The current energy transition foresees a greater role than ever before for DSOs as direct link to consumers and enablers of the uptake of flexibility solutions. The pace at which the transition will take place, however, is influenced by existing regulatory frameworks which directly and indirectly impact innovation processes.
As part of the H2020 project Platone, E.DSO led a regulatory overview work aimed at analysing EU and national (AT, CZ, DE, ES, GR, IT, LT, PT and UKR) policy that impacted the development and testing of flexibility and retail market solutions for distribution grids.
The information included in this report was gathered through a survey participated by E.DSO members and the leaders of the three demos of Platone in Italy (Areti), Greece (HEDNO) and Germany (Avacon). The report analyses the identified regulation and its impact on the project testing activities, identifying main gaps and providing preliminary recommendations to policy makers. The overview focuses on the following key topics:
- Flexibility
- Connection of customers to the distribution network
- Energy Storage and EVs
- Aggregation
- Energy communities.
- DSO revenue regulation
- Blockchain and smart contracts in the energy sector
- Data management, protection, and cybersecurity
The H2020 funded Platone project proposes an innovative approach for joint data management, supporting DSOs’ increasing need for network observability and procurement of flexibility. The project develops of a standard, open and non-discriminatory infrastructure, the Platone Open Framework, to facilitate the participation of customers and aggregators in flexibility markets, while reinforcing the DSOs role as market enablers. In Platone, E.DSO leads the “DSO Harmonization” work package, ensuring coordination among the three demos, with similar projects and initiatives and within the current European Regulatory Framework.
