All of the key speakers agreed that to reach net-zero targets we need to allow DSO flexibility to grow. Randolph Brazier, Head of Innovation for the Energy Network Association, gave us an insight of how the networks in the UK worked together to reach and convert their innovation trials to a single contract for Business as Usual practice.
Chris Galpin, Smart Grid development analyst for the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, highlighted the importance of the government involvement to help new markets to grow for a sustainable and fruitful future.
We were pleased to host Graham Campbell, Head of DSO, from SP Energy Networks who presented the benefits they received from flexibility procurement and the continued commitment towards their stakeholders, not only to maintain the market but the appetite to grow it.
Evangelos Karagiannis, Power System Engineer, from UK Power Networks, presented all of the findings from the first competition round, and the steps they are implementing to grow it further, by advertising and running competition for 55 High Voltage and 60 Low Voltage competitions across their network.
It was vital for us to hear from market participants. Valts Grintals, the flexibility analyst for Kaluza, told us, how necessary DSO Flexibility is for their business and how it helps them unlock the potential for vehicle-to-grid “V2G” solutions by making it more affordable to deploy.
With the first half of the conference dedicated to the broader picture of DSO flexibility in GB, we also covered what the rest of Europe was doing in this regard.
Directive (EU) 2019/944 from the Clean Energy Package specifically covers the subject of DSO Flexibility. Eurelectric is the sector association which represents the common interests of the electricity industry at a European level. They recently published a report focusing on Recommendations on the use of flexibility in distribution networks. We were pleased to have the opportunity to hear from Carolina Vereda Gorgé, Chair of WG Business Models & Network Customers, Eurelectric and Regulation expert at Endesa, one of the largest DSOs in Spain. Carolina covered in her presentation the steps the DSOs need to make across Europe to adopt DSO Flexibility and the careful measures they need to ensure it is beneficial for the stakeholders.
James closed the presentation by announcing our first international collaboration agreement with the Slovenian Green Transformation Consortium led by the TSO ELES and Stefanos held a fireside chat with Uroš Salobir, Director of the Strategic Innovation Department at ELES. More about this partnership in a follow-up blog post.
Overall, the conference was deemed successful with more than 300 participants and a lot of questions for the future of DSO Flexibility. You can access the recording of the e-conference here and also the presentations here.
For more information regarding DSO Flexibility and how to get started, please contact Piclo team at growth@piclo.energy.