Second report monitoring the recent Research and Innovation (R&I) projects related to smart grids and energy storage integration

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The Grid+Storage consortium led by TECHNOFI is glad to publish its second report monitoring the recent Research and Innovation (R&I) projects related to smart grids and energy storage integration.
Monitoring activities are pivotal to the definition of the R&I activities in the decade to come since they provide a dynamic picture of R&I activities.
A first monitoring report  was published in June 2015. Its aim was to support the topic selection of the implementation plan 2016-2018 of the current 10-year R&I roadmap 2013-2022. The main projects with European added value were monitored to demonstrate that the topics selected for the implementation 2016-2018 (i.e. identified as mid-term research and innovation needs), were not already covered by past or ongoing projects in Europe. This report has covered 54 R&I projects.
The present report aims at supporting the construction of the new 10-year R&I roadmap (for the period 2016-2025) by assessing the coverage of the R&I activities specified in the previous 2013-2022 roadmap by completed, ongoing and planned projects in Europe. This gap-like analysis is key to specify the new R&I activities to be listed in the new 2016-2015 roadmap:

  • R&I activities which have not been addressed in completed and ongoing projects are specified again in the new roadmap;
  • R&I activities which have been partially addressed in completed and ongoing projects are specified again in the new roadmap with the relevant modifications.

To implement the monitoring of such a large number of projects (123 projects in Europe, and 54 projects outside Europe), the Grid+Storage partners have elaborated a robust methodology based on interviews of project coordinators.
The analyses presented in this monitoring report have allowed the specifications of the future R&I activities to be undertaken during 2016-2025. Recommendations have been made for the structure of the new roadmap:

  • ENTSO-E, with the support of the Grid+Storage partners, decided to modify the general organisation of the new R&I roadmap, going from a point of view driven by actions and R&I activities to a point of view driven by challenges for the transmission system at the pan-European level;
  • The Grid+Storage partners decided to keep the structure of the previous roadmap with slight modifications mainly relative to the description of the functional objectives in terms of cross-cutting challenges (similar to the challenges for transmission);
  • The joint TSO/DSO R&I activities were removed and integrated in the transmission and distribution activities, respectively, when relevant.