FSR

We sat down for a conversation with FSR Area Directors Jean-Michel Glachant and Matthias Finger in the framework on the 8th Conference on the Regulation of Infrastructures, the School’s annual event which brings together all FSR Areas, namely Energy & Climate, Transport, Telecoms & Media, and Water. This two-day conference took place on 20-21 June 2019, and gathered academics and academically minded practitioners for interactive thematic sessions aimed at identifying the key challenges of digitalisation for traditional network industries; discovering various regulatory approaches to platforms and determining benefit scenarios for consumers and to the platforms themselves. This podcast zooms into the implications for energy and transport.

At the SmartNet Project Final Workshop in Arona, we had the chance to interview Peter Nemcek from Cybergrid, one of the Advisory Board members of the SmartNet project. In this podcast, Peter underlines that the promising results of the SmartNet and its pilot projects prove that we can address the most important issues raised by intermittent renewables and this takes us one big step closer to better coordination between TSO and DSO and the future of energy markets.

For more information on the SmartNet Project, visit: http://smartnet-project.eu/

Why testing five different TSO-DSO coordination schemes?

In the context of the Horizon2020 SmartNet Project Final Workshop in Arona, the FSR Director, Jean-Michel Glachant interviews Helena Gerard (Vito) on the five coordination schemes analysed by the project to learn more about the SmartNet research and its final outcomes.

The SmartNet project aimed to provide optimised instruments and modalities to improve the coordination between the grid operators at national and local level (respectively the TSOs and DSOs) and the exchange of information for monitoring and for the acquisition of ancillary services (reserve and balancing, voltage balancing control, congestion management) from subjects located in the distribution segment (flexible load and distributed generation).

For more information, please visit: http://smartnet-project.eu/

What is new about the coordination of TSO and DSO?

In the context of the Horizon2020 SmartNet Project Final Workshop in Arona, the FSR Director, Jean-Michel Glachant interviews Norela Costantinescu (ENTSOE) on the theme of TSO-DSO coordination to better understand the implications of the research results achieved by the SmartNet Project and the future steps that will be taken by the INTERRFACE project.

The SmartNet project aimed to provide optimised instruments and modalities to improve the coordination between the grid operators at national and local level (respectively the TSOs and DSOs) and the exchange of information for monitoring and for the acquisition of ancillary services (reserve and balancing, voltage balancing control, congestion management) from subjects located in the distribution segment (flexible load and distributed generation).

For more information, please visit: http://smartnet-project.eu/

Please note that wind noise appears in the beginning of the podcast.

'In this podcast Daniel Schmerler, Chairman of the Peruvian Supervising and Regulatory Agency for Energy and Mining Investment, reflects on the status of the energy transition in Peru. Daniel tackles the topics of access to the electricity grid, share of variable renewables in electricity, market integration in South America and the development of new interconnectors. He also discusses the need for a general debate on energy as well as the adoption of indicative planning processes in the Peruvian energy sector.'

Colombia continues reforming its electric sector to improve and expand service, reduce vulnerability to climate change and diversify the energy matrix by incorporating more non-conventional renewable sources (including solar, wind and biogas). According to Alexandra Planas - Senior Energy Specialist at the Inter-American Development Bank - "the use of Non-conventional sources of renewable energy has been growing steadily in the last decade, but still only represents one percent of the total energy matrix in Colombia", therefore the reforms are necessary to secure the energy transition in the country and to increase the share of Non-conventional energy to 15-18% by 2031.

This podcast was created as a part of the FSR’s Lights on Women initiative in joint partnership with Inter-American Development Bank under the Lights on Women LAC Edition series. Learn more about the Lights on Women LAC Edition here: https://medium.com/lights-on-women/lights-on-women-the-latin-american-and-caribbean-edition-2a0211b1c456

Subscribe for updates and opportunities from Lights on Women! http://bit.ly/2Sk4diT

At the FSR Global Forum (25-28 March) Piero Carlo dos Reis (FSR), interviewed Mr. Georgios Pantoulis, Deputy Head of Unit “Sustainable Energy, Climate Change” of European Commission DG DEVCO.

After a roundtable on Multilateral institutional initiatives with representatives of European Commission DGs, IRENA and UNECA, Piero and Mr. Pantoulis discuss the EU Commission’s goals and activities regarding international energy cooperation. Given the EU 2030 Paris agreement agenda, the European Commission is active in supporting all partner countries through incentives enabling sustainable, affordable, reliable and modern energy services. In particular, this discussion focuses on (1) ‘inclusive development’, ensuring that poor and vulnerable citizens benefit from these interventions, and (2) by being aware of being the main actors of these new developments, society will support the cooperation and further promote sustainability.

On the margins of the 11th edition of the Specialised Training on the Regulation of Gas Markets, Maria Olczak (FSR) and Anne-Sophie Corbeau (Head of Gas Analysis at BP) discuss the 2019 edition of BP Energy Outlook. During the interview, Anne-Sophie presents the key findings of the BP Energy Outlook, specifies the key factors that may influence the forecasted increase in global LNG trade, and concludes with some remarks on the role of gas in the EU energy mix in 2040 perspective.

At the FSR Global Forum (25-28 March) Tim Schittekatte, researcher at the Florence School of Regulation, interviewed Dr Anoop Singh who leads the Centre for Energy Regulation (CER) within IIT Kanpur, India.

In this podcast, firstly, it is questioned whether national reforms (i.e. liberalization) is a necessary precondition to allow for regional integration of electricity markets. Dr Singh argues that we do not have to wait for national reforms; these reforms might take too long. A better option is to start with bilateral agreements, which will quickly show benefits. These experiences will quickly illicit interest from other stakeholders which can join the project later. Secondly, it is mentioned that only a minimum set of requirements need to be met to allow for such bilateral electricity trade agreements. National markets may be gradually reformed to increase the benefits of electricity market integration. Finally, Dr Singh explains that currently, India is successfully trading electricity with Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.

Interested in learning more about the Clean Energy Package? Check out our online course: http://bit.ly/CEP_online_course

The second day of FSR Global Forum coincided with the day when the new Electricity market Regulation and Electricity market Directive as well as of the Regulations on Risk Preparedness and on ACER were adopted by the European Parliament. This marks the finalisation of the Clean Energy Package negotiations.

Dr. Annegret Groebel shares with us her insights on the CEP role in enhancing the functioning of the internal electricity market and reaching climate goals, specifically on the role of regional coordination centres (RCCs); the establishment of the EU DSO entity and its tasks; the updated adoption process for network codes and guidelines.