RGI News August 2012

RGI News August 2012

RGI News August 2012

RGI workshops Summary of “Need for Grids” workshop online 70 participants took part in our workshop on the “Need for Grids” on June 22nd, 2012 in Hannover. Presentations and discussions showed that while a lot of stakeholders agree that Europe needs an energy grid which integrates energy from both centralised large-scale and decentralised sources, there are different opinions on how much of which type of grid is needed. Only if a big group of stakeholders from different parts of society is involved in the need definition and able to share expertise, it will be possible to come up with robust answers. On the workshop page of RGI’s website, you can now find more information on the outcome of the workshop, including the presentations, a summary and the pictures.

How Can Grids Protect and Enhance the Environment? Implementing the European Grid Declaration You have received the invitation and preliminary programme of our next workshop on October 3rd 2012 in Paris last week.

By signing the European Grid Declaration (EGD) in November 2011, TSOs and NGOs have made a commitment to modernising and expanding the European electricity network while striving towards a high level of protection for biodiversity and ecosystems. Questions how to effectively implement the principles set down in the EGD include e.g.

• How can the full potential of strategic planning and environmental assessment be realised for minimising environmental impacts?

• What is the role of the ENTSO-E ten-year network development plan (TYNDP) regarding environmental protection?

• How can governments, regulators, and TSOs stimulate the rapid development of an environmentally friendly grid?

• What practical experiences with environmental enhancement exist in the grid sector? and shall be discussed during our workshop. For registration and more information, please visit our website: http://renewables-grid.eu/events/implementing-the-europeangrid-declaration-2012.html Best practices and European Grid Declaration Two mini-workshops enhanced knowledge exchange At the end of last year, RGI has launched a project on best practices, fostering the exchange of experiences on grid planning and permitting procedures. It focuses on practical measures to achieve socially accepted and environmentally sound grid expansion projects.

In a first phase, one-to-one interviews with TSO partners and NGOs have been conducted until April 2012. These results have been discussed in two mini-workshops this summer. The first one in June focused on “Participation and Transparency”, while

RGI News August 2012

participants of the second one discussed the two topics “Environment and nature conservation” and “Finding compromises with external stakeholders”. Summaries of the main results can be found on our best practices website. RGI members will meet again at the beginning of September to align their views on the current draft of the best practices report, which will be published this autumn.

Meeting with the European Commission to discuss European Grid Declaration and work on best practices In order to give an update on both the second part of the European Grid Declaration that is currently undertaken (for more information: http://renewablesgrid.eu/activities/european-grid-declaration.html) and on the preliminary results of the best practice project, RGI will meet representatives from DG Energy and DG Environment in September. RGI is looking forward to lively discussions and valuable input.

New publications in September In September, RGI will publish a flyer on the implementation of the European Grid Declaration. It will provide examples of how the Declaration is being implemented by TSOs. The aim is to raise awareness of these projects, to share learning and good practice, and to encourage other organisations to get involved.

The brochure “Empowered=Connected” has been translated into Norwegian and will be published under the name “Strøm = muligheter”. You can find the different language versions of our brochure on the website: http://renewablesgrid.eu/documents/grid-simply-explained.html

-----------------------Events supported by RGI Local Renewables Freiburg 2012 Conference Cities and regions explore smart grids and smart solutions 25-26 October 2012, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany The Local Renewables 2012 Conference (25-26 October 2012 - Freiburg, Germany) will focus on the combination of locally generated renewable energy, smart grids and smart end-users. In particular it will examine the evolving role of information and communication technologies (ICT) for the development of a low-carbon and/or

RGI News August 2012

100% renewable community. This is a valuable opportunity for policy-makers, representatives from European institutions, energy service providers and experts to share views and knowledge.

More information: http://www.local-renewablesconference.org/freiburg2012/home/

11th International Workshop on Large-Scale Integration of Wind Power into Power Systems as well as on Transmission Networks for Offshore Wind Power Plants November 13 - 15, 2012, Lisbon, Portugal The general purpose of this workshop is to get researchers, economists and practicing engineers from different fields related to wind power and transmission systems to exchange their knowledge and discuss their experience in the area of large-scale integration of wind power into power systems and transmission networks for offshore wind farms. The emphasis of this workshop is on both theoretical discussions and practical applications.

More information: http://www.windintegrationworkshop.org/ 2nd International Workshop on Integration of Solar Power into Power Systems November 12 - 13, 2012, Lisbon, Portugal The Solar Integration Workshop brings together utilities, PV/CSP system developers and project developers, power systems operators and other professionals to exchange knowledge and ideas, as well as experiences in matters relating to the integration of solar energy into the power systems. Speakers from companies and leading institutes are invited to present at the workshop, as well as workshop participants.

More information: http://solarintegrationworkshop.org/