Is 2016 the year of flexibility? Members of POWER-GEN Europe and Renewable Energy World Europe’s Advisory Board discuss the importance of a flexible power supply and the steps needed to deliver a truly robust network, ahead of the conference and exhibition place in Milan, 21st to 23rd June 2016.
Roundtable participants:
• Giancarlo Benelli – Senior Consultant, Green Engine Consulting S.R.L
• Philippe Delage – Consultant, DELAGE Conseil
• Simon Hobday – Partner, Osborne Clarke LLP
• Fabien Roques – Senior Vice President, Compass Lexecon
Why is flexibility so important now?
Fabien Roques: Our power systems are undergoing a profound transformation. We’ve got new technology coming in, supported by governments, and we have active consumer participation – the so-called pro-sumers – reshaping the system.
This is leading to a true ‘Copernician revolution’. Our power systems, which were built to transport power from large-scale centralised plants to consumers, will need to be redesigned to allow two way exchanges with energy produced and optimised locally to a large extent. We also need the system itself to become more flexible to make sure that it is balanced at all times.