The digitalization of the energy industry has led to a convergence of operational and informational technologies across metering infrastructures worldwide. This OT/IT convergence brings with it all the benefits of the connected, IoT era such as personal energy management insights, automated energy management and grid transparency. However it has also resulted in increasingly complex OT/IT ecosystems creating with new areas of vulnerability and increasing exposure to attacks.
In this round table, we look at what to expect from distribution system operators in the “new energy market.” More specifically, we will discuss market redesign necessitated by rapidly proliferating renewables, changing energy policies, regulation, digitalization and their impact on the existing energy business and technological environment. At the outset, we acknowledge that there are obvious differences among European countries in the number, size and activity profile of DSOs, as well as in the technical characteristics of distribution systems and the challenges facing each network operator. This means that there is no hard and fast model for the role of the DSO and this conversation is intended to cover broad themes rather than the specifics of a particular market.
