for local communities. The stability and maturity of institutional and regulatory frameworks also differ significantly between regions. The speed of development in some geographies, such as India, which experiences rapid economic and social growth, is another challenge that requires quick deployment of scalable smart grid solutions. 

Promising approaches

Speakers from all regions mentioned that trust-based cooperation and increased data exchange are crucial for an improved distribution grid planning process. This includes all involved stakeholders, ranging from national policymakers, regulators, transmission and distribution grid operators, solution providers, and end-users. 

Regulatory frameworks that incentivize proactive planning and investments, such as tariff adaptation or smart meter roll-out, are also crucial and key enablers. The digitalization of the electricity grid using smart meters, sensors, data analytics, and automation technologies offers enormous potential for improving the efficiency, reliability, and flexibility of the grid. 

Join us in the forthcoming workshops!

We will conclude the Global Workshop Series in September with two more opportunities to learn about the development of smart distribution grids in the Asia and Pacific region (12 September 2024) and North America (17 September 2024). Register soon to secure a place!

Further information

If you like to learn more about the Lighthouse Project on Smart Distribution Grids, subscribe to our newsletter and check out these articles:

Global workshop series: Lighthouse experts explore distribution grid transformation worldwide

Next step of Lighthouse Project: Experts structure collected content

Survey: Opportunity to contribute to the knowledge co-creation of the ISGAN Lighthouse Project on Smart Distribution Grids

Co-creating Insights on Planning and Implementation of Smart Distribution Grids for the Future

ISGAN Lighthouse Project Workshop Welcomes Keynote Speakers from UNICEF

New takeaways from ISGAN Lighthouse Project

ISGAN Lighthouse Project: Illuminating Pathways for Smart Grid Development

Each country offers a wide choice of different legal forms of organizations for a newly created energy community entity, which leads to a wildly grown landscape. They are actually generally limited to a certain redistribution of cash flow. Their upgrade to fully integrated supporting the demand response process in distribution and transmission levels will require solid organization forms and business cases. In the technical aspect, remarkable scientific works are being done to improve the load matching of individual customers and at the community level. However, none of these studies considers the grid, constraints, challenges, and coordinated operation, so the solutions are not directly practicable on a large scale.

This paper first gives a brief overview of energy communities developments, followed by an analysis of the impact of large-scale implementation of energy communities on the power grids. This is pursued by discussing economic processing in the power industry and business organization, as both are crucial for promoting viable energy communities. The paper finalizes conclusions and recommendations on innovation and research activities.

ISGAN Virtual Learning and OptiREC project invite you to an insightful webinar on the approaches to integrate Energy Communities into the Spanish electricity system.

The EU policy recognizes energy communities as pivotal for achieving energy transition goals. However, integrating this new actor into the existing electricity system landscape remains an open topic, especially as large-scale energy community development reaches a critical mass impacting system and market operations.

The OptiREC project investigates the technical and regulatory challenges posed by the large-scale development and integration of energy communities within the Spanish electricity system. Join us for a webinar where we’ll discuss the OptiREC project’s achievements, focusing on the development of optimal multi-layer coordination among community members, Distribution System Operators (DSOs), and Transmission System Operators (TSOs).

Moreover, OptiREC presents two optimization models designed to simulate the operations of an Energy Community (EC), focusing on energy trading among peers and evaluating the EC’s potential to offer flexibility as a service to the distribution network operator (DSO). Employing the second-order cone programming representation, the mathematical formulations include the distribution network limitations and consider distributed energy resources such as rooftop solar panels, energy storage systems, electric vehicles, and heat pumps. The models were executed over a year with one-hour time steps using the IEEE European Low Voltage test feeder, adapted to a single-phase version, for testing the formulations. Thus, the first model reflects exclusive peer-to-peer (P2P) operations, while the second model isolates flexibility considerations. This approach enables a comprehensive examination of how introducing a flexibility market influences the trading patterns within the community. Through statistical analysis of the annual data generated by the optimization models, the study identifies hours with a higher likelihood for the EC to offer flexibility services and estimates the potential quantity of such services.

These insights provide valuable characterizations of the EC concerning demand, energy trading, and flexibility provision. As a result, the DSO could enhance daily operational planning conditions based on a better understanding of the EC’s dynamics and capabilities.

The speakers:

	Seyedamir Mansouri Universidad Pontificia Comillas IIT Institute for Research in Technology
	Albert Farriol Salas IREC Fundació Institut de Recerca en Energia de Catalunya

Intended audience

Researchers and academics interested in energy transition, community energy, and grid integration.
Technology providers and solution developers offering products and services for energy community integration and grid optimization.
Representatives from energy communities, including community organizers, leaders, and members.
Professionals and experts in the energy sector, including policymakers, regulators, and energy industry stakeholders.
Utility companies, DSOs, and TSOs seeking insights into integrating energy communities into the electricity system.

Key messages

• Cloud computing platforms to integrate energy communities into existing energy markets.
• Coordinated frameworks to extract flexibility from community members.
• P2P power sharing among community members to enhance economic, technical, and efficiency indices.

ISGAN Virtual Learning invites you to an informative webinar focused on the implementation and benefits of hybrid power systems in insular environments. This session will feature insights from the SINNOGENES EU project’s pilot on the island of Ikaria, Greece. We will delve into technology integration, challenges, and potential grid enhancements.

Additionally, we will highlight the significance of adopting AI technology and simulation to facilitate the management of transport fleets and the synergy with the energy networks, in a hydrogen-oriented environment located in Geneva, Switzerland.
Furthermore, the webinar will explore prospective modelling of the European energy system to elucidate the role of specific technologies in meeting future energy needs. We will present the Artelys Crystal Super Grid modelling tool, showcasing its effectiveness in analyzing the role of storage technologies in providing flexibility to the European energy system, as part of the SINNOGENES project.

The speakers:

	Nikos Andriopoulos, Researcher, Independent Power Transmission Operator
	Quentin Matthewson, Technical project manager, Transports Publics Genevois
	Georgios Spanos, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Centre for Research and Technology-Hellas
	Grégoire Thillaye du Boullay, Project Manager, Artelys France

Intended audience

Policy makers, utility managers, TSOs, DSOs, renewable energy professionals, PTOs, PTAs engineers involved in power system planning and operation and in software development, and academic researchers in energy studies, public transport, and AI.

Key messages

• Demonstration of the integration of wind and pumped hydro storage in an insular grid to enhance energy .resilience and sustainability.
• Highlighting the technical and economic benefits of hybrid power systems in reducing reliance on conventional energy sources.
• Presentation of Ikaria as a model for renewable energy integration in island settings.
• Emphasis to AI technology for energy consumption optimization and fuel cell lifetime increase
• Highlighting the importance of RES penetration increase for mobility
• Presentation of on demand service for public transportation in Geneva using hydrogen vehicles
• Using Artelys Crystal Super Grid to model a multi-energy transition pathway for the European energy system will make it possible to represent the gradual uptake of innovative storage and flexibility technologies and to assess the impact of their integration.
• The role and the impact of these technologies can be assessed using various indicators, in particular by evaluating their contribution to flexibility needs.

In March, the Lighthouse Project Team, international experts and members of the ISGAN Executive Committee had met in Copenhagen, Denmark, to exchange knowledge and insights aimed at fostering the development of smart distribution grids – a critical facilitator of the global clean energy transition.

The participants analysed actor groups’ roles, responsibilities and tasks, as well as challenges and needs in the different phases of planning and implementation. A month later, the experts came together again in order to structure the results collected in Copenhagen.

They found out that four main aspects play an essential role in the process: A long-term planning and implementation cycle, the preconditions from a legal and governance framework to reduce uncertainties for the planning process​, collaboration as a precondition for planning and implementation ​and last, but not least information and knowledge infrastructure requirements.

Now, the Lighthouse Project Team has continued and gone on to sort the material collected in another workshop which took place last week. The workshop included putting heads together to find overarching questions for each phase/categories and subsequently composing short overviews of the most essential aspects to consider.

Upcoming activities in the Lighthouse Project will be a survey and a series of online workshops focusing on the preconditions and development needs of distribution grids in countries and regions in different parts of the world. Findings of the Project will be presented in conjunction with the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM15) meeting in Brazil, scheduled for October this year. Through this contribution, ISGAN aims to highlight key policy priorities for enabling smart distribution grids to contribute to meeting the global community’s pledges to triple renewable energy capacity and efficiency, as articulated during the COP28 conference in Dubai last year.

In the framework of the Lighthouse Project on Smart Distribution Grids, ISGAN is launching an innovative workshop series to explore grid development dynamics in different parts of the world.

Considering the recent COP28 Pledge propelling the international community towards a tripling of renewables and doubling the rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030, the imperative for implementing innovative grid solutions has never been more pressing.

The ISGAN Lighthouse Project aims to foster international collaboration and innovation in the global effort to reshape distribution grids for a sustainable future. As part of this commitment, the project is now organizing a new workshop series focusing on different global regions, to provide a platform for experts worldwide to come together and address the challenges of long-term planning and implementation of smart distribution grids in a new way.

Share insights on policy making and grid operation

Join us in a dynamic exchange among stakeholders worldwide, each playing a vital role in the reshaping of distribution grids amidst a backdrop of profound uncertainties. Together, we’ll navigate through shared challenges while exploring the unique nuances of different global regions.

During the workshops we will explore the preconditions, challenges, and opportunities of key actors, including national and local energy policy makers as well as distribution grid operators and utilities, who will provide examples from different countries in the regions in focus. Questions to be explored include for example:

• What are the fundamental prerequisites for grid development across diverse geographies?
• How do uncertainties impact the capacity of grid actors to effectively plan and implement distribution grids?
• How can actors with complementary roles and responsibilities work together to accelerate distribution grid transformation?

Workshop series

• South & Central America: 16 May, 16.00-18.00 (CEST) – REGISTER HERE Click here for details about agenda and speakers

• Europe: 23 May, 13.00-15.00 (CEST) – REGISTER HERE Click here for details about agenda and speakers

• Africa & India: 28 May, 10.00-12.00 (CEST) – REGISTER HERE Click here for details about agenda and speakers

• Asia & Pacific: 12 September, 09.00-11.00 (CEST)

• North America: 17 September, 17.00-19.00 (CEST)

Please note that spaces for each workshop are limited, and the Lighthouse team aims to ensure a balanced representation of participants from various actor groups across different countries.

Further information

If you like to learn more about the Lighthouse Project on Smart Distribution Grids, subscribe to our newsletter and check out these articles:

Next step of Lighthouse Project: Experts structure collected content

Survey: Opportunity to contribute to the knowledge co-creation of the ISGAN Lighthouse Project on Smart Distribution Grids

Co-creating Insights on Planning and Implementation of Smart Distribution Grids for the Future

ISGAN Lighthouse Project Workshop Welcomes Keynote Speakers from UNICEF

New takeaways from ISGAN Lighthouse Project

ISGAN Lighthouse Project: Illuminating Pathways for Smart Grid Development

The EU funded SINNOGENES project addresses the European Green Deal and the Long-Term Strategy for decarbonization, emphasizing on electrification and renewable energy deployment. It focuses on innovative energy storage solutions to tackle massive penetration of renewables, the electrification of sectors and the residual load variability. By developing the SINNOGENES innovative tools, the project will integrate storage beyond current capabilities, promoting sustainability and scalability. In this presentation we will tackle the SINNOGENES storage innovations that are targeting the coordination of multi-energy carriers and the industrial environments.

The speakers:

Ilias Zafeiropoulos (UBITECH ENERGY)

Rushit Amishbhai Kansar (DEUTSCHES ZENTRUM FUR LUFT – UND RAUMFAHRT EV)

Ricardo Silva (INESC TEC – INSTITUTO DE ENGENHARIADE SISTEMAS E COMPUTADORES, TECNOLOGIA ECIENCIA)

Hernandez Jimenez Angel (CIEMAT)

Intended audience

The intended audience for this webinar could include policymakers and regulators involved in energy transition strategies, researchers and academics interested in renewable energy integration and storage technologies, industry professionals in the energy sector, including renewable energy developers and energy storage solution providers, factories and industrial clusters, as well as environmental organizations and advocates focused on sustainability and the European Green Deal objectives.

Key messages

• Renewables and storage (should) ‘go together’, because both support decarbonisation in a complementary way in all sectors. Once you favour/support the one you should do the same for the other in order to support the decarbonisation target.
• Digitalization and business models are two important pillar that can foster storage wide integration into the grid.

• Development and integration of an optimization tool for the definition of an optimal energy supply system based on renewable sources as well as its operation for the decarbonization of the industrial process.
• Data-driven modelling combined with physics-based modelling and parallelization techniques to reduce computational efforts.

• Development of an optimal scheduling tool for multi-technology storage systems, including lithium-ion (Li-ion) and vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB), based on a mixed integer linear problem (MILP);
• Development of a linear model for the VRFB that captures the fundamental dynamics of its operation for usage in a MILP;
• Integration of the Rainflow Counting Algorithm (RCA) in a MILP to estimate the degradation of a storage system online and consider its inherent cost in the objective function.
• Inclusion of the possibility of participating in day-ahead flexibility markets in the basic MILP, through the definition of operation bands shaped by the storage activity

• Integrating electric grids with gas and heat networks will provide greater flexibility in resource management and enable synergistic opportunities for combined storage solutions.
• Incorporating cutting-edge monitoring and control technologies into current grid is essential for achieving optimal energy management and accomplishing decarbonization targets.
• The implementation of rapid-response energy storage prototypes is crucial to ensure the resilience and stabilization of the current grid infrastructure.

This webinar in collaboration with the EU-funded Bio-FlexGen EU project offers a unique opportunity to uncover the future of sustainable energy generation. Step into the forefront of renewable energy alongside Phoenix BioPower. Join us for an exploration of the pioneering Biomass-fired Top Cycle (BTC) plant. It is a groundbreaking advancement developed within the Bio-FlexGen project. Delve into the transformative capabilities of this patented technology – it will redefine the energy transition paradigm.

The innovative BTC plant showcases the highly efficient and flexible integration of biomass and renewable hydrogen, delivering a cost-effective solution for combined heat and power generation within the energy system. Discover how this cutting-edge approach optimises resource utilisation. It also contributes to the advancement of renewable energy adoption on a global scale.

The speakers:

Henrik Båge
(CEO Phoenix BioPower)

Michael Bartlett
(CTO Phoenix BioPower)

Intended audience

Senior engineers and potential investors

As part of the Lighthouse Project on Smart Distribution Grids, we have developed a survey on Long-term Planning and Implementation of Smart Distribution Grids Powering the Energy Transition.

This digital questionnaire is a pivotal component of our project’s knowledge sharing process, aiming to gather insights on the preconditions, barriers, and needs experienced by distribution grid actors across diverse global landscapes.

The outcomes of this survey will serve as a compass guiding ISGAN’s efforts in providing targeted knowledge support and policy guidance concerning the long-term planning and implementation of smart distribution grids, which are instrumental in facilitating the ongoing energy transition.

To ensure inclusivity and capture a wide spectrum of perspectives, we’ve designed the survey questions to encompass various actor groups involved in the long-term planning process. This inclusive approach guarantees comprehensive coverage and facilitates analysis, incorporating insights from distribution grid operators, infrastructure owners, and policymakers at different levels.

Please note that this survey is addressed to senior decision-makers in organisations with responsibility for distribution grid planning and implementation.

At the heart of the Lighthouse Project lies the mission to deliver policy guidance and customized recommendations that address the challenges encountered within distribution grids to key decision-makers. These recommendations will be presented in conjunction with the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM15) in Brazil this October.

The survey is conducted and processed by the Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH (AIT) on behalf of ISGAN. All data provided are subject to anonymized analysis. Participation in providing contact details is entirely voluntary, and any information shared will be used solely for purposes chosen by participants at the conclusion of the survey.

The survey is estimated to take approximately 20 minutes to complete. The previous deadline of 6 May has been extended to 11 June. For further information or inquiries, please contact Irmgard Herold (irmgard.herold@ait.ac.at).

LINK TO THE SURVEY:  https://survey.alchemer.eu/s3/90688986/ISGAN-Survey

If you like to learn more about the Lighthouse Project on Smart Distribution Grids, subscribe to our newsletter and check out these articles:

ISGAN Lighthouse Project: Illuminating Pathways for Smart Grid Development

Co-creating Insights on Planning and Implementation of Smart Distribution Grids for the Future

ISGAN Lighthouse Project Workshop Welcomes Keynote Speakers from UNICEF

New takeaways from ISGAN Lighthouse Project

In another significant stride within the Lighthouse Project on Smart Distribution Grids, international experts, members of the ISGAN Executive Committee, and the Lighthouse Project Team congregated in Copenhagen, Denmark, to exchange knowledge and insights aimed at fostering the development of smart distribution grids – a critical facilitator of the global clean energy transition.

Hosted by the Danish Energy Agency, the workshop facilitated dynamic discussions among approximately 30 experts from Europe, the USA, Africa, and Australia. The dialogues revolved around elucidating the roles, objectives, and strategic challenges faced by different actors with complementary responsibilities for developing and maintaining local and regional distribution grids, including network operators as well as decision-makers at different levels. The primary objective of this interactive co-creation workshop was to deepen mutual comprehension of the hurdles confronting actors on the journey towards realizing the digital distribution grids of the future, while also eliciting feedback on the necessary mechanisms and support for achieving their respective objectives.

Looking ahead to upcoming activities in the Lighthouse Project, we seek to source additional insights from distribution grid actors globally, both through a survey and through a series of online workshops focusing on the preconditions and development needs of distribution grids in countries and regions in different parts of the world.

A significant milestone on the horizon is the presentation of initial findings in conjunction with the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM15) meeting in Brazil, scheduled for October this year. Through this contribution, ISGAN aims to highlight key policy priorities for enabling smart distribution grids to contribute to meeting the global community’s pledges to triple renewable energy capacity and efficiency, as articulated during the COP28 conference in Dubai last year.

On March 15, 2024, ISGAN WG5 SIRFN gathered at AIT (Austrian Institute of Technology) in Vienna for a productive session discussing open topics and showcasing advancements in smart grid research internationally.

The day began with a successful workshop featuring insightful presentations from esteemed working group members. Roland Brüdlinger presented “CENELEC TC8X WG03 and its activities for Grid Forming Converters testing” giving an overview of European network codes and standardization activities. Additionally, Julio Braslavsky shared his expertise on “Battery Grid-Forming Technology Development in Australia,” shedding light on developments in energy storage solutions, Ron Brandl presented the activities of the German VDE FNN “Recommendations of Grid Forming capabilities, requirements, and characteristics needed for stable grid services”.

Following the engaging discussions and presentations, participants had the opportunity to go on a laboratory tour within the premises of AIT. During the tour, attendees gained first-hand insights into how the process of testing grid-forming inverters with different inertia parameters can be carried out.

The event provided a valuable platform for collaboration, knowledge exchange, and networking among ISGAN SIRFN working group members, reinforcing AIT’s commitment to driving innovation in the field of smart grid research.

Stay tuned for more updates and future events as we continue to explore advancements in smart grid technology and research.

The ISGAN Lighthouse Project on “Smart Distribution Grids Powering the Energy Transition” recently held a workshop to explore how global megatrends such as Climate Change, Urbanization, and Digitalization will affect the management of future electrical grids.

To enhance the breadth of discussion and incorporate diverse viewpoints, UNICEF representatives were invited to deliver a keynote address to highlight the increased vulnerability of children to climate and environmental shocks and inform us about UNICEF’s energy-related work.

UNICEF, as a leading UN agency dedicated to children’s rights, has been actively engaged in sustainable energy programs, particularly in the context of Eastern and Southern Africa, where the effects of climate change disproportionately affect children. Emelie Kärre, Programme Specialist Climate, and Nour Al Najjar, Energy and Environment Specialist underscored that the climate crisis is, at its core, a child rights crisis, with a staggering 99% of all children worldwide exposed to at least one major climate or environmental hazard.

With a significant portion of the global population residing in Africa, where energy access remains a challenge, UNICEF has identified renewable energy as a critical avenue for addressing both the energy gap and the vulnerability of children to climate-related risks. Despite Africa’s immense solar energy potential, the region still lags behind in harnessing renewable energy sources, with less than 3% of the world’s installed renewable energy capacity.

UNICEF’s recent report on renewable energy for health and education in Eastern and Southern Africa highlights the imperative of electrifying essential institutions like schools and health facilities. The report estimates that, an investment of $4 billion USD could fully solarize all health and education facilities in 21 countries with an expected installed capacity of 500 MWp. The report also identifies key parameters such as market gaps, regulatory frameworks, and existing electrification initiatives to guide sustainable energy interventions effectively.

By prioritizing the electrification of health and educational institutions, UNICEF aims to enhance social services, ensuring equitable outcomes for children in critical areas such as water, sanitation, hygiene (WASH), education, and healthcare. Sustainable energy not only powers life-saving medical devices and facilitates digital connectivity for remote learning but also reduces indoor pollution, safeguarding children’s health.

UNICEF’s approach involves close collaboration with governments to drive policy reforms and investment in sustainable energy infrastructure to address the urgent need for full electrification in these vital sectors.

UNICEF’s efforts in Eastern and Southern Africa exemplify a holistic approach to addressing the intersecting challenges of energy access, climate change, and children’s rights. By leveraging sustainable energy solutions, UNICEF is not only mitigating the immediate risks children face but also laying the groundwork for a more resilient and equitable future for future generations.

On February 21^st, members of the team for the Lighthouse Project met to discuss the global context and drivers of distribution grid transformation – to build a foundation for and inform the collaborative knowledge co-creation process that will engage the wider ISGAN community in the run-up to the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM15) in October. We dove into some of the challenges and innovations shaping our energy grids. A snapshot of what we learned:

• Megatrends and Insights: We navigated through critical megatrends including climate change, urbanization, digitalization, and more to understand their profound impacts on distribution grid transformation. Our discussions, inspired by pledges made at COP28, reflected the urgency of adaptive infrastructure and policy evolution.
• Collaborative Solutions: From infrastructure resilience to innovative financing, the workshop illuminated the multi-faceted strategies required to modernize and decarbonize our grids to serve the needs of people and business. Emphasizing skills development and international collaboration, we explored how collective knowledge can address the nuanced demands of diverse energy landscapes across different geographies.
• Next steps:  We look forward to the next meeting, an in-person interactive workshop in Copenhagen on March 22^nd, in which we will explore barriers and solutions to distribution grid transformation from the perspective of different stakeholder groups with key roles to play in delivering on the COP28 pledge to triple renewable capacity and accelerating efficiency.

You can read more about the planning and goals of the Lighthouse Project here: https://www.iea-isgan.org/isgan-lighthouse-project-illuminating-pathways-for-smart-grid-development/

The Smart Grid International Research Facility Network (SIRFN) embodies a collaborative network of smart grid researchers, featuring test-bed facilities across nations participating in the Implementing Agreement for a Cooperative Programme on Smart Grids (ISGAN). SIRFN, under ISGAN’s auspices, offers collaborative testing and evaluation capabilities to enhance the design, implementation, and testing of smart grids and their functionalities, including the seamless integration of clean energy technologies.

In fall 2023, SIRFN introduced a new working approach that emphasizes flexible methods that can take advantage of its broad team of international experts. This innovative strategy is manifested through self-organized research sprint projects, known as Joint Research Activities, which aim to explore current and future research topics such as active distribution grids, advanced testing methods, and research infrastructures. A particular focus in the coming years are grid-forming inverters and the capabilities of advanced laboratories. Leveraging tools like Hardware-in-the-Loop, Co-Simulation, holistic testing concepts, and automated testing, SIRFN researchers are empowered to explore innovative solutions and drive advancements in smart grid development and testing technology.

The network’s structure fosters unparalleled collaboration and enables comprehensive testing and evaluation of smart grid technologies. SIRFN’s diverse array of test-bed facilities, distributed across participating countries, provide researchers with real-world environments to validate technologies under various conditions. From optimizing grid operations to integrating renewable energy sources, SIRFN’s test-bed facilities play an essential role in advancing smart grid research.

Moreover, SIRFN’s commitment to collaboration extends beyond physical infrastructure. The network actively promotes knowledge-sharing and capacity-building initiatives, facilitating workshops, training programs, and collaborative research projects. By fostering a culture of cooperation and information exchange, SIRFN empowers researchers to address complex challenges and drive innovation in smart grid technology.

Building upon its innovative work concept, SIRFN has embarked on an ambitious journey with the initiation of four Joint Research Activities (JRAs). These JRAs are designed to focus on critical areas of smart grid technology:

1. Data Spaces: Creating collaborative environments for data analysis and sharing to enhance grid management and efficiency.
2. Grid Code Test Automation: Developing automated processes for testing grid codes, improving consistency and reliability by extending the open SVP automation tool.
3. Grid Forming Inverter Testing: Examining the effectiveness of testing grid-forming inverters in maintaining grid stability.

Utilizing untapped Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) potential from customers in the distribution grid necessitates TSO-DSO-Customer coordination. Customers, who consume, store, or generate electricity, have shown attractive potential for ancillary services to power systems, but they still face challenges managing and marketing their flexibility in the energy market. Aggregators can facilitate these flexibilities as an intermediary by providing services to different power systems participants. This poses new challenges for monitoring, controlling, and coordinating customers’ and other market player’s needs.

This webinar aims to disseminate knowledge about aggregators in power systems, address the challenges encountered, both technical and non-technical, and share experiences from pilot projects. Participants will gain insights to apply and expand the impact of aggregator roles in the context of their own countries.

Speakers

	Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Sebastian Lehnhoff OFFIS
	Marcel Otte OFFIS
	Dr.-Ing. Jirapa Kamsamrong OFFIS
	Annike Abromeit EEBUS
	Dr. Christian Kunze Smart Innovation Norway
Moderates:
	Dr. José Pablo Chaves Ávila Comillas Pontifical University

Intended audience

Policymakers, TSOs, DSOs, NGOs, aggregators, governmental agencies, researchers, interested participants, students, etc.

Key messages

A regulatory framework with a clear definition of the aggregator role should be established in each country to enhance competitiveness, transparency, and societal welfare. Coordination approaches have to be established among aggregators, customers and grid operator with the focus on harmonised and interoperable solutions. Moreover, innovative approaches can be tested in demonstration and R&D projects with temporary regulatory changes and experiments (e.g. regulatory sandboxes), which can help to address the technical and non-technical challenges and support needed for the real deployment.

Modern digital telecommunication infrastructures will soon allow to be adjusted to the energy industry needs, providing the opportunity to implement edge computing trough cloud native applications.

To simplify the integration of the 5G digital telco infrastructures’ functionalities, increasing reliability and flexibility and reducing the latency, the Smart5Grid project propose the concept of Network Applications, together with a platform to automatically validate and verify those applications, fostering the creation of a new ecosystem of device virtualization experts.

Further reading: https://smart5grid.eu/dissemination-activities/brochures/

Speaker

Daniele Porcu (Enel Grids)

Intended audience

System Operators’ O&M experts, Technology experts and researchers, System integrators, Junior engineers and students, SMEs and technologic start-ups, device manufacturers for power plants automation (production, transmission, distribution)

Key messages

• 5G offers the opportunity to interact with the Core Network to provide services
• The complexity of such integration is a barrier, but Smart5Grid project proposes an innovative approach
• We are able to provide a novel concept of Network Application to simplify the 5G complexity
• Our set of tools can facilitate the access to this technology, fostering the creation of a new market segment for digital services: they are open for everyone who wants to learn more!

Navigating Australia’s Grid Transformation: A Postcard from the Future

Australia’s GW-scale electric power systems are experiencing some of the world’s fastest transformations and provide something of a ‘postcard from the future’ for many jurisdictions. These transformational forces are impacting all vertical layers of the legacy system, including bulk power, transmission, distribution and energy retail.  Australian energy customers are also actively influencing the nature of the transformation to a degree that is without precedent in the history of electric grids.

In the context of accelerating withdrawal of dispatchable synchronous generation, Australia’s transformation is being supercharged by massive deployment of utility-scale Variable Renewable Energy (VRE) and world-leading levels of Distributed Energy Resources (DER).  As the proportion of VRE and DER continues to grow, a step-change uplift in system capabilities becomes essential to ready them for reliable and cost-efficient operation in deeply decarbonized future.

Leveraging Global Insight for Navigation

Digitalisation, interoperability, transport electrification, enhanced asset utilisation and Distribution System Operator (DSO) models, for example, all have much promise in such an environment.  However, it is often poorly understood that all such solutions, and many others, cannot achieve their full potential without the underpinning structural relationships or ‘architecture’ of the grid being made future ready.

The presentation will highlight how the navigation of Australia’s transformation is increasingly informed by an integrated set of tools that support holistic grid transformation, many of which have benefited from seminal global research and development, especially in Europe and North America.

Speaker

Mark Paterson (Energy Catalyst) Mark Paterson is Energy Catalyst’s Principal and Lead Systems Architect. With over two decades in the energy sector, Mark works at the intersection of strategic futures and scalable, ‘least regrets’ action. At CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, he led several major energy system transformation projects as Chair of the CSIRO Future Grid Forum and Program Director of the CSIRO/ENA Electricity Network Transformation Roadmap. At energy utilities Horizon Power and Energex, he led the innovative development and scale deployment of several technology innovation firsts. Over much of the last decade, Mark has been privileged to develop leading expertise in Systems Architecture-based disciplines which are now increasingly recognised as critical for enabling the deep decarbonization of legacy power systems. He is formally trained in both the Systems Architecture and Grid Architecture methodologies developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the US Department of Energy’s Grid Modernisation Laboratory Consortia (GMLC) respectively. Focused on future-informed action, this expertise is further complemented by Strategic Foresight and Technology Roadmapping methodologies developed by EDHEC in Europe and Cambridge University in the UK.

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