European Distribution System Operators (E.DSO) promotes and enables customer empowerment and the increase in the use of clean energy sources through electrification, the development of smart and digital grid technologies in real-life situations, new market designs and regulation. E.DSO and its members are committed to taking on the huge challenges associated with realising the Energy Union, built on the EU’s ambitious energy, climate, security of supply, jobs and growth objectives. This involves ensuring the reliability and security of Europe’s electricity supply to consumers while enabling them to take a more active part in our energy system.

The current technological landscape is very uncertain, marked by numerous and rapid developments

The current period is characterized by numerous and rapid technological developments and possible disruptions, particularly in the energy and Information Technology (IT) sectors. These transformations potentially have a significant impact on DSOs. They must therefore prepare for it, which sometimes imposes difficult choices between the subjects on which to work as a priority.

A Technology Radar has been prepared with the objective of identifying and analysing trends and stimulating innovation

The Technology Radar’s ambition is to evaluate technological topics that have a potential impact on DSOs and their ecosystem (public authorities, suppliers, customers, and employees).

The objectives are:

• Early identification of new technologies, technological trends and potential disruptions
• Increased awareness of the opportunities and threats associated with emerging technological developments
• Stimulation of innovation by combining technology reports with business potential assessment.

For each trend, a fact sheet has been drawn up summarizing the key elements relating to the technology considered, the developments in progress as well as the analysis of potential impacts for the DSOs. These may consist, for example, of a change in their business model, prospects for productivity gains or opportunities to develop new services.

An aggregated view of all ongoing trends has been constructed by positioning each technology on a diagram according toestimates of industrial maturity time and magnitude of impact on DSOs. This helps to visualize key technologies as they relate to DSO activities.It should be noted that the position of each technology on this diagram is often only indicative and could be the subject of endless debate, in particular for technologies, such as artificial intelligence, which are already widely used and which however are subject to potentially disruptive new developments.

The trends analysed cover in particular energy systems, digital technologies, and the various emerging solutions serving operational performance.

The task was carried out in an effective way by a network of high-level experts

A dedicated Task Force organized within the E.DSO Technology & Knowledge Sharing Committee and including high-level experts from a large set of European DSOs was set up to produce the Technology Radar. The sourcing and analysis of technologies has been facilitated by reaching, through the network of technology scouts, the best sources of information.

The members of the Task Force were:

• Co-convenors: Pierre Mallet and Nicolas Roche (Enedis).
• Members: Ricardo Almeida Henriques (e-redes), Thomas Börmans (e.on), Aris Dandens (Sadalestikls AS), Mark den Brok (Stedin), Maurits Doorn (Stedin), Enrique Garcia (i-DE), Mariano Gaudo (UFD), Angeliki Gialketsi (Hedno), Raquel Gomez Martin (e-redes), Rene Kuczkowski (Enea PL), Jan Kula (CezDistribuce), Nuran Martin (Stedin), Ewa Mataczynska (PGE Dystrybucja), Slawomir Noske (Energa), Johannes Stürmer (Westnetz), Sergii Tankevych (dtek), Tania Vázquez Sanchez (e-redes).

Regular updating is essential

Given the rapid evolution of technologies, E.DSO plans to carry out a regular update of its Technology Radar.
Last update: 04 October 2024