Flexibility features are able to improve the resilience, provided they are integrated in grid planning and defence plans and properly evaluated in the energy market design.

In a new white paper the European Technology and Innovation Platform Smart Networks for the Energy Transition (ETIP SNET) and International Smart Grid Action Network (ISGAN) state that flexibility capabilities need to be considered from the planning stage using a holistic approach so that grids are flexible and resilient by design.

Flexibility resources can also facilitate the restoration process by exploiting distributed black start capabilities including sector coupling, which adds a new dimension to the necessary interactions between the TSOs and DSOs and with utilities from other sectors. Thus power system planning for the future grid must embrace a wide range of network and non-network options to create operational flexibility options, including more active demand management techniques and customer-sensitive smart load shedding procedures.

The white paper draws on the learnings from flexibility projects in Europe in areas including system integrity protection schemes, in which flexibility solutions such as fast load control and distributed generation can be used to improving existing schemes, and system technical performance with flexibility solutions such as enabling flexible transfer […]

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