Focus Initiative Smart Grids Plus

(Start: 2015, first call co-funded by the EC under grant agreement 646039-ERANet-SG-Plus)

The challenges of modernising the electricity grids in Europe lies in enabling an increased flexibility of the European power system, efficiently providing increased transfer capacity and enabling an active participation of users and new market actors (by providing the information, services, market architectures and privacy guarantees). To address these challenges, innovation is needed in system integration, interoperable technologies, services, tools, coordination schemes, business processes, market architectures and regulatory regimes to plan, build, monitor, control and safely operate end-to-end networks in an open, competitive, decarbonised, sustainable and climate change-resilient market, under normal and emergency conditions. One major challenge is to overcome the fragmentation of knowledge and accelerate knowledge exchange between existing demonstration projects and R&D initiatives with the goal to enable them to develop European wide interoperable solutions, according to a common reference architecture. With this, critical masses shall be reached in the development of a European market for smart grids technology providers and smart grids service providers. This initiative intends to organise the learning down to regional Smart Grids  stakeholders, beyond the demonstration phase also along the implementation path (learning process for people, institutions and systems; future proof technologies, learning systems …).

The overall goal of the ERA-Net SES focus initiative Smart Grids Plus is to support deep knowledge sharing between regional and European smart grids initiatives by promoting and financing joint projects and joint accompanying activities, building on the knowledge base, R&D initiatives as well as research and demonstration facilities a ready in place at regional, national and European level.

One of the major European challenges lies in creating a clean, secure and efficient energy system, while ensuring EU industrial leadership in low-carbon energy technologies. Accordingly, an upgrade of our energy networks - particularly the electricity network - towards a system of highly efficient, synergetic and flexible networks will be necessary matching current developments in production and consumption patterns as well as technologies. The main related challenges are: (1) enabling an increased flexibility of the power system to cope with the growing share of intermittent and decentralised renewable generation and managing the complex interactions; (2) increase network capacity to support increased flows resulting from renewables and the internal energy market; (3) provide information, services, market architectures and privacy guarantees to support open markets for energy products and services, whilst facilitating the active participation of customers. To meet these challenges cross-sectoral and interdisciplinary applied research, piloting and demonstration will be needed by a Europe-wide set of stakeholders. 

 

Smart Grids Plus (SG+)

 

 

 

Smart Grids Plus Concept and Approach

An Integrated, Interdisciplinary, Three Layer Research Model for Transnational Projects

• Stakeholders / Adoption - overcoming; why do or don´t we do it?
  (Innovation and transition, consumer acceptance, education, policy, retail, community/society, social research, etc.)
  Goal: overcome barriers to massive user adoption
  Research targets: people, community, stakeholders, society, industry
  Typical topics: innovation and transition, consumer acceptance, prosumer interaction, education, policy, retail, community/Society, human behaviour, privacy, business modelling methods European scope, social research, etc.
  Transnational cooperation because habits are different all over Europe and many learning can be made through this diversity (comparisons, similarities, differences, etc.). Such cooperation will comprise findings sharing on, for instance, typical observed behaviours.

• Goods and Services - structuring; how do we organize it?
  (Business models, regulatory frame, market design, economic research, etc.)
  Goal: create solutions for energy market participants to leverage smart resources across national borders and participate in changing energy market structures
  Research targets: goods and services
  Typical topics: retail market and interfaces, business modelling methods, standards, abolition of barriers between member states, prosumer interaction, forecast, demand side management, integration of microgrids, flexibility, energy exchange with neighbours, economic research, etc.
  Transnational cooperation because: Smart technologies create stability challenges in all countries and divergent solutions lead to market failure at borders. Such cooperation will comprise several projects by transnational consortia on convergent issues and different aspects of future energy market structures.

• Technology – enabling; which technology do we need?
  Goals: Develop innovative technological concepts for sustainable energy systems. Bring these solutions towards a transnational Proof of Concept and possibly Demonstration. Try to bridge the "valley of death” by accompanying measures such as solving practical implementation issues or studying the potential and barriers for the innovative technologies in question.
  Research targets: (Energy/electricity system and ICT system) technology
  Typical topics: energy storage, high-voltage direct current, power quality, integration of micro-grids, standards, security, energy exchange with neighbours, integration of renewable energy sources, power system planning, big data, etc.
  Transnational cooperation because: It integrates a wider range of requirements to a technical solution that leads to better scalability and transferability. Transnational consortia have a better chance to sustainably disseminate their findings to a wider audience. For SMEs, transnational cooperation can open wider markets for innovative technologies.

 

 

SG+ will promote transnational projects with consortia that cover more than one of the three layers. Such projects shall be given priority to over "technology only” projects. Projects that cover only levels "stakeholder/adoption” and/or "goods and services” must however have a strong link to technology projects. 

 

 

 

Expectations to Proposals for Projects to Enhance the Electricity Grids for the Future

• projects must be transnational by nature, involving at least two independent from two different countries participating in the call
• projects must be relevant to the SG+ core goals and ambitions
• it is intended, that projects build on existing national smart grids demonstration (utilisation of built infrastructure, transfer of results, new developments, opening-up, new demonstration and validation, …)
• it is intended that projects show efforts in terms of scalability and / or replicability (comparative validation, best practice, interoperability, parameterization, environments)
• it is intended that projects link to the interdisciplinary three layer research model "stakeholder/adoption, marketplace, technology”, 
• in the calls 2015, 2016, 2017: EEGI Innovation Roadmap 2013-2022, ENTSO-E Implementation Plan 2013-2022, ENTSO-E Research and Development Roadmap 2013-2022, ETP Smart Grids SRA 2035, GRID+ and Mapping and Gap Analysis EEGI Member States Initiative 2012)
• in the following calls: the ETIP SNET Implementation Plan 2017-2020 as well as the SET-Plan Action 4 Implementation Plan, Flagship Initiative 1- Develop an Optimised European Power Grid
• projects are expected to participate in knowledge sharing, formative evaluation, cooperation and dissemination activities, organised by the ERA-Net SES Knowledge Community.