A report prepared for the European Commission's Directorate-General for Energy (DG ENER) analyzes the impact of smart grids on the roles and responsibilities of Distribution System Operators (DSOs) in the future energy retail market.
The report, titled ‘The role of DSOs in a Smart Grid Environment,' is organized around five core smart grid services: flexibility services, infrastructure provision for electric vehicles, energy efficiency services, smart metering and data handling, and the gas grid.
21 May 2014: A report prepared for the European Commission’s (EC) Directorate-General for Energy (DG ENER) analyzes the impact of smart grids on the roles and responsibilities of Distribution System Operators (DSOs) in the future energy retail market. The report, titled ‘The role of DSOs in a Smart Grid Environment,’ is organized around five core smart grid services: flexibility services; infrastructure provision for electric vehicles; energy efficiency services; smart metering and data handling; and the gas grid.
Following a discussion of the societal and technological trends driving the smart grid, the study examines the roles for DSOs in each of the five core services and the monopolistic and competitive characteristics of those services. It then evaluates DSO service provision in the context of two generic market structures, before presenting lessons from demonstration projects and large-scale roll-outs of the smart grid in Italy, Sweden, Denmark, France and the United Kingdom (UK).
The report concludes with recommendations on the roles of DSOs in the future retail market, with a focus on the role of the market, stakeholders and regulation in the development of a smart energy system. The Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) and Ecorys, a research and consultancy company, prepared the study. [EC Press Release] [Publication: The Role of DSOs in a Smart Grid Environment]