To best address the needs of the French smart grids Sector, Think Smartgrids is supported by a Scientific Council and Committees, chaired by leading figures and bringing together key stakeholders in the sector.
The Scientific Council
Chaired by Professor Nouredine Hadjsaid, from the Institut Polytechnique in Grenoble, and vice-chaired by Pierre Mallet, Director of R&D and Innovation at Enedis, the Scientific Council is in charge of guiding the association in its technological choices and participates in the creation of R&D priorities in the French smart grids Sector (see the R&D Roadmap). The Scientific Council references smart grids theses and organizes a day of meetings between doctoral students and industry, as well as a thesis prize.
The International Committee
Chaired by Thomas Bazin, Strategic Account Executive of Schneider electric, it coordinates interactions with foreign delegations wishing to evaluate French expertise in smart grid solutions and the partnership agreements signed with the association’s international partners. The Committee also organizes the representation of the French smart grids industry at international events and exhibitions.
Territories and Innovation Committee
Chaired by Matthieu Terenti, head of Enedis’ Electric Vehicle Partners Department, the Territories and Innovation Commission identifies smart grids offers that promote the development and energy transition of local communities, based on efficient and replicable business models. The aim is to support local authorities that wish to develop projects around issues such as multi-energy networks, electric mobility, smart buildings, data valuation, energy comunities, etc. It published a catalog of smart grids offers in November 2020. The Commission is currently working on a new guide that references smart grids use cases and gives feedback on existing projects.
Institutional Relations Committee
Led by Marcela Mantilla, Cabinet Officer for European Industrial Affairs at RTE, this Committee defines the association’s positions on French and European legislation concerning smart grids, establishes the subjects on which the association will be called upon to express its views and addresses the sector’s requests to the institutions. In 2019, it also produced a brochure presenting the French smart grids ecosystem.
Data & Digitization Committee
Led by François Bouteyre (SopraSteria) and Thomas Lacroix (Cosmo Tech), the Committee is studying the major issues associated with the digital transformation of utilities (industrialization of data projects, cybersecurity, new AI technologies, etc.). It publishes a study every year: The Digital Transformation of Utilities (Nov. 2018); Data analytics in utilities – a review of new technologies and use cases (Nov. 2019), Using data for tackling energy insecurity (in French_La data au service de la précarité énergétique – Jan 2021), Managing electricity consumption with data: energy service offerings for residential customers in France (June 2022). In 2022, the committee has been working in particular on the themes of digital frugality and cybersecurity.