Irish operator EirGrid, together with EDF and 32 other partners, have been selected by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 programme to develop ways to integrate large quantities of intermittent renewable energy production sources into the electricity grid.
The Sysflex project team in Brussels – Photo credit SysFlex
MEPs voted on 17 January for 35% renewable energy and energy efficiency in 2030. According to EU projections, a renewable energy rate of 30 or 35% of total energy consumption would result in a share of the electricity mix of more than 50%.
A recent analysis by Artelys for the European Climate Foundation revealed that the EU could confidently opt for 61% of electricity produced from renewable sources by 2030.
The EU-SysFlex project aims to develop a roadmap to help create a flexible and integrated pan-European system that maximises the integration potential of renewable energies. Smart Grids technologies are expected to play a major role in the SysFlex project
According to the European Commission, the aim will be to “define the appropriate level of flexibility and system services to support transmission system operators in a three-pronged approach.
- The technical needs of the pan-European system will be defined for scenarios based on a rate of more than 50% ENR and translated into services and products,
- The design and regulation of the electricity market will need to be improved in order to effectively combine these services,
- The removal of implicit and explicit barriers to the application of competitive forces will require a thorough understanding of the roles of all stakeholders: generation and flexibility providers, transmission system operators (TSOs) and distribution system operators (DSOs) and regulators at all levels of the network (interconnected network, national transmission and distribution subsystems and consumers)”.
To this end, EU-SysFlex brings together a multidisciplinary team of 34 partners from 14 European countries, including EDF for France: transmission and distribution system operators, production, service and technology suppliers, as well as manufacturers, universities and research centres.
Demonstrations are planned in many countries:
- A test in Germany, Italy and Finland, conducted by Innogy, will aim to demonstrate the flexibility of services at the distribution level,
- The demonstration coordinated by EDP in Portugal will examine the coordination between centralized storage and flexibility of renewable energies.
- In France, EDF will look at the use of aggregators to coordinate the various services and resources,
- In Estonia, an Elering demonstration will focus on cross-border and cross-sectoral data management with neighbouring Latvia and Poland.
The project is funded to the tune of €20.3 million by the EU, for a total budget of €26.5 million.
ITEMS International pour Think Smartgrids
Sources
Cordis : Pan-European system with an efficient coordinated use of flexibilities for the integration of a large share of RES
EURACTIV : research looks into large-scale integration of renewables