Last Wednesday, 15 November, E.DSO and DOWEL Innovation hosted an insightful webinar, "Assessing EU funding priorities - Connecting missing pieces to solve the DSO funding gap." The event was scheduled to present the results of a survey conducted among European Distribution System Operators, offering a deep dive into major funding opportunities at EU and Member State level. As highlighted by moderator, Tzeni Varfi – Deputy Secretary Generel at E.DSO, the main aim was twofold: Reveal what has been discovered with the help of E.DSO’s and, partly the EU DSO Entity’s membership, but also to capture the financial potential out there and potentially provide propositions to policy-makers, that can help improving existing structures in the best possible way – A task of utmost importance, not least in the wake of the soon to be presented Grid Action Plan.
Karine Lafonte-Eloire, Senior Consultant & Associate Partner at DOWEL Innovation, shared with the audience details on the comprehensive survey, conducted through an online questionnaire and bilateral interviews between September to October 2023. Key findings have been summarized with the aim of assessing available funding opportunities to DSOs, both on national and EU level. While programmes, such as Horizon Europe emerged as main funding instrument for DSOs over the past decade, the results clearly underline the urgency to develop a more DSO-friendly funding landscape.
In the second half of the webinar, Rickard Venetjoki, member of E.DSO, presented E.DSO’s concrete policy recommendations based on the findings of the survey. Emphasis was placed on the necessity for a tailored regulation and the introduction of a dedicated DSO fund, "The Decentralized Grid Facility (DGF)." These encompass long-term solutions to be considered in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) (2028-2034) and short-term measures supposed to initiate the desired transformation already in the years to come. From a national perspective, the proposed improvements predominantly target the framework conditions of the Common Provisions Regulation (CPR) umbrella fund and considerations on how the entire energy value chain can be integrated to support the balance between energy generation and grid support in new funding opportunities.
The webinar concluded with a commitment to ongoing engagement, signalling this knowledge-sharing session as first inception of its kind and acknowledging that there is still a long journey ahead.
If you missed the webinar, you can access the recording here.
See also our latest Policy Paper, based on the findings of the survey here.
On this note, also listen to our newest E.DSO Policy Podcast episode, bringing to you the highlights of our Policy Recommendations and analysis of the current EU funding landscape in only a few minutes! Listen in from where every you are!
