Background

The European Commission Directorate General for Research has developed the initial concept and guiding principles of the Technology Platform with the support of an existing FP5+6 research cluster (IRED, Integration of Renewable Energies and Distributed Generation, see http://www.ired-cluster.org/), which represents over 100 stakeholders in the electricity networks sector.

An Open Call for Expressions of Interest was published in March 2005 in order to set up the first Advisory Council of the Platform. The statistics of the results of the Call are available in the attached document  [166 Kb].

An Open Call for Expressions of Interest was published towards the end of 2005 in order to set up the following four Working Groups WG1 – Network Assets, WG2 – Network Operations, WG3 – Demand and Metering and WG4 – Generation and Storage.

The statistics of the results of the Call are available in the attached document  [167 Kb].

Objectives and Structure

The main elements of the outline concept and tentative structure of the Platform are:

• Scope. The initial scope of the Platform aims at increasing the efficiency, safety and reliability of European electricity transmission and distribution systems and removing obstacles to the large-scale integration of distributed and renewable energy sources, in line with the proposed priority for “Smart Energy Networks” in FP7.
• Structure. The Platform should be open and accessible, allowing the participation of all active stakeholders. The structure should reflect the diverse and complementary activities which will be undertaken by the Platform, and be such as to ensure that initiatives are taken forward in an active and dynamic manner.

The Technology Platform is steered and monitored by an Advisory Council (AC)  [88 Kb], nominated in May 2005, which provides guidance on the definition, initiation and putting in place of the structure, procedures and work programme. The Chairman and Vice-Chairmen of the AC were elected in June 2005 and the Advisory Council decided to set up an Executive Group  [69 Kb] which proposes to the AC the initiatives to lead the Platform in its initial steps.

Progress of Work and Further Steps

Further steps to be taken are:

• Publication of the Vision Paper in Spring 2006
• Publication of the Strategic Research Agenda in Spring 2006
• Launching Event and First General Assembly, 6-7 April 2006. Further information can be found on the following web page:
  http://ec.europa.eu/research/energy/
  gp/gp_events/smartgrid/article_3763_en.htm

Relevant EC publications, namely “European Distributed Energy Resources Projects” and “New ERA for Electricity in Europe”, can be found on the following web page: http://ec.europa.eu/research/energy/nn/nn_pu/article_1078_en.htm

Advisory Council Meetings

• 1st AC Meeting 26 May 2005  [16 Kb]
• 2nd AC Meeting 23 June 2005  [28 Kb]
• 3rd AC Meeting July 2005  [33 Kb]
• 4th AC Meeting 14 November 2005   [32 Kb]

Mirror Group Meetings

• 1st MG Meeting 30 November 2005  [17 Kb]