Energy Transitions Enlit Europe

In this episode of the EU Projects Zone podcast, Areti Ntaradimou talks to Helena Gerard about the OneNet approach to creating a fully replicable and scalable architecture that enables the whole European electrical system to operate as a single system.
Helena is the Workpackage leader and focuses on the market design of this EU-funded project, which aims to build a customer-centric approach to grid operation.

The project OneNet (One Network for Europe), led by the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT, brings together a consortium of over 70 partners.
“The ultimate goal of OneNet is based on three pilars” says Helena, “first, we want to have one common market architecture for Europe. Second, we want one common ICT architecture for Europe. And third, we want to have this validated in one policy recommendation which will be supported by all stakeholders in the value chain”.
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If you have that as an objective, then you obviously need to be, according to Helena, “innovative, but you also need to test it in very different circumstances. And that is exactly what the OneNet project is doing”.
One big challenge that the project is tackling is “the coordination between TSOs and DSOs”. This is not a new challenge for the sector, but it is one that is becoming ever more urgent for the energy transition.
Tune in for more information on how OneNet’s architecture works across all levels, from small consumers to large producers.

Without energy market reform to boost flexible balancing capacity, Europe could miss out on achieving its ambitious renewable energy goals.
That was the bottom line of a report from Wärtsilä that focuses on managing system imbalances of a renewable-based energy system.
To discuss the report’s findings in more detail and to unpack measures needed to attract investments into flexible power, Pamela Largue spoke to Anja Frada, chief operating officer, Wärtsilä Energy.
Frada delves into the importance of creating a technology agnostic capability market and improving price transparency.
She also talks about why we can be hopeful about the next decade, what challenges need to be addressed and how we go about mitigating risks to our energy system of the future.
Resources: Energy Market Redesign: For a Decarbonised Europe

In this episode of the EU Projects Zone podcast, Areti Ntaradimou talks to Carlos Damas Silva about the EUniversal approach to the use of flexibility by DSOs and their interaction with new markets.

Carlos is the coordinator of this EU-funded project, the focus of which is the development of the concept of the Universal Market Enabling Interface or UMEI, a unique approach to foster interoperability across Europe.

This is the second episode dedicated to this project. Last year together with the project’s representative we demystified the project’s focus and action points. This time, as the project enters its final stage we discuss the outcomes and next steps.

Listen to the first episode about EUniversal

According to Carlos, the years working on the project gave the team "a much clearer view on what we can take away from flexibility, as well as the grid's needs in terms of planning, expansion and operation".

One of the most important lessons learnt by working on EUniversal, among other things, "was how to run cost-efficient networks" says Carlos.

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As for the next steps for the project as it approaches its "expiration" day? "We have a very well-structured plan," says Carlos, "because the UMEI is open source for any stakeholder of the industry to use". In other words, the "expiration" date is anything but.

Listen to the whole discussion and find out also Carlos' vision for achieving interoperability at a pan-European level, as well as how regulators can help.

This episode was recorded at Enlit Europe in Frankfurt.

Northern Europe, also known as the cradle of offshore wind, is one of the most attractive areas because of it shallow waters, wind speeds, local competencies, and access to established supply chains.
It’s a critical piece of real estate and it’s the centre of Statkrafts renewed strategic focus on offshore wind.
David Flood, Senior Vice President Offshore Wind at Statkraft, explains why the Norwegian hydropower giant has returned to offshore wind and is now working to position itself as an industrial developer and operator in the sector.

In this episode of the EU Projects Zone podcast, Areti Ntaradimou talks to Ugo Stecchi about how the Synergy project will introduce a novel framework in response to the need for “end-to-end” coordination between the electricity stakeholders.
Ugo Stecchi is the coordinator of this EU-funded project, the framework of which references significant data architecture that leverages data, coming from diverse sources.
It includes 24 Partners in 9 countries, namely Spain, Greece, Finland, Cyprus, Croatia, Italy, Portugal, Austria, and Denmark.
“Synergy aims at designing and developing a big data and artificial intelligence analytics platform for energy purposes where the different stakeholders in the energy value chain are allowed to participate and to exchange their data in a trustful manner,” says Ugo.
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Working with data equals working with new and innovative technologies, such as blockchain, machine learning and artificial intelligence, but as Ugo says “we are keeping an eye on new technologies in general as they are evolving”.
According to the project’s ‘message’, a big data platform like this is due to help the electricity value chain stakeholders to:

Simultaneously enhance their data reach;
Improve their internal intelligence on electricity-related optimization functions while getting involved in novel sharing/trading models of data sources and intelligence to gain better insights;
Shift individual decision-making to a collective intelligence level.

Most of the time, big data brings also big issues to the table. “In order to validate your model you need a big volume of data that needs to be coherent,” says Ugo. And that brings us to the harmonization issue.
On top of that we have the speed issue, meaning that “we need the correct, relevant data at the proper time” says Ugo.
Listen to the whole discussion and find out also Ugo’s vision on the uses of the platform, as well as how the Synergy project is going to remain an ethical tool respecting among others GDPR.

In this episode of the EU Projects Zone podcast, Areti Ntaradimou talks to Piero Gamarra about how graphene will jump out of the lab and into commercial applications of the energy sector.

Piero Gamarra is the business developer of the Graphene Flagship and as he says, his role is “to help the researchers bridge the gap between the lab and the industry”.

The Graphene Flagship can’t really be described as just an EU-funded project. And that is because it is one of Europe’s largest research initiatives, counting 170 partners in 22 European countries.

It is a huge project divided into six divisions and 19 Work Packages - covering everything from Fundamental Research, to Sensors, and Innovation.

With a budget of €1 billion, the Graphene Flagship represents a new form of joint, coordinated research on an unprecedented scale, forming Europe's biggest-ever research initiative.

“A lot of research has been done on graphene,” says Piero. “It is conductive, flexible, extremely light and selectively permeable”. And these attributes bring this form of carbon to a unique position to assist in the energy transition as it opens the path to many applications.

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“The energy sector is one of the important markets for graphene,” says Piero, as graphene can have various uses “from energy generation to energy storage, but also for electronics, sensors and composites to reduce carbon emission”.

Listen to the whole discussion and find out also Piero’s vision on the future uses of graphene, as well as how the Graphene Flagship is going to revolutionize the energy sector.

Listen also to other episodes of The EU Project Zone Podcast:eCrew with Johannes SlacikSmartBuilt4EU with Régis DecormeFlexPlan with Gianluigi Migliavacca