Early December, the Energy Regulation Commission (ERC) proposed a series of recommendations to accelerate the development of smart grids in France. These recommendations also aim to reinforce the stability of the power grid. Review of the main decisions of this deliberation.
Case study – Photo crédit Reynermedia in CC
10 of the 17 recommendations are aimed at operators of public electricity and natural gas distribution networks (including four for the operators of public electricity distribution networks and one for the operator of gas distribution serving more than 100,000 customers).
Towards a Smart Grids Directory
As part of Action 6 of the Intelligent Electrical Networks plan, the ERC requires participating network operators with mature Smart Grids solutions to present all the technologies and functionalities they intend to implement. Such a publication would stimulate research in this area and thus contribute to accelerating the deployment of Smart Grids on an industrial scale.
Promotion of multi grid approaches
The ERC calls on operators, in close collaboration with local authorities, to organize the management of various energy networks according to their complementarity, for example by using a temporary surplus of renewable energy to supply a district heating network. This “multi-energy” or “multi-fluid” approach, which takes advantage of the synergy between the networks, should improve the efficiency of their management and thus reduce the bill of consumers.
Sharing energy data
In the context of the deployment of smart grids, the issue of the publication and use of consumer data is fundamental. The ERC invites network operators to improve their coordination in this area. The aim is to provide consumers, local authorities and all relevant stakeholders with homogeneous and consistent data to facilitate their use.
Publication of network stress zones
The ERC is requesting electricity system operators to make public the location of stress zones, i.e. zones where the quality of supply is degraded. The Energy Growth Transition for Green Growth Act allows local authorities to create stakeholder groups that can offer solutions to network operators to overcome these stresses in these zones.
Island and non-interconnected areas as a priority objective
Four other recommendations deal with the development of smart grids in island areas, known as non-interconnected zones (NIZs). These areas are more exposed to the risk of power grid failure, and thus power outages. Therefore, the ERC has requested network operators, EDF SEI, to inform it of the measures undertaken to strengthen the stability of island electrical systems and to inform it of the progress of demonstration projects such as energy storage.
Sharing of lessons learned
A recommendation is also addressed to the promoters of demonstration projects. The ERC has asked them “to systematically share with ERC the conclusions they draw from their experiments, in order to inform the ERC of the regulatory or regulatory developments that would encourage the development of innovation”.
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Source : Recommandations pour accélérer le développement des réseaux intelligents (Smart Grids) en France