Interactions between automated energy systems and flexibilities brought by energy market players
Five DSOs (CEZ distribuce, ERDF, EON, Enexis, Avacon) associated with power system manufacturers, electricity retailers and power system experts, propose a set of six demonstrations for 12 to 24 months.  Within three years, they aim at validating the enabling role of DSOs in calling for flexibility sources according to local, time-varying merit orders. Demonstrations are designed to run 18 separate use cases involving one or several of the levers increasing the local energy system flexibility: energy storage technologies (electricity, heat, cold), demand response schemes with two coupling of networks (electricity and gas, electricity and heat/cold), the integration of grid users owning electric vehicles, and the further automation of grid operations including contributions of micro-grids.  The use cases are clustered into three groups. Three use cases in Sweden and the Czech Republic address the enhancement of the distribution network flexibility itself. Five use cases in France, Germany and Sweden demonstrate the role of IT solutions to increase drastically the speed of automation of the distribution networks, which can then make the best use of either local single or aggregated flexibilities. Ten use cases in Czech Republic, France, The Netherlands and Sweden combine an increased network automation and an increased level of aggregation to validate the plausibility of local flexibility markets where both distributed generation and controllable loads can be valued. Replicability of the results is studied by the DSOs and industry with an in-depth analysis of the interchangeability and interoperability of the tested critical technology components. Dissemination targeting the European DSOs and all the stakeholders of the electricity value chain will be addressed by deployment roadmaps for the most promising use cases, thus nourishing the preparation of the practical implementation of the future electricity market design, the draft of which is expected by end of 2016.