On 12 April, DSO Entity hosted the first webinar of its series dedicated to the outcomes of its paper entitled “DSOs fit for 55: Challenges, best practices and lessons learnt on connecting renewables to the grid”, published in November 2023. The webinar focused on the grid constraint challenge identified, in DSO Entity’s paper and the European Commission’s Grid Action Plan, as one of the main obstacles for distribution grids in their energy transition.
This webinar is part of DSO Entity’s delivery of the Grid Action Plan’s actions, as welcomed by Mr. Joachim Balke (Head of Unit of DG ENER C4 Infrastructure and Regional Cooperation), who highlighted the close collaboration between DSO Entity and the European Commission to ensure the successful implementation of the Grid Action Plan and the importance of the Copenhagen Forum as a first milestone in June 2024. He acknowledged the manifold challenges for DSOs and the need to further deploy grid infrastructure and ensure better network development planning.
The webinar was the opportunity to present some key findings from DSO Entity’s paper, and while sharing examples of best practices contributing to mitigating grid constraints and congestion issues relying on concrete presentations from DSO national experts. While one-size-fits-all solution is not possible, such best practices can provide guidance and inspiration for other DSOs in Europe.
Key take-ways from the good practices:
- Denmark’s best practice on the implementation of a geo-dependent standard connection fee: Henrik Fiil-Nielsen from Elnetselskabet N1 informed about the geographically differentiated fee applied in the country for RES connection whether the area is concerned by a surplus of production or consumption. This responses to the imbalances, mapped out over the country, contributes to improving cost efficiency and supporting renewable energy production in consumption-dominated areas.
- Belgium’s best practice on the introduction of capacity tariffs in Flanders: Luc Decoster from Fluvius showcased the Flemish initiative of introducing a capacity tariff as a response to grid congestion in the region, offering customers different consumption optimisation schemes, to incentivize grid-supportive behavior, avoid grid congestion at peak-hours and ultimately reduce energy bills.
- Netherlands’ best practice of flexible connection agreements: Samira Rotteveel and Michiel Roks from Alliander presented their pilot project of flexible connection agreements, aiming to lighten the impact of the rapid electrification and connection requests now congesting the national grid. This solution allows to offer capacity outside of peak hours to facilitate connections, mitigate congestion, and have positive preliminary outcomes where applied.
To see the recording of the webinar, press here. (Password: KMSF4*+0)
To find the webinar’s slides: press here.
To know more about the best practices and download DSO Entity’s paper, press here.
For any further enquiries, please contact Claire Vandewalle, Regulatory Affairs and Strategy Advisor at DSO Entity (claire.vandewalle@eudsoentity.eu).