Power System Flexibility Expert Workshop

Background

Cost-competitive Variable Renewable Energy (VRE), digitalization and decentralization are increasingly shaping the transformation of power systems around the world. In this context, the coordinated deployment of all flexibility sources – power plants, grids, demand response and storage - has become a crucial element to accelerate the shift to clean electricity, while limiting costs and ensuring system security.

Recent International Energy Agency (IEA) analysis highlights the need for taking action on renewables integration as countries move onto higher stages of VRE penetration. In addition, the IEA has found that addressing system integration is not only relevant for countries with significant VRE shares, but also offers opportunities to facilitate energy access, affordability and system stability at early stages of VRE deployment.

Within the framework of the Clean Energy Ministerial, the Power System Flexibility Campaign provides a forum for government and non-governmental stakeholders to identify key challenges and concrete actions - trailing from the operational level to the overarching institutional and policy framework. These efforts to accelerate and manage energy transitions draw on various pools of expertise: the IEA’s GIVAR network, PSF membership, and the findings accumulated through the 21CPP’s work.

In this vein, the PSF’s Expert Workshop was an opportunity to discuss the present findings of the campaign as well as to advance the discussion in preparation for both the 10th Clean Energy Ministerial and the publication of campaign’s final report.

Full details here

9h30 Opening Remarks
IEA Senior management / CEM Secretariat

Co-lead representatives
o Li Xiang – EPPEI, China
o Rasmus Ringaard – Denmark
o Sven Reutzel – Germany

09h45 “Embedding integration - Ensuring policy relevance at all levels of VRE integration”

Moderated by Simon Mueller – Head of Unit SIR

Presentation: “Findings of WEO 2018 Special Electricity Focus: The importance of flexibility”

Brent Wanner - (10 min)

Panel (10 minute input each):
 Francisco Martínez – Sustainable Energy Department, Ministry of Energy, Chile
 Emanuele Taibi – International Renewable Energy Agency
 Sandhya Sundararagavan – Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy, India

10h45 Coffee Break

11h00 “Systems in transition – bridging the gap between models and operations”

Moderated by Peerapat Vithayasrichareon

Panel (10 minute input each):

 John Lowry – EirGrid (Ireland)
 Renato Haddad – Empresa de Pesquisa Energetica (Brazil)
 Thomas Ackerman – Energynautics (Germany)

12h30 Lunch

13h30 “Carrot and stick – getting the instruments right for evolving system needs”

Moderated by Szilvia Doczi

Panel (10 minute input each):
 Sotiris Georgiopoulos – UK Power Networks
 Philippe Vassilopoulos – EPEX Spot
 Mahesh Morjaria – First Solar

15h00 Coffee break

15h15 “Electrification and the potentials for cross-sector system integration”

Cedric Philibert
Panel (10 minute input each):
 Timon Dubbeling – ACM Netherlands
 Adam Hart – Chargepoint
 Volkmar Pflug – Siemens Energy Consulting
16h45 General discussion and next steps