”. . .the most ambitious European project since the formation of the coal and steel community.”1 Energy Union for Europe, launched in February of this year, is a new EU initiative aimed at formulating an integrated European energy strategy that covers security and diversification of supply, energy efficiency, decarbonization (renewables), innovation and the internal energy market. The announcement on 25 February 2015 laid out the vision and goals of future EU energy policy as well as a list of 15 action points; translating those visions and goals into actual policy still has to come in the form of concrete initiatives, both legislative proposals and non-legislative policy documents, with two sets of measures per year, a winter and a summer package.
Intelligent transition from a traditional one-way distribution system to a fully controllable and flexible power grid allowing for integration of distributed energy resources requires significant investments and industry insights.
At this year’s smart grid technical forum SGTech Europe 2015, more than 250 energy professionals will come together to share latest project experiences and technological innovations to support the industry’s drive towards the smart grid.
(Reuters) - Electrical grids in Europe succeeded in managing the unprecedented disruption to solar power from Friday's 2-1/2-hour eclipse that brought sudden, massive drops in supply.
Tomorrow morning it'll happen – the moon will pass the sun and cast a shadow across Europe. Solar power production will drop suddenly and rise quickly again. Unlike many other external circumstances affecting the grid, the solar eclipse comes with a long lead time and a very precise ETA. What we can’t predict accurately is the weather tomorrow morning and the depth of the swing. I bet that quite a few network operators would wish for a cloudy Friday morning, as it would significantly smoothen the impact of the eclipse.
The adoption of distribution intelligence will help utilities reap the benefits of their smart grid investments.
The solar eclipse will be a test for Europe’s energy grid, but the real concern is the ability to quickly restore the network.
