IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2014 - 26

Going Green
Transmission Grids as Enablers of the
Transition to a Low-Carbon European Economy

The TransiTion To a low-carbon economy will creaTe major
challenges for the european energy sector in the 21st century. in this sector, electricity
is a very important vector for allowing a lower consumption of fossil fuels while maintaining a competitive european economy. The european transmission grid and european transmission system operators (Tsos) are at the core of the complex european
electrical system (see Figure 1). aging infrastructure, low public acceptance of new
overhead power lines, and long permitting processes only increase these challenges.
all over europe, the required investments are very significant, and r&D activities
must be performed to allow an optimization of these investments. enTso-e, europe's
association of transmission system operators, has defined an r&D roadmap for tackling the most challenging issues. rTe, the French Tso, has participated in the definition of this roadmap and is a major contributor to ongoing european research projects.
european Tsos face six challenges, critical to guaranteeing the success of this
energy transition. each is discussed below.

Unlike conventional generation, renewable energy has by nature a variable generation
output with limited controllability. as a result, its large penetration (see Figure 2) calls for
changes in the management of system reliability to deal with two main issues: 1) managing the new electrical power flows that stem from it and 2) balancing supply and demand
at all times, which is essential to the security of supply. reserves and margins will need
to be adjusted using real-time measurements and taking uncertainties and contingencies
into account. Demand-side management or, in some cases, curtailment of renewable generation will be required to provide flexibility in the supply-demand balance. improved
forecast techniques for the variable generation patterns of renewables will be the key
to reducing uncertainties and avoiding oversized reserves and margins. as an example,
rTe has developed solutions for forecasting wind and solar generation based on meteorological forecasts provided by météo France (the French national meteorological service). Two software engines, Preole for wind generation and PhosPhor for solar
PV generation, have been developed and integrated in an iT platform called iPes as part
of a joint initiative with alstom and erDF. rTe has also benefited from participating in
the safewind project, one of several collaborative research and demonstration projects
cofunded by the european commission (ec) under the seventh Framework Program
(FP7), which covers the period 2007-2013. The framework programs have been created
to support and encourage research in the so-called european research area; the next program is being developed and will span the period 2014-2020 under the name "horizon
2020." The FP7-funded safewind project proposed improvements to forecasting methods

©Artville, llC.

Enabling the Development of Renewable Energy

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MPE.2013.2294817
Date of publication: 19 February 2014

ieee power & energy magazine

march/april 2014

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