Roadmap for smart grids

and electricity systems

integrating renewable
energy sources
 Plan
I. Stakes and objectives  4

II. International comparison of research demonstrator projects

pertaining to smart grids 5

III. Time frame and geographical scope of study 9

IV. Key drivers 10

V. The visions 14

VI. Bottlenecks and research needs 26

VII. Needs for research demonstrators 30

Experts consulted

y Type of organisation Name

Philippe Garderet
Affiliation
AREVA
Private corporations Joseph Maire EDF R&D
Gilles Bourgain GDF – Suez
Marie Pierre Bongrain RTE
Grid operators
Pierre Mallet ERDF
Philippe Malbranche INES
Marc Petit SUPELEC
Research organisations
Jean Michel Glachant Université de Paris Sud
Didier Mayer Armines
Local authorities Alexis Gellé FNCCR
Government ministries Michel Amiet DGA

The work of the experts’ group was supported by a technical secretariat coordinated by
the firm ALPHEEIS (Pierre Nolay) and ADEME (Michel Gioria).

2
 Foreword

The vision of smart grids and electricity systems elaborated in this roadmap
was drawn up on the basis of consultation and talks with a group of experts
from industry (EDF, AREVA, GDF-Suez), public research bodies (SUPELEC,
Ecoles des Mines, INES, universities), grid operators (ERDF, RTE), local
authorities’ groups (FNCCR) and ADEME.

In the course of these working sessions the experts expressed their

opinions intuitu personae. The views outlined in this roadmap are not to
be assimilated with the official positions of the corporations or research
organisations to which the members of the group belong.

The visions of smart electricity grids and systems integrating renewable

energies in 2020 and in 2050 are in sharp contrast. This contrast was
deliberately sought out, for two reasons:

• to offer the most exhaustive panorama possible of imaginable futures

• to avoid neglecting a critical technological, organisational or socio-

economic bottleneck that might be associated with a possible scenario left
out of the discussion.

Accordingly, in seeking contrasting visions the group arrived at extreme

representations and even caricatures of the future, which nonetheless help
define the outer limit of possibilities, and the scope within which the actual
situation will most likely be situated in 2020 and in 2050.

3
 Roadmap for smart grids and electricity systems integrating
renewable energy sources
> I. Stakes and objectives
The group of experts assembled to elaborate this
roadmap agreed upon four broad challenges, that
provide the framework for the visions, bottlenecks and
needs for research demonstrators as they have been
identified. :
• Challenge 1: Attain emissions reduction
objectives for anthropogenic greenhouse gases set for
2020 (20% reduction) and for 2050 (factor 4), notably via
energy efficiency schemes.
• Challenge 2: At the very least, comply with
European objectives for the integration of renewable
energies, i.e. 23% of final consumption by 2020, and
improve energy efficiency up to 2020 and beyond.
• Challenge 3: Maintain quality and security of
supply in the electricity system (balancing supply and
demand), via competitiveness objectives for power-
intensive sectors and public service standards for
individual users.
• Challenge 4: Consideration of social issues
related to electricity supply (e.g. energy affordability,
equal access to electricity).
In addition, the visions proposed for 2020 and 2050,
and the trade-offs between these different visions,
are set in an economic framework in which the cost/
benefit analysis for the various actors in the system
is a determining factor for the arbitration of the
technological, economic, institutional and regulatory
choices to come.
> II. International comparison of
research demonstrator projects
pertaining to smart grids
Many countries have identified smart grids and
electricity systems integrating new and renewable
energies as a priority topic for research and
demonstration work.
4
Without claiming to be exhaustive, this section will
rapidly survey research projects and demonstrators
currently underway or recently completed.
The projects and programmes surveyed focus on
demand response, penetration of renewable energies
in grids and micro-grids, and the development of
business models that are favourable to the emergence
of smart grids.
Four countries or groups of countries are covered in
this overview: Japan, the United States, the European
Union, and Germany. This selection reflects
• the significant research and/or demonstration work
carried out in the field of smart grid integration of
renewable energies in these countries,
• the place occupied by these countries and their
actors (e.g. equipment manufacturers, research
laboratories, grid operators) at the forefront of
technological and socio-economic knowledge.
A. Japan1:
Today Japan can be said to be the world leader in
the area of demonstration work aimed at strong
penetration of decentralised generation in distribution
networks and/or micro-grids.
The demonstration platforms in operation are mainly
intended to demonstrate the technical feasibility
of micro-grids that integrate a high proportion of
renewable and/or decentralised energy (for example,
micro-generation, stationary fuel cells).
To date the demonstration projects underway seem to
neglect certain issues:
• possibilities for load management via tariff signals to
the end user
• the impact of penetration of a significant amount of
electricity from renewable sources (RES), in particular
1 The information presented in this section is for the most part drawn
from the international demonstration projects survey conducted under
the PREMIO project.
photovoltaic power, on grid and micro-grid operations
and control.
The analysis of economic and environmental costs
and benefits linked to deployment of these options
(micro-grids, strong penetration of RES) also seems
to be somewhat rudimentary (for instance, little work
has been done to test new business models).
This analysis would gain by being extended to the
electricity system as a whole, and applied to all
the different actors taken individually (suppliers,
distributors, transmission operators, aggregators).
For the purposes of this roadmap, three Japanese
demonstrators are particularly relevant: Hachinohe,
Sendai and Ota City (cf. table in Annex 1).
It should be noted that these operations are largely
supported by NEDO, with limited commitment on
the part of Japanese electricity suppliers. The latter
have for their part achieved a high level of automation
in their networks and in some areas use powerful
telecommunications tools. These operators’ vision
of smart grids is to a large degree concerned with
the integration and interoperability of information
systems.
B. United States 2 :
There are many research programmes devoted to
smart grids in the United States, covering a vast range
of topics and themes (see table in Annex 2).
Complementing these programmes, several research
demonstrator projects are also underway. Unlike in
Japan, these projects focus to a large extent on ways in
which load management can offer greater flexibility in
operating grids.
The new administration has promoted smart grids to
a high-priority status, under the economic stimulus
plan. In this context $4.5 billion have been allocated
to support smart grid research and demonstration
projects.
2 The information presented in this section is for the most part based on
the EDF R&D/EPRI mapping of smart grid research programmes.
Among industry players, suppliers of information
software and services are heavily implicated (CISCO,
Google, Microsoft).
C. European Union3 :
Research demonstrators targeting integration of
renewable energies and distributed generation were
important activities under the 5th and 6th Research
Framework Programmes. Going beyond technological
aspects, these projects also addressed socio-economic,
legislative and grid management issues.
In the period 2002-2006 the 6th Framework
Programme provided funding to over 60 projects
concerning smart grids and integration of renewable
energies, for a total investment on the order of €190
million.
Three projects funded during this period and
integrated into demonstration platforms are especially
relevant for this roadmap: More Microgrids, FENIX and
EU-DEEP (see Annex 3).
More recently, calls for energy projects under the 7th
Framework Programme have spurred the creation of
an ERA-Net devoted to smart grids, and encouraged
research projects and demonstrators concerning
intelligent electricity networks and systems (for
example ADDRESS, see Annex 4).
The R&D projects funded under the 5th and 6th
Framework Programmes identified technological,
economic and institutional options to foster a
transition to smart grids. Now it is a matter of
successfully scaling up these accomplishments.
D. Germany:
In 2006 the federal government of Germany decided to
invest close to €15 billion over three years (to 2009) for
research and dissemination of advanced technologies,
under its “high-tech strategy”. Energy is one of the
17 designated high-priority innovation areas, with a
budget approaching €2 billion.
3 The information presented in this section is for the most part drawn
from the international demonstration projects survey conducted under
the PREMIO project.
5
 Roadmap for smart grids and electricity systems integrating
renewable energy sources
Within this domain smart grids have been singled out
as a priority topic, following a three-pronged strategy:
development of new components, network flexibility
and integration, notably to facilitate insertion of plug-
in electric and hybrid vehicles.
One of the most emblematic of these smart-grid
projects is the E-Energy project (see Annex 5).
E. FRANCE:
Several French industrial players are involved in
research and demonstration projects in Europe (EU-
DEEP, FENIX, ADDRESS) and elsewhere (United States).
The national distribution grid operator (ERDF) is
committed to a project to deploy smart meters.
Thanks to its communications capabilities this smart
meter should, all else being equal, help develop
demand-side management services for networks and
end consumers, improve energy efficiency, and foster
penetration of decentralised generation.
Other noteworthy projects include:
• Multisol, aimed at managing electrical power use in
homes according to environmental criteria (reduced
CO2 emissions) or economic considerations (costs)
while maintaining user comfort (see Annex 6)
• Premio, a project which has developed a platform for
the integration of decentralised generation.
> III. Time frame and geographic
scope of study
This roadmap focuses essentially on distribution
networks, which are the key element in the transition
to a smart grid electricity system that facilitates
insertion of renewable energies.
A. Time frame
In light of the inertia of grid infrastructure and more
broadly of all components of the electricity system, the
group of experts agreed that it would be necessary to
think in terms of two time frames.
• The time frame up to 2020 is relevant for describing
6
the major components of an electricity system that
significantly contributes to attaining European
objectives (20/20/20) while maintaining high-
quality supply and system security. The research
demonstrators needed to deploy technological,
institutional and economic objectives within this time
frame will also be outlined.
• The 2050 time frame allows for contrasting
representations of future electricity networks and
systems, based on the unfolding of trends identified
in the 2020 time frame, subject to different regulatory
options envisioned for grids and electricity systems.
B. Geographic scope
The visions, research priorities and demonstrator
needs outlined in this roadmap have a national
dimension, with particular attention to island
electricity systems.
Given the growing integration of European electricity
markets and the significant role of the European
Commission in regulatory matters and in R&D (for
example, the SET Plan, the SmartGrids technological
platform, the smart grids industrial initiative), this
roadmap is also naturally set in a European context.
The visions elaborated in this document remain
essentially generalist in scope.
Nonetheless, given the constraints that weigh on
island systems (few interconnections, ambitious
renewable energy goals) each vision is assessed in
terms of its pertinence in an island setting, a terrain
that is well suited for testing options that can be
transferred to interconnected systems.
> IV. Key drivers
In the case of intelligent electrical systems and grids
integrating renewable energies, the experts’ group
agreed upon the existence of three key drivers that, in
the long term, will play a determining role in the form
and nature of smart grids and electrical systems.
• 1st key driver: The degree of intelligence in the
electricity system and grids, and the range of products
and services associated with this capacity
• 2nd key driver: The degree and type of
decentralisation in the system and grids
• 3rd key driver: Regulatory choices, business models
and the role of players affecting smart grids and
electrical systems
Degree of intelligence
Key drivers for
the evolution of electricity
grids and systems
Degree and type Regulation / Business
of decentralisation models / Players
A. System intelligence and associated products
and services
System and grid intelligence has two facets. The
first facet, that can be seen as an ongoing trend, is
the increasing deployment of a telecommunications
network in transmission and distribution grids, with
devices and equipment that allow a greater degree of
remote control and automatic grid operation.
The second facet comprises advanced generation and
load management (centralised and decentralised),
leading to the development by producers and suppliers
of new products and services for:
• grid operators – products to enhance flexibility in
grid management (for example, creating reserve
capacity, increased grid capacity through more finely
tuned operations)
• end users, who will be able to profit from services
and tariffs enabling them to take ambitious steps
to manage energy demand and integrate renewable
energies.
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 Roadmap for smart grids and electricity systems integrating
renewable energy sources

B. The degree and type of decentralisation in distribution grid or grids. This second aspect more
the electricity system and networks directly involves:

The degree and type of decentralisation includes two
distinct components. The first element corresponds
to the “classic” definition of decentralisation, i.e. the
number of electricity generation sites connected to
transmission and/or distribution grids.
• Transmission and distribution grid architecture and
interaction;
• Regulations governing electricity system and grid
development;

The second element pertains to the form and nature • The nature and function of actors who intervene in
of interaction between the transmission grid and the the electricity system.

Transition paths towards the smart grids

Illustrations of the architecture

and fonctionalities for the futur
electrictiy networks

Centralised power plans

Hight energy intensive Residential and commercial

industries - Only energy buildings - energy consumer
consumer and producer
energy aggregator

Decentalised Hight energy

Residential and commercial power plans intensive industries -
buildings - only energy producer and consumer
consumer Residential
buildings

8
C. Regulatory choices
The inclusion of this driver reflects current
uncertainty concerning the changing intervention of
actors affecting electricity systems, and the way in
which the activities of these different actors will be
regulated in the future. Roughly speaking, two highly
contrasting trajectories can be envisioned:
• An Internet trajectory in which the number of actors
is greatly multiplied, comprising suppliers, producers,
aggregators and end users who intervene in the
grid as producers, consumers or service providers.
In this case each production point, each consumer,
each substation and storage site is considered to be a
Positive energy urban area
HV
MV
LV
network node, and can act, directly or indirectly (via
an aggregator) on the grid under previously defined
protocols. The relationships between the different
actors in the system, like the allocation of resources,
are determined by the market.
• An Enlightened Regulation trajectory in which the
number of system actors remains limited and in which
their functions and intervention are controlled by a
“strict” regulatory framework, but which is compatible
with increasing network intelligence, a certain degree
of decentralisation, the development of grid services,
notably for demand-side management, and the
emergence of new operators.
9
 Roadmap for smart grids and electricity systems integrating
renewable energy sources
Internet model
The Internet model fosters efficient use of transmission
and distribution networks on a global scale, but
distributes network control across each point in the
system.
In this model, rapid circulation of information thanks
to progress in information and communication
technologies (ICT) and their deployment enables each
actor (e.g. producers, aggregators, consumers) to act
independently in the framework of an overall shared
protocol.
Each point of supply, distribution and consumption
becomes a node in the system. Entry barriers (often
expressed as a minimum capacity requirement)
disappear. Each individual producer can become an actor
in the electricity supply system.
This model raises the issue of the rights and obligations
of producers and suppliers of energy services
and products which will have to be adapted to the
circumstances of “big” and “small” actors in order to
avoid unfair competition between actors with the same
functions but not subject to the same rules governing
their production activities (for example application
of professional taxes and levies, inclusion in the
nomenclature of economic activities).
In this model each node of the future electricity system
will react to market prices, in real time. This market price
sensitivity raises the question of the social dimension of
electricity supply, a dimension which market rules alone
cannot be expected to take into account. It also raises the
question of the level of risk incurred by end users.
Lastly, each node will be adaptable, flexible, sensitive to
the environmental context, and linked partly or wholly
to the other nodes. The linking of the different nodes
among each other raises questions of optimum system
economics and the cost of such a system for society as a
whole.
10
Enlightened Regulation model
The Enlightened Regulation model postulates a system in
which the functions and intervention of system actors are
governed by stricter protocols than under the Internet
model.
These protocols are nonetheless compatible with a
certain degree of decentralisation, new grid services,
in particular for demand-side management purposes,
and the emergence of new actors (aggregators, storage
operators).
The actors in the Enlightened Regulation model
continue to be of significant size, (entry barriers
maintained in the form of minimum capacity
requirements), raising problems regarding definition of
consistent regulations for very different actors.
The relationships between different actors in the
electricity system are governed by market mechanisms,
but with limitations on their flexibility (price floors and
ceilings, mechanisms and contracts to cover market
risks).
The social issues of energy supply and long-term stakes
would be better taken into account than in the Internet
model.
One of the crucial questions surrounding these
two regulatory options is the relative capacity of
each option to provide the best guarantees for long-
term challenges, e.g. social issues and reduction of
environmental impacts.
> V. The visions
Variation in the parameters of the different key drivers
(intelligence, decentralisation, regulation) leads to
four contrasting visions of the electricity system and
networks. Two visions for the 2020 time frame, and
two visions for the 2050 time frame, each structured
around two variants.
The 2020 visions revolve around three trends
(intelligence, centralised storage, decentralised
storage) that appear to be of a nature to get the
electricity system and its actors into “marching order”
to achieve the 20/20/20 European objectives (20%
renewable energies, 20% improvement in energy
efficiency, and 20% reduction of GHG emissions).
The inherent inertia of infrastructure leads to 2050
visions that prolong the 2020 visions to a certain
extent, while integrating the most significant changes
in the grid environment, i.e.
criteria. Without being exhaustive, these criteria are
considered to be determining factors, for the following
reasons:
• degree of contrast introduced between the different
visions
• identification of bottlenecks, research priorities, and
needs in terms of research demonstrators
• conceptualisation of events that could foster or on
the contrary impede the emergence of a vision.
Each of the visions developed will be qualified in
terms of these seven criteria, in association with an
intensity indicator. This intensity indicator provides
information on the evolution required for realisation
of the vision: (,) = following current trends, (m ) = break
with current trends.

• widespread dissemination of positive-energy

buildings that will make each household an energy
producer 4

• a massive switch to plug-in hybrids and/or fully

electric vehicles in the private car market, with
markedly different impacts on electricity grids,
depending on the type of recharging infrastructure
that is deployed (quick vs. slow recharging)

• more radical evolution of the regulatory framework

governing the electricity system, with notably a clear
choice in favour of one of the two options, Internet or
Enlightened Regulation.

A. Criteria for qualifying the visions

Elaborating these visions is a preliminary step to

identifying bottlenecks, research priorities, and the
aspect that interests us here, needs for research
demonstrators.
To move from visions to understanding bottlenecks,
each vision will be analysed in terms of seven
4- Here the term “positive-energy building” means a building which
consumes less energy than it produces in the course of a year. Such
buildings may at a given moment in time consume more than they are
producing, and therefore use grid power to maintain the supply/demand
balance on the building scale.

11
 Roadmap for smart grids and electricity systems integrating
renewable energy sources

y Type of
criteria
Criteria for
qualifying the
visions
Low intensity indicator (,) High intensity indicator (m)

Major technological paradigm shifts due to

Grid Continuation of historical trends of steady
significant technological breakthroughs (for
technologies but fairly slow progress Operating modes
example, energy conversion electronics and
(electrical and architectures evolve, but remain within
equipment) of a nature to question conventional
engineering) conventional models
approaches

ICT performance, costs, reliability and ICT performance, costs, reliability and
ICT applied to interoperability enable only automation interoperability spur rapid dissemination of these
the electricity and remote control of transmission and technologies in transmission and distribution
system and to distribution grids. ICT is not sufficient, for grids. With this penetration deployment of
Technological grids example, to allow widespread finely tuned products and services for large-scale demand
criteria load management for demand response. response can be envisioned (several MW).

Improved performance (costs, life span,

operational security, reliability, energy per
Centralised and decentralised storage
unit mass and per unit volume) enables
technologies applied to grids attain performances
Storage only confidential dissemination of these
(costs, life span, reliability, operational security,
technologies technologies in grids. Enhanced flexibility
energy per unit mass and per unit volume) that
applied to grids for grid management sought through
enable massive dissemination, from a strictly
other approaches (demand response,
technological point of view.
intermittent source generation forecasting,
interconnection).

Regulatory frameworks create incentives that

Regulatory frameworks remain conservative, facilitate the entry of new actors (for example,
both in distribution of roles among the lowering minimum capacity requirements to
Regulation of
different actors (producers, transmission enter market), decentralised generation (tariffs
the electricity
operators, distributors, suppliers) and for stored electricity) and the emergence of new
system and
in incentives, for example to foster actors (creation of incentives and a regulatory
grids
decentralisation (e.g. emergence of new framework conducive to new business models
actors). such as for storage operators or interruptible
Institutional service operators).
and regulatory
criteria
Distribution of roles among the different
Historical actors in the electricity system diversify
actors (producers, suppliers, distributors)
The role of their activities within the system, and beyond
remains similar to today’s situation.
different actors (positive-energy buildings, electric vehicles).
Innovation in products, services and
in tomorrow’s New industrial actors enter the electricity market
business models is limited, but does not
electricity (cellular telephone and Internet service providers)
hinder dissemination of decentralised
system and develop new products, services and business
electricity resources (DER) or of demand-side
models.
management (DSM).

The number of actors in the electricity system

is limited. Actors continue to be large entities,
Degree of notably because of size criteria as a barrier to The number of production sites and actors
Institutional
decentralisation entry to the electricity system. Aggregators (aggregators, storage operators, grid operators)
and regulatory
in the electricity can nonetheless play a significant role to increases. These actors tend to be smaller, but
criteria
system and grid reconcile the emergence of DER and storage with possible aggregation of certain activities.
with economic equilibrium and system
security.

DSM action remains of limited scope and
is instituted only in zones where specific
The form and
pressures affect grid security. Enhanced
intensity of
margins of flexibility to allow strong grid
Technological dynamic DSM
penetration of intermittent DER are found
and of DER
through other approaches (centralised and
penetration
decentralised storage, optimised sizing and
siting for DER installations).
Smart grids enable implementation of demand
response programmes allowing for interruption,
limitation and/or delay of several hundred MW
of consumption on the scale of France and also
other geographic zones industrial sites, urban
areas, energy clusters). Demand response is a key
factor for achieving ambitious goals set for grid
penetration of intermittent renewable energies.

12 Source: Group of experts

B. Visions in the 2020 time frame
The visions elaborated for 2020 are based on the
observation that achieving European goals for
renewable energy, transposed into French law
following the Grenelle environmental conference, calls
for installing 25 000 MW of wind energy capacity and 5
400 mw of photovoltaic solar panels in France by 2020.
Even if the trend is towards installing large wind
farms (several tens of megawatts), introducing such
a large amount of intermittent generating capacity
makes it necessary to seek greater margins of
flexibility in grid management, and more broadly in
the electricity system as a whole.
Four new pathways appear to provide enough
flexibility for grids and electrical systems, up to
additional capacity of about 20 000 MW5.
• Improved forecasting models for wind farm
generation and for photovoltaic elements and panels
(building-integrated or not).
• Optimised integration of decentralised generation
in grids. This optimisation involves coordinated
development of decentralised generation and grid
infrastructure.
• Evolution of distribution grids (architecture,
equipment, network control tools, degree of smart
operation) in order to allow strong penetration
of decentralised generation, in particular from
renewable resources.
• Interconnection of European transmission grids, in
order to pool the centralised storage capacity of major
hydropower installations.
Beyond 20 000 MW, the above four pathways will not
be technically, economically and environmentally
sufficient, and new margins of flexibility will have to
be found, via dispersed storage, storage coupled with
large-scale intermittent generating capacity, dynamic
load management, and smart systems.
These supplementary options must imperatively
be exploited in order to integrate more than 20% of
intermittent renewable energy sources in final energy
consumption after 2020.
In light of the pace of penetration of ICT in electricity
transmission and distribution networks alike, the
group of experts felt that system and grid projections
postulating “low intelligence” were not relevant.
By contrast, the nature of products and services that
will be available to system actors (grid operators,
suppliers, end users) thanks to smart systems remains
open, and this variable must be placed at the heart of
the visions elaborated for the future.
1. Vision 2020 - 1: Demand flexibility and storage
facilities coupled to large-scale intermittent
generating capacity
The strong penetration of decentralised generation
sources in the distribution grid occurs:
• via optimised sizing and siting of decentralised
sources, so as to make the most of the availability of
various resources (solar, wind) and maximise output
of a given single resource (asynchronous exploitation
of different wind regimes)
• without significant changes in grid architecture
that remains centralised, due to the development of
renewable energy farms (for example, offshore wind
capacity), among others
• with moderate recourse to decentralised storage,
building-integrated solar installations in particular
• with relatively greater recourse to large-scale storage
(in particular large hydro installations) to facilitate
management of large-scale wind power.
5-Source: Report of the working committee for a “Development plan for
environmentally sound renewable energy” set up under the Grenelle
Environment Conference, September 2008.
Source: Group of experts
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 Roadmap for smart grids and electricity systems integrating
renewable energy sources

The need to maintain a balance between supply
and demand, and ambitious goals in terms of GHG
emissions, suppose a broad capacity to manage
electricity uses, both specific and non-specific.
This management capacity requires generalised use
of ICT and the possibilities it offers for communication
and interaction between the different components
and actors in the system.
Deployment of ICT in centralised grids goes hand
in hand with development of new services and
tariff schemes that encourage partial or total
interruptibility of supply for certain consumers,
and more generally with offers proposing ambitious
demand-management objectives.
These offers and tariff schemes are proposed
by energy suppliers and service providers who
are positioning their activity around services to
electricity system operators and to end consumers.

Articulation of smart grids and electricity systems integrating

renewable energies in 2020

2010 2020

Vision 1 :
Storage coupled Flexible
to large-scale demand
intermittent and storage
generating capacity coupled to
offers greater large-scale
flexibility to go beyond intermittent
2020 objectives generating
Offers the necessary capacity
flexibility up
Penetration of to 20 000 MW
intermittent
sources

- Interconnection
- Better forecasting Spread of smart
Today’s models
Need for greater grids and associated
electricity - Evolution of
margins of services, notably for
grids and distribution grids
flexibility demand response and
systems - Optimised DER
integration of RES

Opening up
of electricity
markets
Vision 2 :
Dispersed storage Flexible
provides more demand and
flexibility to go beyond controlled
2020 objectives dispersed
storage

Transition period
14
 Recapitulation of qualification criteria for 2020 visions

y Vision 1 – Smart Vision 2 – Smart

Type of criteria Criteria systems and large- systems and
scale storage dispersed storage

Grid technologies , m
ICT applied to the electricity system and
Technological criteria networks m m

Storage technologies applied to grids , m

Regulation of the electricity system and grids , m

Institutional/
The role of different actors in tomorrow’s
Regulatory criteria , m
electricity system

Degree of electrical system and grid

decentralisation , m

Environmental
Form and intensity of dynamic DSM actions m ,
criteria

Source: Group of experts

2. Vision 2020 – 2: Demand flexibility and • decentralised storage of locally produced power and
management of dispersed storage possible self-consumption;

Driven by significant changes in regulatory • finely tuned management of decentralised storage

frameworks (modification of tariffs to foster facilities;
decentralised power storage, regulations favourable
to the emergence of new storage operators), grid • forecasting models for power generation from
architecture evolves substantially, as seen in: renewable resources.

• Multiplication of decentralised producers who can
choose to inject all or part of their production into the
distribution grid, or to sell it to aggregators who offer
services to grid operators7.
• Managed storage facilities coupled with
decentralised generation capacity to manage
intermittent generation and offer system services
enabling grids to handle the constraints of these
resources.
In this vision significant technological progress is
achieved, allowing for
The tariff schemes in place, in particular for
photovoltaic solar power, follow the trend of new
tariffs in Germany, where stored electricity from
renewable resources is considered to be renewable
energy. This trend favours the development of storage
facilities coupled with decentralised generating
capacity.
7-An aggregator can be seen as a mediator between consumers and
the market, compiling consumer flexibility possibilities and (power)
contributions, following demand and signals from the market and
participants, with different degrees of optimisation to meet the
requirements of topologically dependent services.
An aggregator thus manages installations, and can design and offer
energy services to customers downstream, handling a large number of
contracts at the micro-economic level, and upstream, with several key
actors (network operators, etc.) at the macro-economic level.

15
 Roadmap for smart grids and electricity systems integrating
renewable energy sources
Alongside electricity system and grid operators appear
storage operators whose business model is based on
enhancing the value of stored renewable power, via
system services.
C. Visions in the 2050 time frame
By reason of the inherent inertia of the components
of the electricity system, the experts framed the
following assumptions for the 2050 visions.
• These visions prolong the 2020 visions, on the
assumption that, given the time lag for deployment
of technology in the networks and the long-term
financial commitments linked to this deployment,
these technological options will not be called into
question in 2050.
• The major shifts compared to the 2020 visions
are tied to different regulatory regimes (Internet
or Enlightened Regulation) on the one hand, and
significant changes in grid environments on the other
hand (for example, generalisation of positive-energy
buildings and plug-in hybrid and/or fully electric
vehicles8.
These assumptions led the experts to propose two
visions for 2050, each structured around two variants.
1. Vision 3 – 2050: Demand flexibility, storage and
DER in a centralised grid architecture
The trends observed in Vision 1 – 2020 “Intelligence
and managed bulk storage for DER and DSM” naturally
continue, with:
• ongoing progress in forecasting models for power
generation from decentralised and intermittent
sources;
• optimal sizing and siting of generating capacity.
8- For the evolution of the network environment, it should be noted
that plug-in hybrid and/or electric vehicles will have an impact on the
supply/demand balance starting in 2020. Their impact on distribution
grid architecture, however, will not be significant until after 2020.
16
Nonetheless, continued efforts to achieve penetration
of renewable and intermittent sources (in particular
via positive-energy buildings) and the conservation of
a relatively centralised network architecture will incite
system actors to look for new margins of flexibility to
ensure system control and security.
These margins of flexibility are to be found in:
• communications devices used in networks to
implement demand response and management on
a large scale (e.g. interruptibility for certain uses on
a regional scale, islanding, centralised pooling and
management of storage.
• greater recourse to decentralised storage, via storage
facilities coupled with decentralised generating
capacity, or via a convergence of building and
transport technologies giving rise to a pairing of
positive-energy buildings and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
This vision is characterised by the emergence of a
limited number of new actors (e.g. DSM operators,
demand response and storage operators) who offer
services to grid operators and to end users.
2. Vision 4 – 2050: Demand response and DER in
smart clusters
This set of visions is the one that implies the greatest
break with the current situation, insofar as they call
for, simultaneously:
• Significant evolution of grid architecture to foster
decentralisation. Decentralisation takes the form of
energy clusters linked, for reasons of supply security,
to a transmission grid that remains centralised.
• Widespread deployment of ICT in distribution
grids, in particular to manage demand at the energy-
cluster level. The trade-offs between DSM actions and
recourse to services proposed by the transmission grid
are arbitrated to optimise economic criteria (including
a carbon price).
Depending on the evolution of regulatory frameworks
towards the Internet model or the Enlightened
Regulation model, the vision of smart clusters serving
DSM and DER could materialise in radically different
ways.
The Internet model favours the emergence of
many clusters and actors within the clusters. The
relationships between actors and between clusters are
governed by market mechanisms that impose explicit
prices and costs for each action undertaken.
The emergence of this variant naturally leads to
questions concerning technological capacity (e.g.
speed of information transmission and treatment,
Illustration of Internet variants in 2050
Users can act directly on their consumption. An automated
system (home box + optimisation and remote maintenance
software + tariffs + weather conditions) provided by
operators adjusts energy flows overall, by managing
demand in the home, demand for mobility, and supply to the
distribution grid according to the user’s criteria (preference
for comfort, savings, or protection of the environment).
As with a dashboard and driving a car, the user can at any
moment intervene to modify a default scenario as desired
or change optimisation criteria. In this case two economic
models can be imagined.
Economic model 1: Users own their installation, and
subscribe to an information service and minimum assistance
plan (most likely via Internet service providers). This would
be the case in a new eco-neighbourhood where each user
owns his or her home and PV generator, eventually with
storage, and subscribes to a home-box system that manages
and optimises it all. Clearly the regulatory framework must
evolve to give preference to self-consumption over sales.
Economic model 2: Aggregators (production, interruptibility,
storage) provide a complementary service, and guarantee
quality, timely intervention, after-sales service, and even
reliability of ICT for guaranteeing constant power
supply) and the capability of system actors (e.g. end
users) to adopt this mode of operation.
It is equally important to observe that, beyond the
question of technologies to be developed and deployed
to make this variant possible, this vision also implies
strong paradigm shifts.
• In the nature of service provided by electricity
suppliers, who would no longer have to guarantee
a single price for electricity to end users across the
entire country. End-user electricity prices could
conceivably differ within clusters;
the level of comfort supplied. They may themselves own
production, storage or interruptible capacity, in centralised
units or decentralised at user sites. They are generally
energy utilities, and are most often present in cases of
neighbourhood rehabilitation, when none of the occupants
directly concerned can or wants to invest. The third party
makes the necessary investments and obtains remuneration
from the various services provided.
Economically the two models are quite clearly different. Case
2 provides:
1) in principle more chances to sell power to the distributor,
via specific system services agreement to interruptible
service, for periods from 30 minutes up to 2 or 3 hours,
participation in operations to regulate voltage, frequency, etc.
2) additional services for users: specified quality levels,
eventual operation as an autonomous micro-grid in the event
of grid failure.
17
 Roadmap for smart grids and electricity systems integrating
renewable energy sources

• In the electricity product/social good, which might no single operator who regulates relationships between
longer be guaranteed for the entire national territory, the different actors.
if consumers were to accept this change. In these
circumstances new supply contracts would emerge,
offering for example variable tariffs depending on
whether the final consumer accepts interruptible
service or not.

In the Enlightened Regulation model the number of

actors and clusters remains limited. Clusters continue
to be of significant size (regions, for example) under a

Articulation of smart grids and electricity systems integrating renewable energies in 2020

2020

Internet model
Vision 2:
Demand response
Flexible demand and and DER in smart
controlled dispersed clusters
storage Enlightened Regulation
model

-Positive-energy
buildings Marked evolution
Visions 2020 - Plug-in hybrid and of regulatory
electric vehicle fleets frameworks

Vision 1: Internet model

Flexible demand,
Flexible demand and storage and DER in a
storage coupled to centralised network
large-scale intermittent architecture
generating capacity Enlightened Regulation
model

18
> VI. Bottlenecks and research needs
A. Bottlenecks
1. Bottlenecks in the period up to 2020
By cross-linking the criteria used to qualify the 2020
and 2050 visions we can identify the technological,
economic and organisational bottlenecks that will
affect the emergence of these visions. In the 2020 time
frame bottlenecks appear in the following areas:
• Grid technologies (electrical engineering)
• Information systems enabling evolution of grid
management and reinforcement of their smart
features (particularly to develop services to reduce GHG
emissions and to improve energy efficiency)
• Decentralised storage technologies coupled with
generating plants
• Security of smart grids and electricity systems
• Regulatory issues, specifically
> Conception, experimentation and implementation
of tariff schemes (e.g. instantaneous tariffs,
interruptible service tariffs, tariffs favouring the
emergence of decentralised storage and eventually
associated storage operators, distribution grid
tariffs)
> Issues related to design, experimentation
and deployment of business models based on
implementing the transition to smart grids.
2. Bottlenecks in the period up to 2050
In addition to these four bottlenecks, in the period
2020–2050 three socio-economic bottlenecks arise.
• The first bottleneck pertains to the overall evolution
of the regulatory framework, which in this time frame
can be roughly characterised by two principal options:
> The Internet option, under which market
mechanisms govern the relationships between
system actors, the number of actors increases
sharply and the intervention protocols concerning
the different actors are broadly defined.
> The Enlightened Regulation option, characterised
by fewer actors than under the Internet option,
stricter protocols for their intervention in the
system and a greater diversity of mechanisms
governing relationships between actors (not simply
market dynamics).
More generally, these two main regulatory options
revolve around the allocation of roles between
different actors in the system (transmission operators,
distributors, suppliers, producers, consumers)
and the emergence or not of significant new actors
(aggregators, storage operators).
• The second bottleneck pertains to the lack of
visibility concerning the evolution of the environment
surrounding the electricity system and grids. This
relative uncertainty is particularly high for the rate of
penetration/deployment and technical characteristics
of:
> plug-in and/or fully electric vehicles;
> eventual recharging infrastructure;
> new and existing positive-energy buildings.
• The final bottleneck is related to the evolution of
consumers’ behaviour, in two respects:
• their adoption of new products and services in
connection with the deployment of smart grids;
• the interaction between adoption of new products
and services and the evolution of behaviour in terms
of electricity consumption and more generally in
relation to consumer goods that use electrical power.
19
 Roadmap for smart grids and electricity systems integrating
renewable energy sources

Summary of bottlenecks in 2020 and in 2050

y Nature of
bottlenecks
Bottlenecks

Grid technologies: electrotechnical (energy conversion) equipment and systems

Information systems applied to grids

Technological
bottlenecks
Centralised and decentralised storage technologies

Security of smart grids and electricity systems.

Tariff incentives for DSM and decentralised storage

Organisational/
The role of different system actors and the emergence of new actors of significant size
regulatory
bottlenecks
Regulatory frameworks governing the grid and actors in the electricity system

Conception of new business models compatible with significant dissemination of DSM and DER

Grid and electrical system environment (e.g. electric vehicles, positive-energy buildings)
Socio-economic
bottlenecks
End-user behaviour (adoption + consumption behaviour)

B. Research priorities systems.

Consistent with the above-mentioned bottlenecks, 2. Socio-economic research priorities

the research priorities identified by the experts are
classified in three categories: technological research
priorities, socio-economic research priorities and
organisational/regulatory research priorities.
1. Technological research priorities
Technological research priorities are divided into two
categories:
• Category 1: Technological priorities related to
equipment and electronics aspects of energy networks
that must be adapted to changes in grid architecture
and insertion of decentralised power production.
• Category 2: Technological priorities related to
information system management, engendered by
increasingly intelligent networks and the development
of products and services linked to these smart
Socio-economic research priorities revolve around five
themes:
• The need for better understanding of adoption by
end users of products and services offered by smart
grids
• Greater knowledge of factors that determine
electricity consumption (particularly peak demand)
and of end users’ short-, medium- and long-term
reactions to tariff signals
• Development of methods to monitor consumers’
behaviour over the medium and long term after their
adoption of innovation products and/or services
enabled by the deployment of smart grids. The aim is
to anticipate the rebound effect on consumption that
is linked to adoption of new technology.

20
 Technological research priorities

y Conception and development of protection systems for distribution grids, adapted to strong
penetration of distributed and intermittent power generation

Conception and development of decentralised storage systems adapted to the operational

Energy electronics constraints of distributed generating capacity and its integration in distribution grids
research priorities
related to grid Design and development of sensors and remotely controllable cut-off devices for grids
equipment and
components Conception and development of systems and architecture suitable for islanded networks with
low short-circuit capacity

Conception and development of models and tools to monitor equipment ageing, and to
anticipate, detect and locate grid failures
Conception and development of forecasting tools (short and medium term) for intermittent
generation and for consumption, adapted to the needs of different actors, in particular in non-
interconnected zones
Technological Conception and development of cross-cutting tools and standards to facilitate dialogue and
research priorities circulation of information between system actors
related to
information system Conception and development of tools to manage entry and exit phases for islanded units
management
Conception and development of interfaces for optimal information transmission between
actors (consumers, aggregators, producers, suppliers) and components (homes, source points,
substations) in the electricity system
Conception and development of tools for real-time control of distribution grids: status
assessment, automated recovery, voltage regulation

Conception and development of tools for real-time control of distribution grids in the presence
of large-scale DER

• Development of methods for cost/benefit analysis behaviour (adoption, rebound effect) and to the
of the deployment of smart grids, among others to prospects for penetration of various technological
provide a solid basis for the funding of transition from options that will affect grids (positive-energy
current networks to smart grids buildings, hybrid and electric vehicles).

• Forward-looking studies of the evolution of the
technological environment surrounding electricity
systems and grids (e.g. plug-in hybrid and/or electric
vehicles), notably to assess the impact of different
deployment scenarios on the technological options for
electricity systems and grids.
Socio-economic research work should pay special
attention to the consumer segments chosen to follow
3. Organisational and regulatory research priorities
This last category of research priorities is structured
along three lines:
• Development of business models and a favourable
regulatory framework for the emergence of new
activities that will be necessary to attain certain
visions of smart grids (storage operators, aggregators,

21
 Roadmap for smart grids and electricity systems integrating
renewable energy sources
DSM operators, security operators). More broadly the
aim is to build a regulatory framework or frameworks
favourable to the emergence of new system services.
• Conception of institutional systems adapted to the
changing role of different network actors (producers,
aggregators, suppliers, consumers, transmission
operators, distributors), to a possible increase in
their numbers and decompartmentalisation of their
activities.
• Development of a stable competitive environment
that is absolutely necessary to attract significant
investment for the transition from today’s networks to
tomorrow’s smart grids.
> VII. Needs for research
demonstrators
The visions elaborated in this roadmap identify
technological, organisational and socio-economic
bottlenecks that must be resolved in order to start the
transition to smart grids.
They also outline the functions that a “smart”
electricity system and grid will have to fulfil9.
To characterise these functions research
demonstrators are needed, on the theme “Smart
grids and electricity systems integrating renewable
energies”.
Smart grids and electricity systems will have to fulfil
four functions:
• Function 1: Facilitate the insertion of distributed
generation, notably using renewable resources.
• Function 2: Enable significant action to manage
demand (via smart communications devices
downstream of electricity meters) and intermittent
production, in order to limit recourse to high-CO2-
emitting generating capacity, to balance supply and
demand when intermittent resources are not available,
and to reduce load congestion and the need to invest in
22
new infrastructure.
• Function 3: Anticipate changes in the grid
environment, i.e. the deployment of smart meters, the
emergence of positive-energy buildings, plug-in hybrid
and/or fully electric vehicles, etc.
• Function 4: Test new business models that contribute
to structuring actors in intelligent electricity systems
(e.g. aggregators).
The research demonstrators that are proposed will
have to show how the technological, economic or
organisational options demonstrated will fulfil one or
several of these functions.
The projects can be set up on the mainland and/or on
an island territory, taking care in all cases to consider
the transferability of the options tested to other similar
energy or geographic contexts.
The projects submitted should insofar as feasible
include a socio-economic or regulatory dimension, for
instance:
• Implementation of measures to monitor consumers’
behaviour, in order to analyse the effects of the
adoption of new products and services on energy
consumption and generation.
• Experimentation of new tariff schemes designed to
foster changes in consumer behaviour.
• Detailed analysis of different consumer segments
in order to better understand determining factors, to
anticipate consumption, assess its dispatchability and
eventually postpone, limit or interrupt service.
Demonstrators may be on a real-life scale (for instance,
a solar neighbourhood) or on a semi-real-life scale
(combining simulation and actual experimentation).
Grid simulation platforms (national or regional)
coupled with micro-grids that include intermittent
renewable energy capacity, dispatchable buildings and
loads, are eligible.
The demonstrators must be sufficiently large to
prove the feasibility and relevance of the proposed
technological, organisational or economic approaches
in terms of creating new margins of flexibility for
electricity system management.

Special attention will be given to the environmental

balance sheets (in particular reduction of greenhouse
gas emissions) and economic assessments (on the
demonstrator scale, and regarding the grid as a whole
in the case of widespread adoption) of the proposed
demonstrators.

9- Here the term “smart electricity systems” includes the associated

control system(s).

23
 2010 New public construction
<50kWh/m2/year
2012 Spread of low-energy
housing in new construction
Challenge 1: European Commission energy Challenge 1: Factor 4–Cut French GHG
package (20/20/20) emissions by 75% between 1990 and 2050
Challenge 2: 23% RES in French energy
consumption

Kyoto 2008 – 2012 2020 Spread of positive-energy homes

Reduce GHG emissions by 8% in new construction
in EU countries
2020–2025 Factor 2–Reduce GHG by
25-30%

Challenge 3 : Maintaining a high level of power quality and security in the electricity system

Managing energy demand

Development of network planning methods integrating static and dynamic DSM
Development of network operation simulation methods including control of demand loads
Development of products and services to better understand demand
Development of energy efficiency services for load management
Development of technology to improve network energy efficiency
Development of business models that create value from demand flexibility

Decentralised generation
Better forecasting tools for predicting decentralised generation at different territorial and temporal scales
Integration into network planning and management
Development of economic models to better integrate RES in market mechanisms

Energy-efficient operation of the electricity system

Development of coordinated DSM–DER–storage management tools at the different scales of the electricity system
Development of economic models to create value from storage capacity

Degree and type of Vision 1

decentralisation Flexible demand and storage coupled
to large-scale intermittent generating
capacity
Low penetration of
intermittent capacity Vision 2
<20 000 W Flexible demand and controlled
dispersed storage
Degree of
intelligence
Development of associated services (DSM / DER)
Widespread penetration Interconnection of European grids
Development of of smart systems in grids Improved forecasting
communications Evolution of distribution grids (DER)
infrastructure for Optimised integration of RES (managing availability)
automatic network control

Degree of
standardisation Vision 3 Enlightened Regulation: limited
and regulation of Flexible demand, storage and number of actors; functions
Changing role of the regulator DER in a centralised network
activities Marked and interventions governed by
architecture evolution of “strict” regulations
Opening up of energy regulatory
markets Economic models to develop systems Internet model: multiplication
RES in power generation Vision 4 of actors, broadly defined
Demand response and DER in intervention protocols
smart clusters

Technological bottlenecks Socio-economic bottlenecks

Network technologies (equipment/electronics) Changes in network/system environment (electric
Information systems applied to grids vehicles, positive-energy buildings)
Need for economical and efficient storage technologies Acceptability to end users of the solutions proposed
(adoption + consumption behaviour)

Organisational/regulatory bottlenecks Organisational/regulatory bottlenecks

Absence of economic models for the development of DSM and storage Lack of visibility on actors’ role in the system
Emergence of new actors of significant size
Latitude of action by the market regulator
24

2010 2012 2020 2050

Glossary
Decentralised electricity resources (DER)
The term “decentralised electricity resources” refers to
all small and medium-sized power generating capacity
(typically under 10 MW), in most cases connected to a
distribution grid and used to produce electricity near
its point of use. Decentralised generation can help
reduce load at certain points in the grid.
Bibliography
ADEME – Technofi: Setting up a national R&D
programme on smart grids and storage, February
2008.
AREVA: Contribution au groupe de travail sur
les infrastructures de charge pour les véhicules
électriques et hybrides rechargeables, April 2009.

Demand-side management (DSM) European Commission: Vision Report and Strategic

Demand-side management comprises a set of Research Agenda of the SmartGrids European
technologies and methods to optimise consumers’ Technology Platform.
energy expenditures while holding down the costs
of public infrastructure and limiting environmental EPRI – EDF R&D: 2008 Update of the profiling and
impacts. Demand-side management can be divided mapping of intelligent grid R&D programs. Technical
into two main groups: Report, June 2008.
- “static” DSM that has a long-term impact on
consumption and on the sizing of infrastructure (and Guerra Yves, Mayer D, Adra N: Etats de l’art des projets
on grid efficiency, by reducing losses) de recherche internationaux sur la thématique de
- “dynamic” DSM that controls load dispatching in real PREMIO, July 2008.
time (coordinated voluntary interruptions are like a
“virtual power plant”). Third International Conference on Integration
of Renewable and Distributed Energy Resources,
Aggregator December 2008
An aggregator can be seen as a mediator between
consumers and the market, compiling consumer http://www.conference-on-integration.com/words_
flexibility possibilities and (power) contributions, of_welcome.php
following demand and signals from the market and
participants, with different degrees of optimisation
to meet the requirements of topologically dependent
services.
An aggregator thus manages installations, and
can design and offer energy services to customers
downstream, handling a large number of contracts at
the micro-economic level, and upstream, with several
key actors (network operators, etc.) at the macro-
economic level.

25
 Roadmap for smart grids and electricity systems integrating
renewable energy sources

Annex 1: Smart grids and electricity systems integrating renewable energy –

Demonstration projects in Japan

y Project
name/ Period Demonstration goal Size of project
Installed
capacities – DER
location and storage

The micro-grid
The aim of this project is to show that many
serves a university DER: One 250 kW
levels of PQR* can be supplied simultaneously
2004 – campus, a MCFC fuel cell + two
Sendaï via a micro-grid, and to compare the economic
2008 secondary school 350 kW natural gas
viability of this approach to conventional
and a sewage generators
equipment for direct-current power supply.
treatment plant.

The demonstration objective is to determine

to what extent coupling storage systems to
photovoltaic panels helps relieve problems
The average system
(excess voltage, harmonics) when current 500 homes were
configuration is 3.85
2002 – from the PV panels is injected into the grid. equipped with
Ota City 2007 To achieve this a central management device PV panels and
kW of PV panels
and 4704 Ah of lead
using communication via IP measurement batteries.
batteries.
units was developed. The data gathered
was used to analyse battery behaviour and
facilitate detection of malfunction.

The micro-
grid serves
city buildings
DER: One sewage
The project objective is to evaluate PQR* in Hachinohe.
digester with three
2005 – services, financial viability and avoided Generating and
Hachinohe 2008 GHG emissions for a micro-grid using only storage equipment
170 kW generators +
one wood-fired boiler
renewable resources. are linked to point
(1 t/h).
of consumption by
a double 6 kV line
measuring 5.4 km.

* Power Quality and Reliability

26
 Annex 2: Main findings drawn from analysis
of United States R&D programmes on smart
grids (by area of application)
To specify the fields included under the heading
“Smart Grids” and dispose of a shared yardstick
for the comparison of research programmes and
demonstrators, a common analytical grid is useful.
This grid, jointly developed by EDF R&D and EPRI,
distinguishes between:
• Areas of application covered by the programmes
examined: final uses, distribution, transmission,
power substations, generation (including distributed
generation) and storage, markets and regulation.
• Research themes and/or conceptual approaches
implemented under the different programmes:
construction of visions and concepts, business cases,
functional needs, the general framework, system
architecture, cross-cutting services, standardisation
and user groups, analysis of technologies, hardware
and software development, product integration and
demonstration.
The main research programmes are analysed on the
basis of this yardstick, to identify the fields that are
given broad, medium or low coverage by the different
smart-grid research programmes (see table).

y Areas of
application
Degree of
coverage
Comments

Distribution is the area of application best covered by the different research

programmes, especially the aspects concerning equipment and software
Excellent
development, analysis of technologies, and demonstration. This high degree of
Distribution thematic
coverage illustrates the fact that the priority of current research work is to support
coverage
the initial operational deployment of new systems (e.g. smart meters, automation)
in distribution grids.

Generation
(including Generation (including distributed generation), transmission and storage are
distributed Medium degree fairly well covered. Technology analysis, ICT development, cross-cutting services,
generation)/ of coverage intervention protocols and framework, and demonstration projects are the main
transmission research topics funded.
and storage

These two themes also receive a medium degree of coverage, but weak points
End uses and Medium degree
came to light in the programme assessment, essentially projects on product
substations of coverage
integration and analysis of business models,

Structurally, market issues are poorly covered by current programmes. This

observation is troublesome insofar as the usefulness of smart grid deployment
Markets and Little thematic
depends partly on the system’s capacity to establish conditions allowing arbitration
regulation coverage
between different operations (e.g. energy efficiency, recourse to DER or storage)
and only market signals can create these conditions.

11- Coverage of an area of application is considered to be strong when

60% or more of the programmes analysed include projects in the area;
medium coverage 40% to 60%, and low coverage fewer than 40%.

27
 Roadmap for smart grids and electricity systems integrating
renewable energy sources

Annex 3: The main demonstration projects funded under the 6th

and 7th Framework Programmes

y Name Period Demonstration goal Size of project

This project aims to increase penetration of

micro-generation in electrical networks through
the exploitation and extension of the micro-grids
More Microgrids concept (aggregation of the micro-grid into the
http://www. virtual plant). The project involves research on
2006 – 2009
microgrids.eu/ alternative micro-generator control strategies
and alternative network designs, development
of new tools for multi-micro-grid operation and
management, and standardisation of technical
and commercial protocols.

The objective of FENIX is to boost integration Results are validated using

of distributed energy resources by maximising
FENIX
their contribution to the electric power system.
http://www.fenix-
2004 - 2009 The project focuses on aggregation of distributed
project.org/
energy producers into the energy market,
developing the concept of the Large-Scale Virtual
Power plant and decentralised control.
two test platforms. The first is
characterised by integration
of CHP* units, and the second
comprises several large
decentralised plants (renewable
and non-renewable resources).

Five testing campaigns lasting

one year and involving 26 end
users
- 2 experiments to test
The goal of EU-DEEP (42 partners, €30 million in integrated systems with
funding including €15 million in European funding innovation DER control
for 2004–mid-2009) is to develop innovative strategies (cogeneration,
business models for sustainable integration of trigeneration)
EU-DEEP
DER in today’s electricity network. To achieve - 3 experiments to test
http://www.
2005 – 2009 this the project identified the technical conditions aggregation business models:
eudeep.com/
necessary for harmonious development of DER Aggregating commercial and
in networks, evaluated potential revenue streams industrial demand response
from DER and tested three business models for to balance wind power (UK),
aggregation of local DER in the overall electricity integration of micro CHP
system as of today. (Germany),
- Aggregating CHP* units and
demand response using multi-
agent software technology
(Greece)

* Combined Heat and Power

28
 Annex 4: Calls for energy projects under the
7th Framework Programme
Calls for energy projects under the 7th Framework
Programme have encouraged the creation of an ERA-
Net devoted to smart grids, and research projects
and demonstrators concerning intelligent electricity
networks and systems: OPEN METER, ADDRESS and
REALISEGRID.
• OPEN METER is managed by Iberdrola and aims
to develop communications standards for the
development of services related to the deployment of
smart meters (http://www.openmeter.com/).
Annex 5: The German E-Energy programme
Launched in late 2008 with a budget of €100 million,
the E-Energy project (http://www.e-energie.info)
is devoted to demonstrating the catalysing role
that communication and information technologies
will play in the emergence of intelligent networks.
E-Energy concentrates on three objectives:
• establishing an E-Energy marketplace to facilitate
transactions and contractual agreements between
different actors in smart electricity systems
• information transfers and real-time transactions

• ADDRESS is run by ENEL and aims to design active • development of interfaces between different
distribution networks integrating decentralised technical components and systems (e.g. market
sources and demand response (http://www. platforms) to enable independent verification, pooling
addressfp7.org/). of maintenance operations and regulations covering
the entire system.
• REALISEGRID, managed by Cesi Ricerca SPA, focuses
on research and development of methodologies and
technologies to effectively establish a European
electricity market via interconnection (http://
realisegrid.cesiricerca.it/default.asp).

Research themes investigated under the E-Energy project

y Research topics

Network integration of distributed energy sources and demand in order to balance supply and demand

Digitalisation of energy system operations and services for automating analytical and control procedures

Integration of procedures and concepts to protect information, communications and transactions on the electric market

Cross-cutting themes: Interoperability and standardisation, data protection and security, development of a regulatory
framework, business models for new services

Source: The German Programme E-Energy ICT-based Energy System of the Future – G. Seher. German Aerospace Centre. Presented at the Nice Conference on networks, 10
December 2008.

29
 Roadmap for smart grids and electricity systems integrating
renewable energy sources

Annex 6: The French Multisol project

The Multisol project aims to optimise the use of

different intermittent and steady-output energy
sources (e.g. photovoltaics, batteries, power grids) by
anticipating and delaying output to match needs, by
reinjecting electricity into the grid and/or storing the
power generated. The project has multiple objectives:

• to promote and use locally produced energy

(photovoltaic electricity in particular)
• reduce peak demand on the electricity grid and limit
use of high-CO2-emitting generating capacity
• help users lower consumption through information
and education programmes.

Two 9 kW prototypes are now operational under this

programme. They can handle four energy sources,
a storage system and ten residential distribution
circuits. These prototypes will be validated on a larger
scale to better assess their impact on behaviour.
(http://www-anr-pv.cea.fr/home/liblocal/docs/
Seminaire2007/MULTISOL.pdf)

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contacts
Stéphane Biscaglia :
Grid integration of
renewable energy
sources and energy
storage

Frédéric Rosenstein :
Electricity consumption
and demand
management

François Moisan :
Executive Director for
strategy and research

Régis Le Bars :
Research Demonstrator
Fund for new energy
technologies

Michel Gioria :
Technology roadmaps

31
ADEME in brief
The French Agency for Environment and Energy
Management (ADEME) is a public agency under the joint

Réf.: 6755 : 978-2-35838-100-0 - Déc. 2009 -Pascale Pichot & Associés - Illusrations : Scriptoria
authority of the French Ministry for Ecology, Energy and
Sustainable Development, and the Ministry of Higher
Education and Research. The agency is active in the

- Printed on ecological paper using vegetable based inks  

implementation of public policy in the areas of the
environment, energy and sustainable development.
ADEME provides expertise and advisory services to
companies, local authorities, government bodies and the
public at large, helping these actors finance projects, in
particular research, in five areas (waste management, soil
conservation, energy efficiency and renewable energy, air
quality and noise abatement) and assists them in their
progress towards sustainable development.

Photo : iStockphoto

www.ademe.fr