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Grid investment will achieve a carbon neutral Europe

Alessandro Palin from ABB shares his reflections on meeting with EU Commissioner for energy Kadri Simson to discuss the role of electricity networks in the energy transition.

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I recently shared my view on the role of electricity networks in the energy transition, with the EU Commissioner for energy, Kadri Simson, at the 2021 T&D Europe CEO meeting.

It was an opportunity for me to voice our view that the grid should be considered one of the enablers to attaining the targets set out by the Green Deal, and that it in fact holds the key to achieving our eco ambitions for future generations.

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The journey has begun

In 2008, EU leaders agreed that by 2020 the EU would cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 20% from the 1990 level - a goal that was achieved three years ahead of schedule2, with much progress made since.

The first tranche of the ‘Fit-for-55’ initiative is underway, which supports Europe’s climate policy framework and puts the EU on track for a 55% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030. These initial successes have raised the ambition across the board, and we now have higher targets on GHG emission reductions, the integration of renewable energies, more stringent energy efficiency goals, and an upwards trend in the electrification of transport and the efficiency of buildings.  

These efforts are commendable and seeing nations work side-by-side towards a common goal, that will improve the health of our planet and the standard of living for communities around the world, is truly emotive. But these goals will not be achieved by chance.

Higher investment in grid infrastructures will facilitate the required change

If Europe is to become carbon neutral, via strategies such as renewable technologies, electrified transport and efficient buildings, the EU Commission absolutely must increase investment in grid infrastructure. It is the grid that powers the carbon reduction strategies – it is the foundation on which we are building our carbon-neutral future.

In other words, the greatest risk (and cost) to all our efforts, whether on a regional, national or individual level, be it renewables, buildings, transportation or energy efficiency, is actually failing to keep up with distribution grid investments.

I would even go as far as saying that at this point in our energy transition, over-investment is not a risk, but actually an immense opportunity.

In fact, extending the direct electrification of Europe’s economy1 to critical areas such as buildings and transport would allow us to address more than half of Europe’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The challenge we face

During the meeting, my T&D industry colleagues expertly expressed that electrification, powered by growth in variable renewable power generation, brings a host of new challenges associated with an increasingly complex and less predictable grid. The required rate of change in the system will be high and with it, reliability requirements will increase. This poses an obvious challenge: How can we increase the rate of change, while simultaneously improving robustness and reliability?

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In ABB’s experience, the solution lies in digital technologies and changes in operation mode. New innovative technologies can only be connected to the grid if this doesn’t cause a negative effect on systemic resilience. Traditionally, systemic resilience has been focused on fault management and IT system security. But what we also see emerging now is the need for adaptability and updateability of the system, together with new digital platforms that are operating in live mission-critical environments, such as the electricity grid, while being constantly updated and developed.

System resilience is of growing importance, and for the first time, we now have the technologies available to realize such platforms, including 5G, virtualized real-time computing, machine learning and Artificial Intelligence. With such platforms in place, the grid is already benefitting from improved systemic energy efficiency, flexible demand and peak shaving as well as efficient and highly effective predictive maintenance capabilities.

Why investing in grid infrastructure is an undeniable solution?

Expanding the smart electrification of Europe’s energy system can potentially deliver a reduction of over 50% in greenhouse gas emissions as well as transform systems by creating demand-side flexibility models and bringing greater system efficiencies.

However, we will only reap the benefits of greater electrification if our grids are up to the task – and now, at this point in the energy transition, is the right time for policymakers and investors to drive change, accelerate governance and stimulate investment.

In the case of the grids, electrification means physically expanding the infrastructure to handle bigger loads and extensively deploying innovative smart grids technologies to free the flow of data and allow monitoring and control of the operations.

My questions to the Commissioner and key takeaways

Like many of my peers at the T&D Europe CEO meeting, I took the opportunity to ask Commissioner Simson a number of salient questions including:

Commissioner Simson acknowledged these concerns saying: “We need more electrification. Electricity is set to meet around half of our energy demand by 2050.” A notion that was supported by a tweet released by the Commissioner confirming the need for more electrification in order to achieve climate goals.

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 In my opinion, the meeting can be summarised with three key takeaways:

1 – We need faster deployment of available network technologies

2 – Supportive remuneration schemes will play an important role

3 - We need strong, consistent political support for more focused grid investments

- The author, Alessandro Palin, is the Division President for Distribution Solutions at ABB.

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