French Environment &Energy Management Agency

French Expertise

SMART GRIDS

The adaptation of electrical systems is the focus of major work worldwide. Bringing electricity to new territories, modernizing existing electricity grids, implementing energy efficiency policies and deploying renewable energies, developing new uses for electricity, introducing electric vehicles – these are the challenges facing a multitude of regions and countries.

Smart Grids are the result of the convergence of electrical systems technologies with information and communications technologies. They play a key role in addressing the above challenges.

Smart Grid development is a major priority for both public and private-sector actors in France. The experience of French companies has grown with the current French electricity system, a system that already shows extensive levels of “intelligence”, efficiency and competitiveness. French expertise also leverages substantial competence in terms of “systems engineering”, and can provide a tailored response to meet all sorts of needs.

French products and services span all the technical and commercial building blocks that make up the Smart Grid value chain. They address the following issues:

Improving the use and valuation of renewable energies and decentralized means of production, by optimizing the balance between generation and consumption.

Strengthening the intelligence of the transmission and distribution grids: developing «Supergrids», digitizing substations in transmission networks, and automating the distribution grids are the focus of a great many projects designed to reinforce the «self-healing» capacity of the grid.

Improving the valuation of decentralized flexibilities: this involves, among others, deploying smart meters, reinforcing active energy efficiency measures, and boosting consumers’ contribution to grid balancing, via practices such as demand response which implies the aggregation of flexibility among residential, business, and/or industrial sites.

Addressing current technological challenges, in particular by working to develop storage solutions at all levels within the grid, and by preparing to introduce electric vehicles.

Developing solutions for tomorrow: strong willingness of public authorities in France to develop Smart Grids has notably led to the creation of support mechanisms for innovation and for demonstration projects, and to a strategic business sector plan dedicated to Smart Grids.

Related competencies have also emerged, in the development of market design, and cyber security.

The French Smart Grid vision focuses on mastering complexity, on large scale deployments, and on the development of systems showing a high degree of dependability and reliable functioning.

Table of Contentsexecutive summary

Addressing climate change – French Know-How .................................................................................................

French Know-How in the field of Sustainable City - Vivapolis ..................................................................................

French Know-How in the field of Energy Efficiency in Industry .................................................................................

French Know-How in the field of Waste Management ..........................................................................................

French Know-How in the field of Renewable Energies ...........................................................................................

French Know-How in the field of Geothermal Energy - District heating and electricity generation systems.........................

French Know-How in the field of air pollution prevention .......................................................................................

French Know-How in the field of soil and groundwater remediation ........................................................................................

French Know-How in the field of energy efficiency in buildings ...............................................................................

Available in the same collection

A highly dynamic INDUSTRY

World leaders, mid-cap companies and small businesses specialized in the full range of Smart Grid technologies: operators of electrical and telecommunications networks, equipment and component manufacturers, software engineering companies, data centre managers etc.

Over 100 Smart Grid projects are currently underway in France.

Strong R&D and innovation capacity: some 20 demonstration projects have started up under the Smart Grids segment of the Investments for the Future programme.

France ranks first in Europe for Smart Grid investments.

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Introduction ...........................................................................................................03

The French electric system is already smart ...............................................................04

A major objective: the transition of the energy system ............................................. 05

Systems engineering: central to the French Smart Grid vision ...............................................09

Strong expertise throughout the value chain .............................................................111 - Energy generation: the energy mix revolution ................................................................................................ 11 2 - Electricity transmission and distribution: the path towards “self-healing” grids ................................................... 20 3 - Extended value from decentralized flexibilities: from consumer to “prosumer” ................................................... 26 4 - Addressing current technological challenges ................................................................................................. 35

Developing solutions for tomorrow ...........................................................................39

Conclusion: The French Smart Grid vision ............................................................ 42

Note: This brochure aims to present the French Smart Grid expertise, both public and private, at the international level.

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A major objective:the transition of the energy system3

Policies regarding energy mix evolutions are particularly active in Europe, where the European Union has undertaken an ambitious programme to develop renewable energies and energy efficiency. This is also true in other geographic areas, where renewable energy sources can help reduce emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases, while reducing the dependence on fossil fuels.

In addition to these evolving energy policies, electricity grids are confronted with an evolution in the equipment parks behind the meter. The consumption of new electronic devices, information and communication technologies, or the integration of electric vehicles are all modifying the consumption patterns. To address these on-going and future transitions of the energy landscape, the modernization of the electricity system must continue.

A rapidly changing energy landscapE

Energy mixes are evolving rapidly in most countries, driven by environmental issues and efforts to counter climate change, as well as by an economic and geopolitical push towards energy independence. The energy landscape is also undergoing a large-scale mutation spurred by growing interest pertaining to energy management and to the evolution of the uses of electricity.

Integrating electricity from renewable energy sources

Security of supply

Ageing power grids

Electrification

Integration of intermittent renewables and of decentralized generation. Development of flexible capacities, required for grid balancing.

Security and quality of supply must be improved, and demand management pursued. Systems are needed for grid monitoring and grid balancing.

Outdated electrical equipment and grids will have to be adapted, grid monitoring developed, losses reduced.

Electrification rates are still low in a number of areas. Developing Smart Grids directly may be a solution.

4 major global challenges for smart Grids

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The French electric system is already smart 2

An investment programme aimed at making the electricity grid smarter: These investments aim to improve network surveillance and automation, and to achieve large-scale deployment of smart metering. They are implemented by electricity transmission and distribution grid operators, and improve service quality and ensure security and effective performance in the French electricity system.

A smart transmission grid, with a high level of observability: With 104,000 km of lines and 2,600 substations ranging from 63 to 400 kV, the French Transmission System operator RTE manages the largest electricity transmission system in Europe, ensuring optimal management of electricity flows throughout the French grid at all times. RTE has made improvements to its asset management processes, and today possesses a unique organization and experience in optimizing the economic and technological choices in terms of asset life cycle management. The RTE grid is characterized by a high degree of observability: close to 40,000 data points are collected per second for grid monitoring purposes.

A smart Medium Voltage Distribution Grid: the medium voltage distribution grid comprises 1.3 million km of lines and 760,000 substations serving 35 million customers and covering the

whole mainland territory in a finely-meshed grid. The leading electricity distributor in Europe, ERDF has been engaged over the last 15 years in a modernization programme aiming to enhance monitoring and controllability of the medium voltage grid. This grid is already intelligent, thanks to 100,000 measurement and remote control devices in the field, to 30 regional dispatching centers that serve as control towers, and to advanced software that analyses incidents, ensures fault detection and contributes to the development of self-healing networks, (the capability to automatically restore power to customers in the event of an incident on the distribution grid). These features have considerably reduced the average duration of power failures, by ensuring rapid restoration of the power supply for clients when power is interrupted due to major weather events (storms, cold spells, etc.).

France thus boasts one of the highest levels of quality of supply, in Europe and throughout the world, while maintaining an excellent level of performance for consumers and a sound cost/benefit ratio.

The French players on the electricity supply value chain are pursuing their investments to ensure ongoing improvement of quality and to move the French electric system forward on the path to deployment of Smart Grids.

France is firmly committed to setting up smart electricity grids, and in this endeavour the country benefits from an electricity system that is already highly effective and competitive. Among the strengths of the French system:

Hydropowerplants

276 900 kmunderground LV lines

Installed cogeneration

1 952 MW

Installed wind power

6 063 MW

Powertransmissiongrid (RTE)

Conventionalcombustion powerplants

mk 001 514above-ground LV lines

* Data as of 31 December 2011

)1(

(2) Medium voltage (MV) – 20,000 V(3) Low voltage (LV) – 230 V / 400 V 107 900

MV customers

Installed PV power

2 321 MW

2 240 ERDF substations (1)(high voltage / medium voltage)

261 500 kmunderground MV lines

351 700 kmover-ground MV lines (2)

750 400 MV/LVtransformer substations (3)

Nuclearpower plants

Includes MV/MV substations and purely hydropower substations

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The French electricity system (Source: ERDF, end 2011)

Source : Coda Stratégies

France has embarked on a set of ambitious energy and climate objectives: reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 75% and overall energy consumption by 50% by 2050, achieving a penetration of 23% of renewable energies in the energy mix by 2020, and of 32% by 2030, and driving the widespread implementation of positive energy buildings in new construction by 2020.

The ADEME studies on the scenarios of energy and climate change evolution towards 2030 and 2050 have shown that the above objectives can be attained, by adopting a pro-active policy. The Smart Grid solutions now being developed in France are among the key elements allowing us to meet these challenges, by improving energy demand management, by facilitating grid integration of renewable intermittent generation, or by encouraging the development of electric mobility.

Bruno Lechevin, President, French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME)

In conventional electricity systems, grid balance is obtained mainly by adjusting the electricity supply (adapting generation) to demand, seeking the best conditions from a technical and economic perspective. Demand side management schemes could, in some instances, be an incentive for consumers to transfer their consumption from peak load to low load hours (in France, for example, peak/off peak tariffs have been in effect since the 1970s).

Nowadays the adaptation of electricity systems increasingly also involves balancing load by

managing demand, rather than just supply. Demand must be actively managed, for example by inciting consumers to modulate their consumption during peak load periods.

Grid management also needs to adapt in order to take into account the extensive development of distributed generation. This is driving a significant change in the way that grids are designed and operated, in particular thanks to the development of an IT&C layer, on top of the electro-technical equipment layer.

Smart Grids: what’s at stake ?

The architecture of Smart Grid can be broken down into three component levels:

A first infrastructure layer composed of equipment that transmits electricity – power lines, transformers, etc.

A second level composed of communication architecture (multiple technologies), open to different applications collecting data from various network sensors.

The final level made up of applications and services, such as monitoring, remote intervention systems, and automated load response, that function in real time.

The decentralization of electricity systems and the changes in grid management procedures also call for market design expertise, in order to ensure adequate use and valuation of the new sources of grid flexibility.

EXAMPLE OF A SMART GRID TECHNICAL ARCHITECTURE

Nice Grid will test several architectures allowing for the better use of grid resources and associated flexibilities, with the ultimate goal of developing a system capable of acting as a partially islanded microgrid: during a contingency event, the microgrid would be able to function autonomously, for a few hours, relying only on local generation and load flexibilities. Under this project, operation of the medium and low voltage grids will be optimized, integrating large-scale decentralized generation from intermittent renewable sources. The project aims to provide a better understanding into how a smarter grid can contribute to balancing electricity supply and demand in a region that is, from an electrical system point of view, partially islanded.

The project relies on several technical components:• the forecasting of both solar electricity

generation and of end-user demand on a day-ahead basis;

• valuation of consumer flexibilities (commercial, industrial, residential customers) through the development of Demand Response practices; the French “Linky” smart meter is used to facilitate residential participation through automation;

• the use of storage capacity (batteries) in the distribution grid and at different substations.

The Nice Grid project is led by ERDF, in partnership with Alstom, Netseenergy, EDF, ARMINES, RTE, Daikin, Socomec and SAFT. The project receives financial backing from ADEME under the Investments for the Future programme and from the European Union under the Grid4EU project.

Nice Grid project

Nice Grid is a smart solar district demonstration project based in the city of Carros in southeastern France (Alpes-Maritimes département) and cove-ring 1,500 residential, commercial and institutio-nal customers throughout this territory. An intelligent network design integrating a high share of photo-voltaic generation into the distribution grid, while making use of various forms of decentralized flexi-bility, in particular storage and Demand Response, is to be developed.

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Nice Grid project - the showroom

Nice Grid project: the roof of the Post Office building equipped with photovoltaic panels

©Commission de régulation de l’énergie

Adapting electricity transmission and distribution grids to the transition of the energy mixes, i.e. more renewable energy and more energy efficiency.

Implementing innovative grid management tools and ways to get more value from renewable electricity, via an energy vector conversion: for instance, developing Power to Gas technologies (conversion of excess variable renewable electricity to hydrogen or methane), and Power to Heat (conversion of excess variable electricity to heat).

Developing synergies between commercial offers for consumers and mechanisms to develop and valuate decentralized flexibility, thereby transforming the consumer into a prosumer.

Resolving today’s technological and economic challenges, for example energy storage.

Testing innovative models for future energy clusters and looking into the adaptation of territorial electricity systems.

Anticipating and adapting distribution grids to electric vehicles and to the associated charging infrastructures.

Making electricity grids more intelligent also means equipping them with IT&C instruments. With this in mind organizations in France are working on solutions to manage the risk that is inherent to the use of telecommunications. The French grid is particularly secure, not only in terms of electricity supply, but also in

terms of cyber security. French players are very active in infrastructure protection, associated services and grid information systems in general. The EBIOS method (see box below) guarantees a high level of security for the information systems (IS) of French operators.

This method provides an overall systemic vision of information system security. It was created and is regularly updated by the French Network and Information Security Agency (ANSSI). It uses shared terminology and concepts, and makes it possible to be exhaustive and to define appropriate objectives and security requirements. The method takes into account both technical components (software,

equipment, networks) and non-technical aspects (organization, human factors and physical security). All IS stakeholders are involved in addressing security issues under EBIOS. The method also fosters interaction between different business functions within an organization, encompassing the entire system life cycle (design, construction, implementation, maintenance, etc.)

Developing integrated systems

Smart Grid success will depend primarily on market players’ ability to build robust business models that address the major challenges facing future electricity systems. French players are today actively involved in providing solutions to a number of issues, including:

The growing importance of cyber security

Focus on the EBIOS method - Expression of Needs and Identification of Security Objectives

Systems engineering: central to the French Smart Grid vision4

The French electricity system relies, historically, on a strong proportion of nuclear power, which represents close to 75% of electricity generated in France. Re-flecting this mix, in the 1970s and 1980s the French government stimulated residential uses of electricity, especially for space and water heating. For the past 40 years the French distribution system operator, ERDF, has been sending curtailment signals to the residential water heating systems of 12 million consu-mers signed into the peak/off-peak pricing scheme.

The ability to synchronize and in the end manage a particularly large distributed storage capacity, provides the French electricity system with significant flexibility – nearly 20 GW of flexible capacity, and close to 20 TWh per year, about 12% of annual residential electricity consumption in France.

The France-Spain interconnection project is one of the responsibilities of RTE, the French transmission system operator, in the context of implementing a Europe-wide grid. The interconnection will be a very high voltage direct current underground line (320,000 volts), passing under the Pyrénées moun-tain range to link the French and Spanish grids. This innovative interconnection will be integrated into an alternating current grid.

The goal of this project is to increase the current interconnection capacity from 1,400 to 2,800 MW; this will reinforce the security of energy flows between the two countries, bolster daily use of renewable energy resources and integrate this production more efficiently in the grid, notably the substantial wind energy capacities installed in Spain. Lastly, the project will allow for a better connec-tion of the Iberian system to the European market.

This project carries a number of technical challenges: creating a 65 km tunnel, with an 8.5 km section beneath the Pyrénées mountain range; setting up Vol-tage Source Converter (VSC) stations at both ends of

the cables, in Baixas and Santa Llogaia, all while taking into account environmental concerns related to this type of infrastructure.

The project is coordinated by INterconnexion ELectrique France-Espagne (INELFE), a joint undertaking of Réseau Transport d’Electricité (RTE) and Red Eléctrica de España (REE), the French and Spanish transmission grid operators respectively.

French players in the electricity industry possess substantial systems engineering expertise, allowing them to provide tailored and reliable answers to large-scale and far-reaching energy choices.

Some examples are the use of France’s extensive electric water heating park as a flexibility resource (see box below); the level of distribution grid automation; the deployment of 35 million smart meters, currently underway (see box page 10). The large-scale roll-out of electric vehicle charging infrastructures, with a focus on the associated impacts, is also the subject of intense work.

Lastly, from a technical and financial point of view, French grid operators manage grid infrastructure investment in optimum fashion. For example, in 2013 ERDF had annual sales of €13.8 billion, an EBITDA (Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) of €3.6 billion, and invested €3.2 billion in its grid infrastructure.

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The use of 12 million residential water heating systems as decentralized storage facilities

Examples of projects and applications

Interconnection between France and Spain: the contribution of RTE to the European interconnection project

Work on the Franco-Spanish interconnection in the eastern Pyrénées mountains – © MOREN Thomas RTE

With better knowledge of their practices they will be able to optimize their electricity consumption and control their energy expenditure. Customers who want to do even more can connect their appliances to the meter, to obtain readings in real time, or remotely operate cer-tain devices. In addition to conventional metering data (billing data), Linky will also gather grid data, such as voltage levels for instance. The same system will also be able to transmit signals/orders remotely. For example, a curtailment signal could be sent to postpone opera-tion of some types of appliances and equipment during peak consumption periods, for example.

An initial roll-out of 3 million meters will be installed starting end of 2015, and over 35 million smart meters should be in operation by 2020.

This investment will not impact consumers’ energy bills: the capital expenditure will be covered by sa-vings generated by Linky – fewer visits to read meters and less unreported consumption.

The FrenchSmart Grid players can count on a training community that is particularly dynamic and strongly in-volved in R&D projects linked to Smart Grids. Several uni-versities and «grandes écoles» in France are active in this domain, covering both economic and technical topics.

Modules on smart grids practices and development are included in the curricula of several universities. For ins-tance, a specialized Master’s Degree in "Optimization of Energy Systems” is jointly sponsored by the Centre des Mathématiques Appliquées at Mines ParisTech, the Centre de Recherche en Economie et Droit de l’Energie at the Faculté des Sciences Economiques in Montpellier, and the EDHEC business school in Lille.

Smart Grid training is also offered in the framework of demonstrators, for instance by the Conservatoire Natio-nal des Arts et Métiers (CNAM) in the framework of the

Smart Grid Vendée project (see box page 24).

In addition, under a Smart Grids plan developed in the framework of the "New Industrial France" initiative, the French government and representatives of the different stakeholders of the electricity supply value chain have put forward a proposal to create an academy dedicated to Smart Grids, and build up a portfolio of relevant skills and competencies, under the direction of the Carnot Ins-titutes. This academy would link industrial training centres and educational institutions, with the aim of elaborating training options that are adapted to the needs of indus-trial companies in France, and that anticipate the needs of this sector.

With this offer French players will find employees who are at the forefront of research in the field, and foreign entities will have access to high-quality training in France.

The Linky programme - rolling-out 35 million smart meters

Linky is the name given to the new generation of smart meters to be deployed by ERDF in France. This device has many advantages for customers, especially as a means to simply, accurately and efficiently manage their electricity consumption. With the new meter and the services associated with it, customers can easily obtain a detailed view of their electricity consumption.

Cutting-edge training

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The adaptation of electricity grids is a major project, with specific issues that vary from one territory to another. French companies offer solutions that can be tailored to the specific circumstances, thanks to their high degree of expertise in systems engineering, and their capacity to cover the different building blocks, technical and commercial, throughout the Smart Grid value chain. The Smart Grid spans several technical echelons :

Strong expertise throughout the value chain5

The Smart Grid technicaL VALUE CHAIN

Le compteur communicant Linky – © Aldo Sperber - PWP

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Renewable energy resources offer many advantages, their sustainability being the most obvious of these advantages. In the case of solar and wind energy the variability of climate conditions, specifically sunlight and wind factors, dictate electricity generation patterns, and make it difficult to forecast the periods and capacity that may be fed into the power grids. Smart Grid techno-logy addresses this challenge by optimizing the supply-demand balance, in a way that reduces the need for conventional thermal back-up generation.

Virtual Power Plants (VPP) can be created, by asso-ciating intermittent renewable energy production to different forms of flexibility, e.g. demand response, storage, flexible generation, etc. These virtual power plants combine and optimize energy resources via a central software system, to get the most value out of the generated electricity, and more broadly to allow access to markets conventionally destined for thermal plant.

5.1.1 Better use of intermittent renewable generation

5.1 Energy generation: the energy mix revolution

EDF is working actively in the area of Smart Cities, focu-sing in particular on creating tools to support municipal decision makers and ultimately their projects. The 3D simulation tool developed by EDF is a good example: the suite supports the quantification and visualisation of the impacts of different municipal policies and schemes, enabling decision makers to optimize their investment programmes.

The Housing Development Board (HDB) of Singapore is using the EDF 3D tool to better its policies towards more sustainable neighbourhoods.

« This sophisticated tool allows us to simulate com-plex scenarios, which will help the HDB planners analyse and determine the best combination of strate-gies, using both design and technological solutions.» Dr Cheong Koon Hean, CEO HDB

EDF’ s innovative approach to Smart Cities

Source : Comité de Filières Eco-Industries - COSEI

EnR Pool is building a VPP that combines intermittent solar and wind energy, and modulation of service to industrial customers. Its mechanism is to offer large electricity-consuming industries financial incentives to modulate their production at certain times, to help re-solve problems related to grid integration of intermittent renewable energies.

The first step of this project was to identify these integra-tion problems, and rank them by importance for load management in the electricity grid. Next, tools were

developed to anticipate these problems. In a third stage industrial companies were aggregated to receive a re-newable energy signal from the Energy Pool operations centre in Chambéry.

This project, coordinated by Energy Pool, also involved Schneider Electric, for its technical knowledge in commu-nications architecture, and CEA/INES (scientific research center) for its renewable energy expertise. EnR Pool was supported by the Investments for the Future programme managed by ADEME.

The RéFlexE project was carried out between 2011 and 2014. It aimed to identify the potential for flexible operation in facilities with significant consumption, in the commercial sector. RéFlexE was based on a virtual plant that could manage remotely, in real time, both the curtailment of consumer equipment and the activation of decentralized generation.

It showed that demand response is truly a solution for levelling the demand curve, through its contribution to peak shaving and to the overall supply-demand ba-lance. The programme also studied the environmental, sociological (comfort and user acceptance) and econo-mic issues (required level of investment, real DR poten-tial, associated business models) inherent to demand response projects.

Several technical aspects have been analyzed: Impro-ving consumption forecasts and identifying flexibility options; determining the flexibility available through de-centralized storage and through controlling distributed generation; identifying the IT&C infrastructure required to ensure adequate data collection and processing with a view to optimizing the electricity flows.

The project was coordinated by Veolia Environnement Recherche and Innovation, working with partners Als-tom (aggregation platform and value from flexibilities), CEA/INES (research on storage and forecasting of photovoltaic electricity production), Sagemcom (com-munication tools) and Supélec (power grid expertise). RéFlexE was supported by the Investments for the Fu-ture programme managed by ADEME.

EnR Pool: a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) that uses consumer modulation to improve integration of renewable power

RéFlexE – new models for promoting decentralized flexibility

The SunHydrO R&D programme, is lead by Sun’R Smart Energy, aggregator for low carbon energy sources, positioned as an intermediary between RES generators, infrastructure managers, and elec-tricity markets. SunHydrO is exploring the tech-nical and economic feasibility of decentralized storage used to improve RES integration and to value variable renewable energy. The project is developing a virtual hybrid power plant combi-ning photovoltaic and wind energy, along with a medium-sized pumped storage power plant.

Amongst the project innovations are: development of advanced renewable energy production forecasting and market pricing techniques; a software-as-service (SaaS) platform for real-time monitoring and control

of different energy assets; design of a highly flexible pumped storage power plant model; better optimiza-tion and balancing techniques, and associated bu-siness models, used in a context where feed-in tariffs are disappearing and renewable energy is subject to bulk market conditions and prices.

With support from the French government via the single interministerial fund (Fonds Unique Intermi-nistériel, FUI), this project is driven by companies known for their agility: Climpact-Metnext, Clemessy, Eiffage TP, QOS Energy, Mhylab, the Observatoire de l’Innovation dans l’Energie (O.I.E), SETEC Energy Solutions, Sun’R and the ENSTA ParisTech and ENPC schools.

SunHydrO – integrate more variable renewable energy in the electrical system by coupling these to local storage units

Qantum® monitoring platform

USE + DECENTRALIZA TION + VALUA TION +

→ Reduce variability of intermittent RE generation

→ Improve load factor of intermittent generation

→ → Aggregate and valuate small resources

→→ Develop the decentralized use of renewable energies through self-consumption

→→ Create market value for intermittent renewable energies and allow valuation other than through feed-in tariffs

→→ Better valuation of intermittent generation through the provision of ancillary services, capacity market participation

Improving the performance and value of Intermittent productionScope of intervention by French industrial actors

Source: CODA Strategies

Virtual power plants offer small renewable produ-cers new options for creating value, by combining resources that are often of small capacity, with dif-ferent intermittency profiles, from highly variable wind resources to very low variability resources like some hydropower and biogas. Another field which is attracting extensive attention today for its potential contribution to improving the value of intermittent ge-neration, is the improvement in forecasting accuracy.

VPP technologies may provide new means of valuating intermittent renewable energies, thus ensuring a greater level of competitiveness on the electricity markets, espe-cially when compared to conventional thermal genera-tion. French organizations are particularly active in both the development of technologies and practices allowing for intermittent generation monitoring and forecasting and in the design, use and valuation of virtual power plants, as can be seen with projects such as RéFlexE (see below), EnR Pool (see below), Smart Grid Vendée (see box page 24) and SunHydrO projects (see following page).

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QOS ENERGY, a software publisher specialized in innovative web-based real-time monitoring and opera-tions management for energy facilities is behind the Quantum monitoring platform. QOS ENERGY brings its expertise to the SunHydrO R&D programme. Within this collaborative project, QOS Energy is in charge of designing and developing the overall information system, and particularly its production aggregation functio-nalities (virtual power plant), real-time operational control of storage, and energy trading.

Examples of projects

Examples of projects

TODAY

Smart Grids must allow electricity to �ow in both directions,to better integrate renewable electricity.

Smart Grids will also supportnew uses of electricity,such as electric vehicles.

Electricity from power plants(conventional, nuclear...)Electricity from decentralized generating capacity(renewable resources...)

YESTERDAYPower plants

Consumers

Power grids were initially designed to carry electricity in just one direction,from generating plants to consumers.

The Twenties project was carried out by the European Union member states from April 2010 to Septem-ber 2013, as part of its push for the progressive integra-tion of renewable energies, in particular wind power. With the six large-scale demonstrators, Twenties aimed to facilitate the integration of offshore and on-shore wind power in the European electricity system by 2020. The R&D project was designed to demonstrate the advan-tages of new technologies, often coupled with innovative operating methods.

This project was coordinated by the Spanish transmis-sion grid operator REE, and included 25 other compa-nies and institutions from 10 Member States, including

Alstom and RTE. These two French actors were given the task of working on the technological bottlenecks related to the implementation of a direct current network. This network will ideally connect offshore wind farms in the North Sea among each other, and to the neighbouring countries.

A significant contribution of this work by French stake-holders was the development of the DC circuit breaker, an indispensable component of the DC network. These results make it possible to get more value from wind resources; it will be easier to transmit the electricity pro-duced and to send it to the countries where it is most needed.

The objective of the Venteea project is to address the massive integration of renewable energies, in par-ticular decentralized production, within distribution networks. Venteea is developing and testing innova-tive management tools and equipment on a medium voltage distribution grid in a rural area with signifi-cant wind energy generating capacity in northeas-tern France (Aube department). The project focuses on reducing investment costs and disruptions caused by the connection of renewable energy sources, limi-ting technical losses, and improving energy supply through the development of monitoring, forecasting and voltage control systems.

A number of technical elements are under study: im-provement and automation of grid management; the development of innovative tools to manage the dis-tribution grid in the presence of decentralized electri-city generation (control system, sensors, transformers, fault detectors, etc.); economic, environmental and

regulatory analysis of the proposed solutions; deve-lopment of new interfaces for the different information systems responsible for grid management.

This consortium led by ERDF includes Schneider Elec-tric (digital monitoring and command system), EDF R&D (technical expertise and grid know-how), Enel Green Power (pilot wind farm), Saft (energy storage), RTE (supply security and supervision), General Elec-tric (IS and medium voltage data modelling for geo-graphic information systems), MADE (measurement devices and instrumentation for grids). Two scientific partners are involved, Université de Technologies de Troyes, and the Laboratoire d’électrotechnique et d’électronique de puissance, L2EP, in Lille. Venteea is supported by the Investments for the Future pro-gramme managed by ADEME. Venteea is a contribu-tor, to the European IGREENGrid project, along with seven other European distributors, from Italy, Spain, Austria, Greece and Germany.

Twenties: the contribution of RTE and Alstom to the integration of offshore wind power at the European level

VENTEEA: A response to issues raised by large-scale integration of renewables within distribution networks

European grids, originally designed to carry electricity from a few central generating plants to a multitude of consumption sites, are now confronted with increasing intermittent generation resources connected both at the transmission and the distribution grid levels. Power gene-ration is still mainly «centralized» upstream, but more and more generation is also present downstream, making the management of energy flows throughout the grid more complex.

Securely integrating these two-way energy flows is a major challenge for tomorrow’s grids, and a prime focus for French organizations. Over the last 10 years ope-rators in France have integrated a growing number of renewable energy sources, at all levels in the grid. Over

95% of wind and photovoltaic power production sites are now connected to the distribution grid managed by ERDF, representing 303,000 sites and 11.4 GW of capacity (7.4 GW of wind power and 3.9 GW of PV).

These actors are at the forefront of work on the secure grid integration of intermittent generation, as highlighted by several projects: Venteea (see box page 15), Smart Grid Vendée (see box page 24), or Nice Grid (see box page 7) notably address the extensive integration of renewables in distribution networks; the Twenties project (see box page 15) is developing technologies for the deployment of a meshed offshore direct current network to carry wind energy from the North Sea.

More intermittent and more decentralized: the power grid paradigm shift

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Source: ERDF

Schneider Electric’s ADMS is a solution developed for distribution grid operators; it integrates monitoring, analy-sis, control, optimization and planning, and works with a unique representation of the distribution grid. Via real-time monitoring and control functionalities, decentralized resources can be securely integrated. Flexibility resources, such as demand response, can also contribute to suppor-ting this integration.

ADMS is used by 42 utility companies around the world, in over 100 control centres. Hydro One in Canada uses ADMS to manage its grid, and in particular to inte-

grate variable production across its service territory. The Chinese utilities Guizou Power Grid and China Southern Power Grid use it to optimize the functioning of their distri-bution grids, with a focus on asset management.

ADMS is also a major component of the package deve-loped jointly by Schneider Electric and DONG Energy for island grid operators who want to increase the share of variable resources in these electricity systems that are subject to severe natural constraints. The system has already allowed for successful integration of wind energy in the Faeroe Islands.

The objective of the MYRTE project is to associate an elec-trolyser and a hydrogen fuel cell to a photovoltaic solar energy plant as a means of absorbing the intermittency of this production. The platform is designed to respond to the variable nature of renewable generation and to rein-force the stability of the island grid that integrates a high proportion of renewable energy resources. Capable of producing both electricity and hydrogen from solar ener-gy, MYRTE is an opportunity to study a number of issues: peak shaving via energy storage; attenuating production variability due to environmental factors; excess voltage in the event of high photovoltaic generation and low consumption. This demonstrator is the first in this capacity range, in Europe and throughout the world.

The MYRTE platform is the first to develop a hydrogen based storage solution on such a scale. It demonstrates the high added value of this technology, and in particu-lar of the Greenergy BoxTM developed by Areva. With a storage potential of 1.75 MWh, and an output of 150 kW, MYRTE is the benchmark project in terms of securing the Corsican electricity grid.

The MYRTE platform is the product of the commitment of three partners, the Université de Corse Pasquale Paoli, Areva (energy storage) and the CEA. It also receives support from the Corsica territorial authority, the French government and the European Union.

The Advanced Distribution Management System (ADMS) by Schneider Electric

MYRTE – Better integration of renewable energies in interconnected island grids

Microgrids are small scale Smart Grids that can typically cover areas ranging from a group of buil-dings, an eco-neighbourhood, to a town or city or even larger areas such as island networks. Indeed, these grids are particularly suitable for island ter-ritories or areas far from power grids. Microgrids may retain a connection to a larger grid – in which case they are considered as semi-autonomous, or be fully islanded, or autonomous: supply-demand balance must thus be ensured exclusively through the use of local resources. The benefits of micro-grids, even in grid connected areas are important: semi-autonomous microgrids can reconnect custo-mers more quickly in the event of power outages, and improve overall service quality, especially in areas with grid constraints.

French organizations are involved in a number of projects aimed at microgrid development. The Nice Grid project (see box page 7) has tested several microgrid configurations of different sizes; the Millener project (see box below) has worked on developing microgrids in islands territories lacking interconnections (see box below). Schneider Elec-tric provides solutions to grid operators in island territories, allowing them to integrate renewables into their respective grids without compromising security of supply.

Millener focuses on the development of Smart Grids in the specific context of small island sys-tems that are structurally fragile and characterized by significant recourse to electricity obtained from imported fossil fuels. Integration of renewable energies along with demand side management are thus important objectives. The project focuses on three island territories: Corsica, where limited interconnection to the continental grid is present; Réunion and Guadeloupe that are completely electrically islanded territories.

The goal of the project is the improvement in the security and reliability of these electricity systems, while integrating more renewable energy from va-riable resources. To achieve this, different energy management solutions are tested, these solutions being associated to solar photovoltaic generation and decentralized storage capacities. Dedicated services, for instance real-time monitoring, will allow customers to better manage their energy consumption.

The main technical components of this programme are:

• 3 MWh of Li-ion battery storage capacity distributed throughout 500 residential sites, providing 2.2 MW of flexible capacity;

• 1.7 GW of photovoltaic production spread out over these 500 sites;

• 1,000 “Energy boxes” deployed on resi-dential sites, amounting to 1 MW of flexi-bility.

The project is coordinated by EDF, partnering with Delta Dore, NG ANALYTICS, Edelia (Groupe EDF), Schneider Electric, Saft, Sunzil Caribbean and Sunzil Indian Ocean. Millener is supported with funds from the Investments for the Future Programme managed by ADEME, from regional governments, and from the European Union regional development fund FEDER.

The special case of microgrids

MILLENER – Smart Grids for island systems

16 17

Myrte platform – © Areva

To integrate renewable energies and make them competi-tive, independently of existing incentives such as feed-in-ta-riffs, French actors are actively involved in the development of new economic models. A number of options have been explored under projects such as EnR Pool and RéFLexE (see boxes page 12). These projects aim to offset the variabi-lity of wind and photovoltaic energy, through the creation

of pools of flexible resources integrating commercial and industrial demand response and different forms of storage. The resulting pools of resource scan be valuated and mone-tized in the same way as a conventional generating capa-city: a retailer may purchase directly the electricity through a bilateral contract, it may be sold on the spot market, or purchased by a grid operator for use as ancillary services.

EDF Store & Forecast markets software designed to predict, plan and automatically ensure optimal operation of renewable electricity generation and storage installations. The software allows power producers and grid operators to size and

manage their installations in the most efficient way. The services offered by EDF S&F range from systems engineering to software installation, including technical maintenance and monitoring.

In an ever more complex environment of integration of distributed generation and demand response capacity valuation, the e-terraplatform provides flexibility, reliability and adaptability to match the needs of each customer, ensuring optimal management of new energy resources.

The platform is designed to reduce grid operation and maintenance costs, by predicting and anticipating faults and anomalies that can lead to costly repairs. The

e-terraplatform also enables integration of variable energy resources and grid management based on real-time studies and simulations of the environment via a remote measurement system. Supervisory Control and Data Acquisitions subsystems (SCADA), network security analysis systems, generation simulation and management systems all contribute to the integration of intermittent distributed energy resources to the overall management of grid flows, to the modelling of potential impacts etc.

New valuation models

EDF Store & Forecast – software solutions to optimize the integration of intermittent renewable generation

Alstom’s e-terra platform – the energy management system for the grids of tomorrow

To extract more value from renewable resources, work is underway in several countries on the principle of energy vector conversion, typically in parallel with other flexibility options. Excess renewable electricity is increasingly converted to hydrogen by electrolysis as a means of absorbing, in part, the variability of intermittent generation. Hydrogen can then be used directly in various applications, or injected into gas networks (in a limited proportion).

For instance, in service stations in Germany, Total supplies hydrogen obtained from excess wind energy. This hydrogen is used directly as vehicle fuel. GRT Gaz and GrDF are investigating Power to Gas methods for converting renewable electricity to hydrogen or methane that can be injected into gas networks, a step towards “Smart Gas Grids”.

Enhancing the value of renewables through conversion of the energy vector

18 19

5.1.2 Getting more value from intermittent energy resources

Examples of solutions

The GRHYD project focuses on using gas grids as a means of providing flexibility to the electricity grids. The technical and economic advantages of power-to-gas systems, i.e. storage of excess renewable energy production through conversion to hydrogen or synthetic methane, is studied over four years in the Dunkerque Urban Community. Existing natural gas networks can accept the hydrogen or methane pro-duced, thus storing and transporting these valuable resources by mixing them with natural gas.

The GRHYD assessment will look at two markets:

• housing, with injection of variable proportions of hydrogen into the natural gas distribution network serving 200 homes in a new neigh-bourhood;

• transport, with 50 natural gas buses operated on Hythane® fuel, a mixture of 20% hydrogen and 80% natural gas by volume.

Coordinated by GDF Suez, GRHYD is implemented by a group of partners including McPhy Energy, the Dunkerque Urban Community, GrDF, GNVERT, Cofely Ineo, CEA, INERIS, CETIAT, AREVA SE, CETH2 and STDE. GRHYD is supported by the Investments for the Future programme managed by ADEME.

GRHYD – Grid management through power-to-gas as a means of decarbonizing the energy mix

Founded in 2008, McPhy Energy is a French company specializing in the production of hydrogen through electrolysis, and in solid hydrogen storage, a breakthrough technique in the field.

Internationally McPhy is notably very active in Germany, where the company started up operation of the world’s largest power-to-gas electrolysis plant (6 MW) in 2014, for Audi

AG. McPhy has also delivered and installed an electrolysis unit for the hydrogen plant at the Berlin airport. This facility will produce hydrogen from excess renewable electricity, which, in association with a solid-state storage system, will supply a cogeneration plant. The company is also involved in other projects throughout Europe and in California that provide onsite electrolysis solutions for hydrogen production facilities.

Hydrogen as an energy vector – McPhy Energy

Examples of PROJEcTS

© Alstom

© McPhy Energy

French electricity transmission and distribution networks are already fairly “smart”, this being the result of grid ope-rators’ policies and the wealth of equipment and services made available by the different manufacturers, service providers and vendors.

A self-healing grid use advanced monitoring and simu-lation tools in order to remotely resupply an area impac-ted by different contingency events. Should such events occur, the self-healing grid allows ensuring the quality of supply, by rerouting the power automatically, in a very short time span, and without impacting the consumer.

In concrete terms, when one component of the network fails the grid reconfigures itself to temporarily bypass the faulty link, and maintain service quality for as many consumers as possible. The transmission and the medium voltage distribution networks in France are already self-healing and have been so for several years. The invest-ment towards a fully self-healing grid is being continued in France, with the modernization of the low voltage distri-bution network, and the deployment of Linky smart meters (see the GreenLys project described below, and the Linky box page 10).

The GreenLys project consists of two demonstration plat-forms, in Lyon and Grenoble, involving several hundreds of residential customers and commercial sites. Greenlys intends to test the functioning of an urban Smart Grid in its entirety, from the local producer to the final consumer. Experiments and innovative solutions are being conduc-ted at every level of the grid, working on the basis of the ERDF Linky smart metering infrastructure. The project also relies on a cost/benefit analysis that covers the whole value chain and that involves all the stakeholders.

The objectives of the Greenlys project are the following:• To improve the performance and agility of the

grid thanks to advanced monitoring and control, planning tools, real time communication, and self-healing functionalities;

• To incorporate new decentralized electricity pro-duction sources (photovoltaic, cogeneration…);

• To integrate the new uses of electricity stemming from a wide adoption of electric vehicles (char-ging, use of the battery storage capacities…);

• To identify flexible capacities for energy mana-gement by developing the aggregator function;

• To take advantage of the Linky smart meters and

support the emergence of new offers and ser-vices for grid users;

• Installation of innovative equipment on consumer premises that is connected via the Internet to a platform of services and guiding consumers on how to use these new tools;

• Testing new tariff schemes and services with participants and giving consumers personalized advice to help them control their energy costs;

• Conducting new sociological studies in order to better understand consumer behavior and accep-tance.

The project consortium is coordinated by ERDF and the consortium includes GDF Suez, Gaz Electricité de Gre-noble, Grenoble INP, Schneider Electric, Atos Worldgrid, RTE, Alstom, CEA INES, Rhône-Alpes Energie Environne-ment (RAEE), Hespul and the laboratoire CNRS LEPII-ED-DEN (Economy of sustainable development and energy). Labelled by the Tenerrdis competitiveness cluster, GreenLys is also supported by the Investments for the Future programme managed by ADEME.

GreenLys – A large-scale urban Smart Grid demonstrator project in Lyon and Grenoble

5.2 Electricity transmission and distribution: the path towards “self-healing” grids

Supergrids are capable of transmitting large capacities of electricity over very long distances while keeping losses to a minimum. Supergrids encourage pooling of elec-tricity resources on a large scale, thus supporting large scale optimization. France is at the front of the pack in

terms of Supergrids demonstration and implementation, as can be seen, for example, with the Twenties project (see box page 15) in which RTE and Alstom are working on the development of the building blocks of a direct cur-rent network.

Alstom is firmly committed to developing supergrids throughout the world, via its High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) solutions. The MaxSine HVDC technology, a Voltage Source Converter (VSC) technology from Alstom Grid, is particularly well suited to address the current challenges related to the grid integration of renewables, and especially of offshore wind power. MaxSine is operational in Alstom’s 25 MW VSC demonstration project in Stafford (UK) and will be used in the South West HDVC Link interconnection between two cities served by Svenska Kraftnät, the Swedish transmission grid operator. The same

solution will also be used to connect the Norwegian and Swedish grids and, on top of this, Alstom will be providing the transmission infrastructure as part of the plan to connect the DolWin offshore wind farm and the continental grid.

Alstom’s HVDC solution equips the longest transmission line in the world, the Rio Madeira line in Brazil. This connection will have the capacity to carry 3.15 GW over 2,375 km from a 10 GW power plant in the Amazon basin to consumers concentrated around Sao Paolo.

Alstom supergrid projects

Advancing towards Supergrids

Recent technological innovations in the high-voltage direct current transportation field open up new oppor-tunities for direct current grid infrastructures, especially thanks to high-capacity multi-terminal links. With its cen-tral location France is a natural platform for electricity exchange in Europe.

Coordinated by Artelys in partnership with the French National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control (INRIA), the POST project has several objectives:

• Develop a multi-scale model, i.e. spatial and temporal aggregation methods for modelling electrical systems.

• Develop an investment optimisation method integrating a multi-criteria risk assessment. In a context of investment periods lasting for several decades, taking into account the different risk factors, to ensure optimisation of both transmis-sion and generation capacities, is obviously essential.

• Devise new methods for resolving complex optimisation problems thanks to parallel com-puting using supercomputers.

POST is supported by the Investments for the Future pro-gramme managed by ADEME.

POST – Transcontinental Supergrid Optimisation Platform

Line Commutated Converter (LCC) valve hall – © Alstom

20 21

5.2.1 Smart transmission networks

Transmission Distribution

• Meshed DC grid management (supergrids)• Interconnection between supergrids and AC

transmission grids

SMART GRID FUNCTIONALITIES EXPLORED BY FRENCH STAKEHOLDERSTRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION

• Automated line switching and self-healing grid

• Automated voltage and reactive power control

Source: CODA Strategies

• Advanced grid monitoring (T+D)• Advanced electrical flow management (T+D)• Advanced fault detection

The Postes Intelligents («Smart substations») project aims to bring on line two high voltage demonstrator substa-tions using the latest generation of equipment (225 and 90 kV) by 2015. The project aims to pursue two major objectives: make optimum use of wind energy in an area where excess generation is common, and ensure an overall improvement of the quality of supply.

Initially, the project looks into substation monitoring, which is improved through the use of new information and communication technologies, to obtain a more de-tailed picture of the state of the grid and its environment (weather conditions in particular) in real time. Secon-dly, the project aims to provide grid operators with grid management and maintenance systems that take into account the new constraints imposed by the integration of intermittent generation and of demand management.

From a technical standpoint, Postes Intelligents will deve-lop an optimized and entirely digitized control system that includes self-analysis and dynamic reconfiguration functionalities (self-healing), and a series of sensors, no-tably new alternating current sensor based on the Néel Effect® and new magneto-optic current sensors based on the Faraday Effect.

Coordinated by RTE, the participants in “Postes Intelligents” are ERDF, Schneider Electric, Neelogy, Alstom and Alcatel Lucent. Postes Intelligents is supported by the Investments for the Future programme managed by ADEME.

Digitisation of transformer substations

Postes Intelligents: Implementing digital controls at substation level and integrating advanced functionalities

Normandy-Paris regional dispatching centre in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines – © COLOMBEL Vanessa – RTE

Drone flying over towers to detect corrosion – © ROUX Lionel – RTE

The diversification of the way in which electricity is generated today is creating new constraints on the transmission and distribution grids, and forcing grid operators to develop new functionalities based on rapid real-time information exchange between substations.

The automation of the French distribution grids has been carried out for the past 15 years through the leadership of ERDF, the major public electricity distribution grid operator in France (and the largest DSO in Europe). Automation has had a very positive impact on perfor-mance, with a steep reduction in the average duration of outages, lower line losses, better cost control, etc., and has been an important contributor to the grid inte-gration of the better part of the renewable generation capacity connected to the French grid since 2005.

This major improvement work has also enabled French actors to consolidate their offer of solutions for moderni-zing distribution grids through the use of Smart Grid tech-nology. These products and services are now exported, as part of European demonstrators, or sold directly to grid managers working especially on better monitoring and control, voltage control technologies, etc.

The work carried out on the French grid is a testimony of grid operators’ know-how pertaining to the integration

of these new technological solutions where they are ge-nuinely required. This require expertise in medium-term investment planning and optimized OPEX/CAPEX in terms of performance requirements and anticipated ex-pansion of production capacity and/or demand. The Smart Grid Vendée project (see box page 24) and the Venteea project (see box page 15) are very good illus-trations of the depth of French grid operators’ expertise.

Grid operators have also developed first-rate skills and expertise in the operational management of smarter grids (forward-looking management, oversight, self-healing), ensuring efficient operation (loss reduction, OPEX management…) and minimizing the impacts on consumers (advanced maintenance techniques such as energized maintenance, management of weather-rela-ted contingencies, etc.).

The EDF Group has exported its know-how for several decades now, with ERDF in particular working closely with grid operators around the world.

5.2.2 More effective and smarter distribution grids

22 23

@Arnaud Bouissou MEDDE/MLETR

In our frequent contacts with our counterparts in other countries, I have noticed that ERDF is seen as a technology leader by distribution grid companies, both in the field of smart metering – due to our programme to install 35 million Linky meters – and in the field of Smart Grids in general, with more than 15 projects deployed in France, in the last few years.

ERDF is also perceived as a global leader for its grid operation activities: the performance levels attained by ERDF from a technical, economic and human point of view are by far our best references, be it in terms of grid reliability, power losses, or personnel management and security. ERDF is keen on making its know-how and competence available to distribution system operators around the world looking to durably improve their performance, both in the form of consulting services, and through long-term technical assistance and management contracts, as is currently the case in Russia, China, and the Republic of the Congo.

Andreas Greim, Director of international development, ERDF

ERDF is testing an innovative solution in Brittany, with the objective of securing the electricity supply to the islands of Houat and Hoëdic, located off the Morbihan coast and home to 600 people. These two islands are currently supplied via a subsea power cable from the continent. ERDF has installed a novel emergency system, that allows avoiding a complete black-out through a better distribution of available power, in the event of an incident affec-ting the cable. This solution ensures that customers on the two islands have access to electricity, while avoiding the costs associated to the investment in a second cable.

A combination of three solutions secures the power link between the two islands: the use of a back-up generator installed on Hoëdic and remotely ope-rated from the Rennes regional dispatching centre (should the subsea cable connection be interrup-ted, the back-up generator can supply electricity to Hoëdic, or to both islands); automated devices on the medium voltage grid, enabling ERDF to take remote action; a modulation of consumer demand according to grid conditions and potentially accor-ding to the output of the back-up generator, via the Linky smart metering infrastructure.

Securing the electricity supply of the Houat and Hoëdic islands

G3 PLC is a new generation of power line commu-nication technology using orthogonal frequency-di-vision multiplexing (OFDM) to provide rapid, effec-tive and secure data communication over electrical power lines. The performance and robustness of this technology make it ideally suited for use in most electricity grids; in addition its native IPV6 addressing ensures that it will remain adaptable to any new technological advances. This G3 PLC technology has been chosen for the Linky Smart meter deployment in France (35 million smart me-ters) starting in 2015. Other electricity distributors in Europe and Japan have also chosen this techno-logy for metering applications.

Under the auspices of the G3 PLC Alliance a worldwide certification programme has been implemented since September 1st 2014, its role being to certify G3 PLC components and a wide range of devices, and ensure uniformity of speci-fications, performance and interoperability of G3 PLC products.

Certification testing is carried out by two inde-pendent companies, members of the G3 PLC Alliance – LAN, with a testing centre in Europe (Tauxigny, France) and TÜV Rheinland with a tes-ting centre in Asia (Yokohama, Japan).

G3 PLC – advanced technology promoted by a global alliance

Smartside teams up with its customers to build SmartEnergyCore with one goal in mind: to yield high returns on smart metering investments and enhance network operations.

Engineered to orchestrate communication between deployed smart meters and utilities’ back-office enterprise systems, this solution brings end-to-end business process automation and thus offers significant cost-saving opportunities. SmartEnergyCore enables two-way interface with communicating devices, monitoring of advanced metering infrastructure, and meter data management, all in one turnkey platform.

SmartEnergyCore: a Meter Data Management System designed by Energy Distribution Experts for the needs of small and mid-size multi-energy Utilities

24 25

This project aims to develop the components of a power line communication (PLC) network, aimed at improving the real-time operation of medium voltage distribution grids. The demonstrator focuses on using a PLC based network for better grid monitoring and operability.

SOGRID will test the G3-PLC communication architecture under real conditions, from meter to substation. The pro-tocol is designed to transmit and process larger volumes of data than first-generation PLC systems, and offers better real-time communication and management for low and medium voltage grids. Work under this project will cover

several aspects of the technical architecture, primarily the specifications of new components to be developed, and the design, deployment and integration of these compo-nents (chip-based-systems, concentrators, couplers, inte-grated sensors and electronic meters).

SOGRID is coordinated by STMicroelectronics, working in partnership with ERDF, Nexans, Sagemcom, Landis + Gyr, Capgemini, Trialog, Grenoble INP, LAN and Ecole Poly-technique. SOGRID is supported by the Investments for the Future programme managed by ADEME.

SOGRID – G3-PLC based communication system fo real-time management of electricity distribution grids

Smart Grid Vendée is a territorial project deployed at the scale of a French department - the Vendée (west coast of France) - on a rural grid, that includes wind farms and roof-mounted solar photovoltaic units connected to the low voltage and medium voltage AC grids. The project goals are to improve obser-vability and reduce geographic and temporal uncer-tainty regarding both generation and consumption. Various equipment will be deployed on different sites, especially towards 6 of the 35 source substations in the Vendée which are most likely to be under the strongest of constraints. These 6 substations manage approximately 60% of the electricity production of the Vendée department.

New business models associated with optimized pu-blic distribution grids will be tested, taking technical, economic and societal factors into account, on top of the input from different stakeholders. This optimization calls for upstream coordination and planning in real time, via new interfaces between the various actors in the grid.

Smart Grid Vendée focuses on three areas of re-search: dynamic control of high voltage distribution grids, via instrumentation and innovative forecasting tools; improving the capacity to integrate renewable energy in the grid, by developing new models for controlling and connecting renewable generation; new mechanisms to encourage demand response services during peak load periods.

The project consortium includes coordinator SyDEV, tech-nical director ERDF, and RTE, Actility, Alstom, COFELY INEO, Legrand and the CNAM. Smart Grid Vendée is supported by the Investments for the Future programme managed by ADEME.

Smart Grid Vendée: Local optimization of the public distribution grid

Wind turbine in Vendée – © Laurent Mignaux MEDDE-MLETR

The IPERD project intends to experiment several ener-gy management solutions that are meant to facilitate the integration of electricity produced from renewable sources into the distribution grid and help reduce consumption peaks:

• Optimised management of Li-ion batteries (100 kW/200 kWh) connected to the L’Isle-Jourdain low-voltage grid, and linked to a 100 kWc solar photovoltaic (PV) plant (1);

• A communication system between the subs-tation and the PV plant operator, and remote generation management in order to avoid disconnections (3.2 MWp instrumented) (2);

• The implementation of dynamic and deferred generation management mechanisms of CHP generated electricity onto medium-power (600 kW min.) methanisation units (3).

The demonstrators (1 and 2) will be connected to the L’Isle Jourdain 15 MW substation which is linked to a 7 MW power plant (solar photovoltaic and biogas).

This project draws upon the complementary expertise of the CEA (French Atomic Energy Commission), the Séché Group, as well as the competencies of the power grid distribution manager SRD Réseaux de distribution. IPERD is supported by the Investments for the Future programme managed by ADEME.

IPERD – Integrating Productions and Balancing Distribution Grids

SOLENN has been created to develop and test a solution that makes individual or collective electrici-ty consumption data from a smart metering system available to a panel of 975 residents in the city of Lorient (metropolitan area). The data originates from the smart meters equipping more than 10,000 households as well as from a number of sub-metering systems.

The objective is to foster a new collective endeavour to manage energy demand among households, using Linky smart meter data, and to offer flexible tools al-lowing local authorities to obtain detailed knowledge of the energy characteristics of their territory, and to monitor the impact of different energy policies.

From the grid perspective, SOLENN is also meant to provide an alternative to load shedding in the case of a strong contingency event on the electricity system, through the use of demand response-like actions, i.e. a modula-tion of the maximum capacity available to residential cus-tomers (via the Linky meter) when necessary, as a means of dealing with the above-mentioned contingency events, after making use of the usual “market” measures.

Coordinated by ERDF, SOLENN includes the following par-tners: Lorient Agglomération, the Brittany regional government, RTE, PEB, UFC Que Choisir, CSF, Aloen, Delta Dore, Niji, Vity and the University of Bretagne Sud. SOLENN is supported by the Investments for the Future programme managed by ADEME.

5.3 Extended value from decentralized flexibilities: from consumer to “prosumer”

SOLENN – SOLidarité ENergie iNnovation

Smart Grids make it possible to better interact with end users, not only by better integrating their decentralized generation capacities, but also by providing them with a better understanding of their energy consumptions through new information tools as well as with a means of piloting their appliances. Consumers, who are passive participants in conventional grids, become active players, or «prosumers» in the smart grid configuration. French organizations are today working on all the technical aspects of harnessing and creating value from decentralized flexibilities.

ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Self-consumption Demand flexibility

Active energy efficiency: through better consumer information, more energy-efficient equipment, as well as more dynamic tariffs

Electricity produced on-site and self-consumed, rather than fed into the grid. The systems used may be stand-alone or include some form of storage.

Automated commercial and industrial + automated resi-dential Demand Response through dedicated load control infrastructure and/or Smart Home technologies

Source: CODA Strategies

Watt & Moi is an experiment conducted jointly by ERDF and Grand Lyon Habitat (under the Innova-tive Initiative scheme), under the auspices of the Energy Regulation Commission, targeting 1,000 Linky-equipped customers. Consumer energy awa-reness is stimulated by unrestricted access to all in-formation on their daily and monthly consumption of electricity. Using a web portal consumers can also compare their consumption to that of other customers, and receive alerts (via text message or email) if their consumption exceeds a level they have previously determined.

The objective is to make residential consumers familiar with their electricity consumption, via the information provided through the Linky smart me-ter, and to allow them to change their consump-tion practices, based on concrete data obtained through a secure website. The principal technical component of the project is the use of the Linky meter and the associated infrastructure.

Smart metering is a fundamental condition to en-suring consumer participation in grid balancing. Smart metering benefits are:

• accurate billing based on actual consump-tion through automatic meter reading (AMR),

• savings on many services for the metering operator (in Europe this is generally the dis-tribution grid operator, who will see savings due to AMR (rather than manual reading), quicker execution of repairs, etc.),

• suppliers can diversify their service options, to offer dynamic pricing and other tariff incentives, to better inform consumers about their energy consumption and help them lower their bills,

• anomalies can be remotely detected, and the duration of outages can thus be reduced.

The roll-out of smart metering is a major endeavour in France (see box page 10) that gives French companies an opportunity to market a vast range of metering infrastructures, associated devices and services, as is the case, for example, with the Smart Electric Lyon project (see box below). A number of projects and demonstrators are already contributing to this effort, the Solenn project (see box page 26), being one of the many examples.

5.3.1 Smart Metering Roll-Out

Watt & Moi

26 27

The professional body IGNES (Organization of Di-gital Engineering, Energy, and Security Industries) is working on the development of the Smart Grid market for behind the meter technologies. IGNES’ proposal is to build a stable and reliable radio link between the Linky meter and the smart home, through the Linky Radio Transmitter. The transmitter is designed according to open and secure stan-dards (KNX and Zigbee). The first prototypes of this device will be available for operational vali-dation in 2015, validation which is to be conduc-ted under the Smart Electric Lyon programme. The transmitter could also be made available to other collaborative projects.

From the Linky to the Smart Home: work by IGNES

Installation of the Linky smart meter – © Arnaud Bouissou/MEDDE-MLETR

The “Smart Electric Lyon” programme studies electric energy uses in the residential sector. It aims to raise the electricity consumption awareness of 25,000 experimenting households by sending them - by mail and via the Internet - a clear breakdown of their consumption in both euros and kWh, with benchmarks allowing them to situate their consumption in relation to similar dwellings and get customised consumption advice. Furthermore, technical solutions (energy management systems, in-home displays, remotely operated electric heating systems, etc.), combined with pricing offers, shall be developed and tested in nearly 2,500 dwellings (single-family houses and collective, public and private accommodations) as well as on 100 commercial and institutional sites. These experiments, incorporated into a multidisciplinary research programme, should allow for a better understanding of consumer behaviour as well as consumer interest into new pricing offers.

Smart Electric Lyon offers the French industrial electricity and telecom sectors a collaborative tool allowing them to better structure their behind the meter offers. For the customers, better access to energy data and efficient technological solutions allows better control of their energy expenditure. At the national level, the project is meant to accelerate the development and uptake of new energy management technologies.

This project is coordinated by EDF, in partnership with Agro Campus Ouest, Armines, CSTB, Delta Dore, Dombox, Edelia, ERDF, Groupe Atlantic, Groupe Muller, Hager, Legrand, Mines ParisTech, Orange, Philips, SFR, Université de Lyon, Université François Rabelais de Tours, Université de Technologies de Troyes, Université de Lyon, Schneider Electric, Somfy, Panasonic. Smart Electric Lyon is supported by the Investments for the Future programme managed by ADEME.

Smart Electric Lyon

Large-scale experimentation with a range of Smart Grid ready products and services behind the meter

+

To improve the competitiveness of their products and services, commercial and industrial consumers are strongly committed to managing energy demand and to improving energy efficiency. The range of available energy efficiency solutions is broad, as many compa-nies propose energy management systems tailored exclusively to the needs of commercial and industrial customers.

Building management systems and industrial process controls are a major branch of activity for French actors such as Schneider Electric, Delta Dore, Socomec and Legrand. These companies are among the market lea-ders in technical building management systems and are behind some of the most ambitious demonstrators on the field, in the world, in addition to a large number of implementations.

In New York City, Schneider Electric worked with the Rockefeller Center to improve the building manage-ment controls of this renowned NYC skyscraper, and to implement routine demand response programming. As a result the building meets governmental criteria for Demand Response service and can master its energy consumption over time. The Rockefeller Center received LEED Gold+ certification in 2010.

French equipment manufacturers and other Smart Grid actors are also heavily involved in developing energy service contracts, and more broadly energy service markets, as attested by the activity of large groups and SMEs in France.

5.3.2 Reinforcing active energy efficiency

In commercial and industrial companies

28 29

Greenpriz, for monitoring, managing and optimizing electricity consumption

GreenPriz designs and develops a host of innovative solutions for professional clients, ranging from DIN modules for electrical panels to wall outlets, destined to improving in a simple, effective and cost-friendly manner the way in which electricity consumptions are monitored, managed and optimized. The GreenPriz products are made up of autonomous modules that require neither Internet connection nor a permanent radio link, and do not necessitate additional wiring. The product is suitable for all types of buildings, in both the public and private sectors.

With a broad range of versions, this product can yield up to 45% savings in electricity bills, and a fast return on investment.

The Long-Range IoT Station, a Smart Grid solution developed by Kerlink, is intended for machine-to-machine (M2M) and Internet-of-Things service operators aiming to operate an independent network. The product uses Semtech’s Long Range technology, with 3G and Ethernet connectivity. The Long-Range IoT Station is installed at a high point (water tower, etc.) to establish two-way communications with thousands of smart objects (meters or connected objects) over distances of up to several kilometres. The station greatly simplifies network implementation and end-to-end operation, reduces infrastructure costs (no repeaters) and is compatible with existing protocols (WMBUS, 6lowPan, etc.).

CIAC INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES, a specialist of IT and Energy technologies is behind the development of the GO-IDEMS™ its open Smart Grids system, compliant with the French regulator (CRE) recommendations and based on the non-proprietary and multi-meter OSGP (ETSI) standard.

In its innovative system, electric meters act as gateways for other smart meters (gas, water, thermal) making possible a bi-directional data flow only through PLC thanks to a field proven technology used in 40 million customers in Europe and America. The success of the system after three years of experimental operation in the pilot sites operated by GAZELEC in Péronne (North of France) is showing: 100% reliability, precise metering, remote tariff changes and power-quality measurement, better control of non-technical losses.

Examples of solutions

Long-Range IoT Station – Kerlink

Multi-Utility System - CIAC International technologies

Qualisteo markets a proprietary energy consumption measurement and analytics system that helps lowering energy bills by as much as 40%. Local authorities, professionals and industrial companies are among Qualisteo’s customers. Qualisteo has participated in two collaborative projects: OpeNRJ created an Open Data community to display building energy consumption for six pilot organizations. Premio + is a city-wide energy services platform that makes use of digital data to better manage energy efficiency schemes. Qualisteo received the Smart Grids France prize and the European ACES award for innovation in 2013.

The Wattseeker solution by Qualisteo

30 31

The HOMES programme

The HOMES programme, standing for “optimised housing and buildings for better control of energy and services” (2008-2012) was led by Schneider Electric and involved 13 industrial and research partners (CEA, CIAT, CSTB, Delta Dore, EDF, Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble, Philips Lighting, Radiall, Schneider Electric, Somfy, STMicroelectronics, Watteco, Wieland Electric). Its objective was to devise operational solutions for large-scale applications, allowing all buildings – new and existing, residential and professional - to reach their best levels energy performance. The programme analysed, improved and tested simple active energy efficiency measures that are effective and economically sustainable and that could also potentially contribute to job creation. HOMES found that active energy efficiency measures would: yield between 20% and 60% savings on overall energy bills at a given site; have a payback time of between three and seven years in the commercial sector, and between five and 15 years in the residential sector; work in synergy with other energy efficiency measures, i.e. building envelope and equipment improvements.

watTgo Solutions WattGo develops high added value solutions for the measurement, monitoring and analysis of the residential electrical load curve. Three main axes are structuring Wattgo’s action: the real time disaggregation of the electrical load curve (several patents filed), no-sensor domestic power consumption simulation tools and « big & smart data » architecture enabling dynamic processing of large volumes of data from energy meters or connected objects. Wattgo’ research is based on a unique database of measurements of power consumption in 5 seconds after the panel that picks Powermetrix continuously for two years the consumption of a sample of 1,200 French households.

Innovative solutions for managing and monitoring energy consumption - Delta Dore

GRIDPocket Plateform

The goal of the TBH Alliance (for Tableau de Bord de l’Habitat) is to show how various In-Home Display (IHD) devices can save energy and help households manage their electricity consumption. For its work the alliance has constituted a representative panel of 3,200 households from around the country.

The project will draw up a comparative graph to visua-lize the savings potential of various display devices and support measures, and to determine which functionalities are most effective in terms of energy savings, for the main use cases. Among the display and accompanying mea-sures studied are: local display of consumption, website display, manual meter reading (MMR), automatic meter

reading (AMR), breakdown of consumption by use, and environmental coaching (customized advice, actions to raise awareness via online contests, etc.)

This research project is coordinated by Eco CO2, and the partners are CGI Business Consulting, Fludia (electricity consumption data collection and analysis), Archos (smart home solutions) and the Laboratoire des Usages en Technologies d’Information Numérique (LUTIN Userlab). It is also supported by the Investments for the Future programme administered by ADEME.

Tableau de Bord Habitat Alliance

French players are also focusing extensively on en-ergy efficiency in the residential sector. Their pro-ducts and services focus on a better management of the residential equipment park, a sector that is highly thermos-sensitive, with a high proportion of electric heating that leads to very strong electricity demand on cold days.

Apart from equipment looking to manage the hea-ting systems independently (e.g. thermostats to reduce consumption of heating devices), the smart home sector is developing rapidly. Schneider Elec-tric, Ijenko, Somfy, Legrand and Archos, among other companies, are active in the sector.

Dynamic tariffs or time-based tariffs were first introduced on the French market. The first hourly/seasonal tariffs were introduced by EDF in the 1970s, to adjust consu-mer demand to the production conditions of the French electricity system, strongly reliant on nuclear power. These dynamic tariffs are continuing their evolution today, thanks to the arrival of smart meters that will allow to further diversifying the existing residential rate structure. Accom-panying consumers in managing their consumptions is a major focus for many equipment manufacturers, in-home display providers and residential demand response aggregators. Both large companies and SMEs offer residential energy efficiency solutions, structured mainly around measurement, display and reporting devices, and advisory services.

In the residential sector

Leveraging its deep expertise in IP platforms and the use of innovative communicating objects, Ijenko, a company created in 2008, develops and markets a B2B platform offering residential energy demand and smart home equipment and services. This “Home & Energy Manage-ment” formula makes it possible to bring energy efficiency and remote services to individual users. The platform can be operated by different players (energy suppliers, tele-coms operators, etc.), enabling them to better manage the balance between production and energy consump-tion for home consumers.

Ijenko’s solution is innovative in two ways. From a tech-nological point of view, the platform makes it possible to control energy use very closely, appliance by appliance. In terms of organization, it establishes cooperation between «aware consumers» and an «operator ecosys-tem».

Ijenko is supported by the Investments for the Future programme and by the Fonds Ecotechnologies mutual investment fund, alongside shareholders I-Source, Bouygues Telecom Initiatives and Direct Energie.

Ijenko – Residential energy demand managementand smart home services platform

Examples of projects and solutions

The Smart Electric Lyon project is a large-scale Smart Grid experiment conducted by EDF (see box page 27). Delta Dore offers Smart Electric Lyon participants the possibility to test innovative energy management solutions that are compatible with the Linky smart meters, in association with new dynamics tariffs from EDF. Delta Dore provides participants with tools to monitor consumption so that they can lower their energy bills while maintaining comfort levels.

Calybox 2020 WT – © Delta Dore

© WattGo

GridPocket developed a white label software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform to provide residential customers with a private space for visualizing their energy consumption. Households are rewarded for responsible behaviour with EcoTroks™ energy efficiency points that can be exchanged for gifts. This gaming approach attracts consumers through a positive feedback relationship.

© GridPocket

The integration of more and more renewable generation, the steadily rising levels of peak demand, especially in the case of the highly thermos-sensitive French system, as well as a host of new electricity uses– all these factors are having a major impact on the need for flexibility in today’s electricity grids. Demand Response, which va-luates consumers ‘ willingness to curtail or increase their consumption according to grid/market conditions, in res-ponse to different incentives, provides a way to manage grid constraints, and an alternative to adding conventio-nal capacities and infrastructures.

French players are active in the field, both nationally and internationally, valuating demand response capacities both in the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as at residential level, be it on deregulated markets, partially deregulated markets or vertically integrated markets. De-mand response solutions are offered by a broad range of companies: load control equipment manufacturers, aggregators (pooling resources and ensuring monetiza-tion), utility solution providers, etc.

French aggregators, who offer demand response solu-tions by pooling the flexibilities of a number of individual sites, are among the leading actors in Europe in terms of commercial and industrial (C&I) capacity.

These aggregators operate flexibility pools that total se-veral thousands of MW of capacity, and their business models are adaptable to a multitude of valuation sche-mes and conditions (ability to offer the capacity on a very short notice, long notice, etc.)

For instance, Energy Pool is currently the biggest aggrega-tor in Europe, in terms of available capacity. This French company manages more than 1,500 MW of flexible demand, primarily from industrial and commercial sector customers. Energy Pool is also present on international

markets, with projects in Belgium, Japan and the United Kingdom, among others. This capability to operate on several distinct markets is emblematic of the capacity of French actors to adapt to different frameworks for valua-ting demand flexibility, and to propose products that are specifically tailored and competitive on these markets. Other major players in this sector are Actility, Smart Grid Energy, Alstom and EDF. The latter has been using flexi-bility from large consumers for over 15 years for internal park balancing needs. French experience with demand response is also visible in terms of market design exper-tise, presented later on in this document. Several demons-tration projects are also underway. The RéFlexE and EnR Pool projects are particularly interesting examples (see page 12).

French companies, and RTE in particular, are highly competent in the field of market design, as shown by recent developments in the structure of the French market. Mechanisms for generating value from distributed flexi-bility, and above all from interruptible customers, have expanded in recent years. Today consumers contribute directly to the stability of the electricity system, by moneti-zing their assets in ancillary service structures, in particular the tertiary reserve service with its rapid and complemen-tary reserve services and with the Balancing Mechanism.

Consumers can also generate a profit from their interrup-tible demand directly on wholesale markets, using the Notifications d’Echanges de Blocs d’Effacement (NEBEF) mechanism. The creation of these mechanisms follows a proven pathway: assessment of economic potential, consultation with stakeholders and regulatory revision, implementation and follow-up of mechanisms. RTE Inter-national, subsidiary of RTE, provides market design assis-tance to international operators.

5.3.3 Demand response – significant potential for flexible capacity

Demand response in the commercial and industrial sectors

Market architecture and design

The Actility business model is built on the valuation of decentralized demand flexibility, according to the status of the electricity grid. The Actility optimization engine allows the valuation of both upward capa-city (demand curtailment) and downward capacity (increase in demand allowing an absorption of excess generation). This value proposition is particularly well adapted to the sectors where load modelling is essen-tial for maximizing demand response revenue while ensuring security of supply and continuity of activities. In the water treatment sector, for example, modulating the consumption of the air circulation system without impacting the overall process is entirely feasible.

The Actility service proposition is based on real time optimization of consumers’ processes, according to the market conditions, in order to ensure curtailment revenue maximization. The aggregator uses com-plex consumption modeling tools in order to deter-mine an optimal operational schedule, allowing the best valuation of both upward and downward flexi-bility according to market conditions.

Actility currently valuates flexible capacities in France and is developing its activities in other Euro-pean countries. Belgium is the most recent market in which the company is now active.

The e-terraDRBizNet platform is a standards-based Demand Response Management System (DRMS) designed to be independent of the selected smart metering and load management infrastructure (e.g. intelligent thermostats, consumption management systems, etc.). The platform handles all aspects of managing a demand response programme: setting up the program, tracking and marketing assets, re-cruiting consumers, managing equipment, activation, monitoring and follow-up of performance in real time, measurement and verification of performance, and all types of reporting.

The e-terraDRBizNet solution has already demons-trated the scope of its performance, notably in the PJM Interconnection market, the largest demand res-ponse market in the world, as well as in other mar-kets with different regulatory frameworks. Overall, nearly 10 GW of Demand Response services are managed on close to 30 different markets, whether they be fully deregulated, vertically integrated, or partially deregulated like the California ISO.

Energy Pool’s experience in creating value from managing Demand Response has attracted atten-tion internationally, in particular in regulatory fra-meworks where the demand response environment remains to be developed. Energy Pool is working on a project to develop these practices in Japan, aimed at assessing the potential for Demand Res-ponse of consumption in Japanese industrial com-panies, and introducing Japanese utility compa-nies to demand response. Working from its control centres in Chambéry and Tokyo, Energy Pool has curtailed several tens of MW of industrial energy demand since February 2014, just three months after starting up its demonstrator project.

The project follows up on the desire of the Ja-panese Ministry of Economics, Trade and Industry (METI) to develop demand response as a way to shave peak consumption, in the extremely tight energy supply situation caused by the shutdown of all nuclear power plants in Japan. The final project objective is to test a number of electrici-ty grid services made possible by curtailment of 50 MW of industrial demand, which is equivalent to the consumption of a city with a population of 200,000.

Actility – making the most of electricity use by reacting to grid conditions

Alstom’ s e-terraDRBiznet – a DRMS used in 30 countries, to manage nearly 10 GW under different Demand Response programmes

Energy Pool in Japan

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Examples of offers

IssyGrid

IssyGrid was the first energy optimization pilot project established at a neighbourhood scale in France. The project is structured around three areas of activity:

• measuring all energy consumption (office buildings, housing, businesses, public facilities),

• development of on-site renewable energy production and electricity storage,

• decentralized grid management and local supply/demand balancing.

Issues pertaining to recharging electric vehicles and to managing public lighting are also studied in the framework of this project. Residential energy use will also be targeted: one objective is to test residential load monitoring and control infrastructures based on the Ijenko energy control box and the Linky smart meter.

Issy Grid was set up at the initiative of the city of Issy-les-Moulineaux and property developer Bouygues Immobilier, with a number of partners competent in a range of strategic and technical domains: Bouygues Immobilier, Alstom, Bouygues Telecom, Bouygues Energies & Services, EDF, ERDF, Microsoft, Schneider Electric, Steria, Total.

The Modelec project is designed to curtail electricity use in households across several geographic zones that are equipped with measurement and control devices fur-nished by Ijenko (local control box, plugs, sensors).

Consumer behaviour in different Demand Response situa-tions is studied via a platform created specifically for the project. The platform will also contribute to determining the technical and economic conditions guaranteeing consumer participation. It also offers consumers a number of services related to energy efficiency. In the two years in which the pro-ject has been active, more than 22,000 curtailment actions

have been conducted to the over 500 testers equipped un-der the Modelec project. The feedback from the experience stands to show that consumers are generally favourable to Demand response.

This project is coordinated by Direct Energie, leading a consortium composed of Ijenko (management platform), GES (local distribution company) and the Centre d’Etude sur l’Actuel et le Quotidien (sociological studies). Modelec was supported by the Investments for the Future programme administered by ADEME.

The first Smart Grid deployed on the scale of an econo-mic activity zone (ZAE), Smart ZAE is a pilot site located on 1.5 hectare where 230 people work, in the city of Toulouse. The site, which is now known as the Smart Grid Experience, is equipped with 300 kWp of photovoltaic capacity and 60 kW of wind energy, the two providing up to 50% of the electricity consumption of the site. This project also boasts three major technological innovations:

• power storage facilities: a 100 kWh magnetic suspension flywheel installation, developed by Levisys, and 100 kWh of battery storage;

• direct current links between generating units and storage facilities to avoid energy losses;

• high yield energy converters.

Smart ZAE aims to demonstrate that the energy perfor-mance of an industrial estate can be improved and elec-tricity consumption optimized, using renewable energy resources coupled with storage capacity and a smart energy management system. In addition, the industrial estate can thus provide ancillary services to the grid.

Smart ZAE is coordinated by Ineo Scle Sfe, a unit of Cofely Ineo, Groupe GDF SUEZ with a consortium composed of the Laboratoire Plasma et Conversion d’Energie (LAPLACE), Levisys and CIRTEM. Smart ZAE is supported by the Investments for the Future programme managed by ADEME.

Edelia, a fully owned subsidiary of the EDF Group, is a developer of energy management solutions for residen-tial electricity consumers. The company offers a range of innovative services, including:

• the metering and displaying of household elec-tricity consumptions, along with the provision of advice on how these consumptions may be optimized

• the remote curtailment of domestic appliances.

In the field of demand response, Edelia ensures the exploitation and the monetization of flexible capacity,

via an Energy Box (developed by Edelia) that auto-matically adjusts the consumption of electric heating and hot water systems. This flexibility is used to provide solutions to various constraints, for example ensuring the security of supply in Brittany, under the “Bretagne d’Avance” project. Edelia provides its devices (manu-factured by the French company Sagemcom) to end users, but also to residential property managers which are capable of implementing a demand response pro-gramme covering multiple housing units.

With a resource base made up of 100,000 households, Voltalis is the top ranking residential demand response operator in Europe. Voltalis ag-gregates a large volume of individual curtailment capacities distributed over a very large number of sites, using powerful algorithms and its pro-prietary technology developed in France. Curtail-ments are planned exclusively by Voltalis in a fully independent manner vis-à-vis suppliers, and are transparent for consumers, who receive, free of charge, a tool that monitors energy consumption in detail and in real time. Voltalis draws its earnings

from the sale of demand side flexibility in various energy markets (Epex, the tertiary reserve market administered by RTE, capacity reserves, etc.).

With several hundred megawatts of capacity in its portfolio, hundreds of millions of curtailment signals sent out, and six years of operations to its credit, Voltalis has a wealth of experience that is unique in Europe. This experience puts France at the forefront of this new business activity, an area that must see significant development in the coming years, as cal-led for by a European Union directive.

Residential demand response has a lot of po-tential, and is becoming more of a priority in countries where there is a strong need for flexibi-lity, especially from demand resources, in addi-tion to that provided by commercial and indus-trial consumers. Residential demand response is less widespread than commercial and industrial demand response, because of the technical as-pects of managing a very large number of relati-vely small loads, and the inherent complexity of monetizing the resulting capacities.

French players are already working on these technical and commercial challenges with bu-siness models that address the issues of genera-ting profit from available capacity, and technical infrastructure. The French market for residential demand response shows the largest potential of all European countries. Several models have been developed for creating value from these residential flexibilities, by energy suppliers EDF (Edelia), by Direct Energie (Modelec project) or by Voltalis. Actility is also present in this market via its residential services platform, including energy services.

Developing electricity storage is crucial to the evolu-tion of electrical grids. In addition to the significant thermal storage capacities of remotely controlled hot water heaters (see box page 9), France benefits from roughly 4.5 GW of electricity storage capacity via pumped power storage plants. In the medium and long term new storage capacity is needed to facili-tate integration of intermittent renewable generation and in general to contribute to ensuring the supply-demand balance. Storage capacity will have to complement other flexibility options, such as demand response. Guided by the future need for storage solutions, French players are actively addressing the field, through demonstrators and applications to de-ploy both grid scale and behind the meter storage.

Several demonstrators already make use of storage to improve distribution grid operations: Nice Grid (see box page 7), Venteea (see box page 15), Smart ZAE (see below). In these projects storage technolo-gies are used primarily as a means of absorbing the intermittence of some forms of renewable generation.

Energy storage also plays an important role in impro-ving the quality of electricity supply in island grids. In this domain the work by EDF Systèmes Electriques Insulaires (SEI) is an industry reference, especially in terms of storage use for improving system economics and the security of electricity supply in remote grids. Several different storage systems are deployed, both at grid scale and behind the meter, for example in the Millener project (see box page 17).

Electrochemical storage, a more mature technology, is receiving significant attention from French players. One indication of this is the market for self-consump-tion systems that combine solar power units with low-capacity electrochemical storage, to make better use of the solar resource. Storage solutions manufactu-rer SAFT is particularly active in this area, working in Germany where the self-production market is growing.

Residential demand response

Developing storage at all levels of the grid

5.4 Addressing current technological challenges

Modelec – Optimizing management of residential energy uses

Smart ZAE – Helping a Business Park improve its energy management

Edelia – residential flexibility management by EDF

Voltalis – the first independent residential demand response aggregator in Europe

Smart Grid Experience – © Cofely Ineo Yorrick Canet

34 35

Examples of projects and offers

Saft was a precursor in energy storage solutions, and as a supplier of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries is a major actor in a number of Smart Grid pro-jects in France, including Nice Grid, Millener and Venteea.

In association with photovoltaic panels, the Saft Li-ion battery maximizes the customer’s self-produc-tion, and more broadly electricity generation and consumption, by making it possible to sell excess production at the best time. This option, behind the meter, is feasible for residential use in housing, as well as in industrial and commercial buildings. Demonstrators test the integration of these indivi-dual systems with Smart Grids; using advanced communication techniques batteries are charged and discharged as a function of grid constraints, avoiding spikes due to solar input, and consump-tion peaks.

Saft batteries can also be directly connected to the electricity grid, for peak load shaving and frequen-cy regulation, enabling operators to maintain grid stability. When directly coupled to photovoltaic or wind energy units, Saft’s container storage systems help stabilize the power output injected into the grid, as well as boosting production capacity.

The battery systems developed by Saft use ad-vanced Li-ion technology, ensuring highly efficient and flexible energy storage that can sustain the very deep charge/discharge cycles of renewable energy, for a working life span of up to 20 years.

The electric mobility sector is expanding rapidly: vehi-cle makers, battery manufacturers and suppliers of in-frastructure and related services are actively involved in developing the market.

Electric vehicles are both an asset for the electricity system, and a challenge to grid stability and grid economics. French players are working to increase the use of electric vehicles in the best possible condi-tions for electricity grid operation.

With respect to grid security, electric vehicle inte-gration makes use of intelligent recharging tech-nology and roaming access to charging stations. Experiments are also being conducted with more ambitious technologies such as vehicle-to-home, that uses vehicle battery storage capacity to lower residential demand on the grid, and vehicle-to-grid, that uses the same stored energy to provide ancillary services to the grid.

Managing the development of electric vehicles

SAFT – Grid-scale energy storage

ECO2 CHARGE – reducing the impact of electric vehicles on the grid

Recharging an ERDF electric vehicle – © Olivier Guerrin – PWP

Smart Grid experience – © Cofely Ineo Arnaud Février

36 37

ExAmples OF projects

Building on the Smart ZAE project, FLYPROD is studying the economic and industrial viability of optimized produc-tion of flywheel energy storage systems. Coordinated by the Levysis company, FLYPROD has three objectives:

• Increase the capacity of flywheels (from 10 to 40 kW)

• Develop and build a pilot production line (100 flywheels a year)

• Build an industrial site dedicated to optimized manufacturing of flywheels.

Flyprod is supported by the Investments for the Future pro-gramme managed by ADEME.

FLYPROD – Levisys is advancing flywheel energy storage

Test bench - flywheel

The ECO2 CHARGE project aims to accelerate the deployment of charging stations for electric vehicles, while holding down infrastructure costs and minimizing the impact of electric vehicle char-ging on demand on the electricity grid. It also has a major focus on the quality of user services. The project aims to:

• Secure efficiency in power distribution by pursuing installation of charging points and controlling power output at each electric charging point according to vehicle battery charge, users’ requirements and energy available at the site;

• Develop local energy storage by reusing EV batteries that have been retired from vehicle service (capacity from used batteries);

• Manage site energy, taking into account building energy needs, local renewable energy supply, temporary storage in pre-viously used batteries, and interaction with power markets;

• Provide information, booking and billing services to users.

The project is operated at two major commercial sites in the area of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. The project consortium includes Nexans, Actility, CEA, Renault, Alstom and Embix, under the coordination of Bou-ygues Energies & Services. ECO2 CHARGE is sup-ported by the Investments for the Future programme managed by ADEME.

The road to smart electricity grids is clearly outlined: the grid is already intelligent and will become more so, especially by building on the numerous accomplishments and on the French assets, including world leaders in these technology sectors. Together with the main players in this field, including innovative SMEs and start-ups, large industrial groups, regulatory authorities, academia, and of course grid operators, our objective is to consolidate this promising sector which is now united under a single banner representing electrical system intelligence - the internationally recognized term Smart Grids France.

Dominique Maillard, Smart Electricity Grids project leader in the framework of the New Industrial France initiative

The professional body «Smart Grids France» is an international gateway to access French offer in the field of Smart Grids. The association gathers the French Smart Grid industries which comprises world leaders in the fields of electrotechnics, auto-mation, telecommunication facilities, information systems, market model and regulation. French

expertise is also based on national grid opera-tors but also on Start ups, innovative SME’s, clus-ters, well known universities and research centers. Those players have strong expertise throughout the whole value chain and propose an integrated offer in France and internationally, in the field of Smart Grids.

Developing solutions for tomorrow6

The French government has been actively involved in the development of a national Smart Grid sector for several years. Different State services, public bodies and administrative authorities, the Ministry for Industry, the Ministry in charge of energy, the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME) and the Energy Regulatory Com-mission (CRE) have been mobilized, to work on updating the legal framework for smart electricity grids and to develop a range of mechanisms desi-gned to reinforce the French ecosystem and ove-rall innovation in the field.

Following the implementation of a sectorial policy, the State, working closely with all stakeholders, has taken a strong involvement in the activities of the strategic committee for eco-industries, COSEI (Comité stratégique de filière des éco-industries). Environmental professionals, trade unions and pu-blic authorities are all represented in COSEI. The committee’s role is to strengthen solidarity between businesses, develop relationships between large corporations and SMEs, foster conditions for in-creased competitiveness and achieve reciprocal agreements between stakeholders in these indus-tries, and the French State.

Smart Electricity Grids is also one of the 34 indus-trial priority plans launched in September 2013 in the framework of the New Industrial France ini-tiative led by the Ministry for Industry, the aim of which is to elaborate integrated and competitive French industrial offers. The working goals defined under this plan are:

• Create a national French Smart Grid Team in the near future, based on a quality label and an operational structure to federate stakehol-ders;

• In the medium term set up demonstrators for targeted deployment of Smart Grid solutions in a given geographic area;

• Over the long term and looking ahead to 2020, increase the competitiveness of French Smart Grid industries by fine-tuning the R&D strategy, by fostering the emergence of solu-tions devised by small companies and start-ups via an Open Innovation platform, and by ensuring integration by operators and support for the value chain.

The high level of competence that French players exhibit today on all the functional levels of the Smart Grid value chain are, amongst other things, a result of the strong implication and support of French public authorities, especially in terms of backing innovation and contributing to the emergence of a national Smart Grid sector. Action by public authorities is conducted in partnership with private sector companies, in particular through professional organiza-tions that are active in the Smart Grid sector.

A Strong public involvement for smart grid industries

Think Smart-GRIDS - French solutions for smart Grids

39

ERDF showroom, Paris Grenelle: electric vehicle charging in the electric mobility display – © Laurent Vautrin - PWP

Charging of an electric utility vehicle – © Arnaud Bouissou MEDDE-MLETR

In order to develop electric vehicles two major battery charging issues must be addressed, i.e. charging durations, and energy management rela-ted to the charging infrastructures. VELCRI aims to propose an end-to-end solid technical solution that is robust and affordable. The system comprises lithium-ion batteries with adapted external connec-tivity, an integrated charger capable of rapid charging - 15 minutes in «station» mode and 30 minutes in «parking» mode - an electric/thermal battery management system, an energy manager, a home charging mechanism (through the user’s

retailer) and a communication system to the char-ging point. Three vehicles will be available for testing at two VELCRI demonstration platforms: a rapid charging station operated by Schneider Electric in Grenoble, and a two-way charging sta-tion operated by the CEA in Chambéry.

VELCRI is led by Renault, in partnership with Schnei-der Electric, JC-Saft, EDF, VALEO, Radiall, CEA-Ines, CNRS-Pprime, Institut Telecom, Eurecom and Apojée. VELCRI is supported by the Investments for the Future programme managed by ADEME.

In recent years electric vehicle charging infrastruc-tures have been designed essentially on a national scale. It is now important to prove that borders are not a significant obstacle to the introduction of electric mobility in Europe. Interoperability, security and cost management are the keys to success.

In this context, CROME builds on the experience of existing demonstration projects near the French-German border, to build a cross-border experiment focusing on modernized charging infrastructures and developing new customer services. The joint

Franco-German experiment aims to create an inte-roperable European electric vehicle platform, and test different types of electric vehicles from various manufacturers.

CROME is coordinated by EDF, with partners PSA Peugeot Citroen, Renault, Schneider Electric and the French institute of science and technology for trans-port, development and networks (IFSTTAR). CROME is funded under the Investments for the Future pro-gramme managed by ADEME.

VELCRI – Electric vehicle with integrated fast-charge

CROME – A Franco-German demonstration of interoperable cross-border charging infrastructures for electric mobility

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Private-sector actors

Gimélec is the major French trade association for elec-trical equipment, automation and related services, representing 200 companies that provide electrical and automation solutions for industry, the building sector, data centres and infrastructure. Gimélec member companies employ 69,000 people in France, and generate sales

of over €12 billion, 57% of which outside of France. Their products, equipment, systems and services focus on the essential functionalities of grid security and grid automa-tion, active building management, process productivity and security, power supply continuity and stability, etc.

Concept Grid is a full-scale smart distribution grid covering 3 hectares at the EDF R&D site in Renar-dières (Seine et Marne, Île-de-France). It is equip-ped with innovative testing devices installed speci-fically to work on new grid features. The Concept Grid is also connected to other test laboratories at the same site, for study of a broad range of issues. The Concept Grid distribution network comprises 3 km of medium voltage lines (20 kV) that feed a 7 km low voltage grid. The characteristics of a larger distribution grid are simulated virtually using complementary electrical equipment, including RLC (Resistance Inductance Capacitance) cells, an amplifier and a simulator.

Concept Grid provides a means for research and integration work drawing on the competence and expertise of EDF R&D teams. With the support of long-term partnerships as well as cooperative relationships of shorter duration, Concept Grid is slated to become a privileged meeting point for various actors: academia, laboratories, grid ope-rators, equipment suppliers and retailers.

Modernizing the electricity system so that it can handle greater variability in supply and demand; improving the quality of supply through greater grid investment; generate more value from new services, for end users as well as for other players throughout the system – EDF researchers are hard at work to meet these challenges, highlighting the new frontier for tomorrow’s energy landscape: the energy efficiency frontier.

Bernard Salha Executive Senior VP EDF Group Corporate/ CEO of EDF R&D

Some 20 innovative Smart Grid projects are currently underway in France, in the framework of the Investments for the Future programme administered by ADEME. These projects are testimonials to the dynamic activities of French companies, with several dominant features:

• They are strongly rooted from a territorial point of view, which allows responding closely to the needs of consumers, industries and local authorities;

• They cover a very broad range of innovation across the Smart Grid value chain, making electricity systems more intelligent, facilitating grid integration of renewable energy, improving energy management and testing new business models in the field;

• Lastly, they are built on partnerships that bring together large corporate groups, SMEs, research bodies, academia and local authorities.

These demonstrators structure the French Smart Grid landscape and put France at the forefront, among leading countries in this sector.

François Moisan, Executive Director for Strategy, Research and International Affairs, ADEME

French competitiveness clusters are catalysts for cooperation between companies, technical centres, research organizations, academia, and public bodies. A total of 71 such clusters have been created in all sectors in France since the year 2000. The Interministerial Unique Funds (Fonds Unique Interministeriel, FUI) is dedicated to fun-ding collaborative projects labelled by the compe-titiveness clusters.

Ten clusters focus specifically on the Smart Grid sector, and pool their expertise to draw up a coor-dinated strategy for the development of Smart Grids and Smart Cities, in France and abroad. Those clusters, Advancity, Alsace Energivie, Ca-penergies, Derbi, Images & Réseaux, Minalogic, S2E2, SCS, Systematic and Tenerrdis have signed a partnership charter agreement, constituting a group with a national scope showing cross-secto-ral competencies in the field of Smart Grids, under the name of Smart Grids France.

The result of the merger of four trade organizations in the electrical construction sector (Domergie, Gimes, Gisel and Sycacel), IGNES focuses on defining and promo-ting a unified infrastructure for energy, security and digital devices dedicated to residential and professional buil-

dings. The federation represents 60 industrial groups of all sizes, based in France and throughout Europe. These companies design, manufacture and market energy and digital automation infrastructures for all sorts of residential, commercial and institutional buildings.

GIMELEC – industrial companies working to develop the Smart Energy sector

Concept Grid – a top-level platform to accompany research in electrical systems

Competitiveness clusters

Public institutions

IGNES – the Digital Engineering, Energy and Security Industries

The French State is actively engaged in supporting Smart Grid R&D and demonstration projects, through several funding programmes. The largest of this is the Investments for the Future programme. In the framework of a natio-nal loan scheme aiming to encourage innovation and investment in France, the Government tasked the ADEME with the administration of a specific program supporting the implementation of Smart Grid demonstration projects. These demonstration projects are intended to ensure pre-industrial testing of innovative technologies. The demons-trators allow companies to assume the technological and financial risks of the development phase, before the industrialisation of new technological applications.

The ADEME elaborates forward-looking roadmaps, strategic exercises carried out with contributions from outside experts, to define a shared vision of techno-logy deployment, taking societal, regulatory and economic constraints and stakes into account. These roadmaps outline research priorities and demonstra-tor needs, and eventually the need for national testing centres. Roadmaps results are used to develop calls for expression of interest, through which ADEME defines project scopes and selection criteria.

Upstream of demonstration projects, the National Research Agency (ANR) also finances research, via calls for projects in the field of Smart Grids. Actors in the private sector are also involved in

R&D, especially focusing on the development of Smart Grid technologies and practices. EDF and its R&D division are a good example of such an involvement.

Increased support for R&D and demonstration projects

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Business France is the national agency supporting the international development of the French eco-nomy, responsible for fostering export growth by French businesses, as well as promoting and faci-litating international investment in France. It pro-motes France’s companies, business image and nationwide attractiveness as an investment loca-

tion, and also runs the VIE international internship program. Founded on January 1, 2015 through a merger between UBIFRANCE and the Invest in France Agency, Business France has 1,500 personnel, both in France and in 70 countries throughout the world, who work with a network of public- and private-sector partners.

Business France

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For several years French actors in the Smart Grid field have been working to build a highly reliable system, especially so in terms of availability. This level of security of supply is the result of a series of carefully mastered complex technology roll-outs, on a vast scale: that of the French grid. The fact that this high level of performance is achieved in a context of an excellent cost/benefit ratio is further proof of the competence of French organizations in terms of planning, investment optimization and asset management.

To ensure the economic competitiveness of the electricity system, the actors of the French Smart Grid are keen on making extensive use of decentralized flexibilities including distributed generating capacity, demand response and electricity storage, at different levels of the grid. French players master these flexibility sources, both from a technical point of view, and from a market integration and valuation point of view, relying extensively on their substantial expertise in market design and management.

The French electricity system has already seen successful deployments of smart technology on a massive scale, and at several levels (particularly, in terms of the automation of the medium and high voltage grids). These large-scale deployments have been accomplished through coordinated action on the part of public and private-sector actors, which is one of the major elements contributing to their success.

This collaborative model and the experience acquired by French players in the course of these large-scale deployments are greatly appreciated by a number of international organizations. Today the French grid operators ERDF and RTE (via its subsidiary RTE International) are actively exporting their skills, accompanying operators in other countries as they upgrade their grids, relying in particular on Smart Grid technologies.

The current level of investment and the market dynamics in terms of availability of Smart Grid offers make the French grid one of the most stable and reliable in the world. Continued improvement in the quality of supply is an ongoing priority, for grid operators, regulatory authorities and public actors. Suppliers of technical solutions have the capacity to follow and support this objective, ensuring that grid reliability and availability should continue to progress in coming years.

The French system is also exceptionally well designed from a maintainability point of view. The main sectorial organizations are positioning themselves to contribute to lowering maintenance and repair costs. Several demonstrators and technology deployments have been initiated to ensure better monitoring of the transmission and distribution grids, and adapt them to the challenges of the energy transition.

The French grid has a high degree of dependability and operational security, and this quality is expected to continue to rise with the development of Smart Grid technologies and services.

The French electricity system has characteristic features, i.e. its energy mix, the nature of its transmission and distribution grids, and the consumption profile, that of a highly thermos-sensitive system due to the prevalence of electric heating in particularly in the housing park. For over 30 years the organizations active on the French system have worked to manage this high level of complexity, across the entire electricity supply

value chain, addressing it both at the technical level and at the organisational one.

In carrying out their activities, these Smart Grid players have to handle complex deployment situations, at various levels, notably, for example, in keeping with their determination to manage peak load in a coordinated fashion.

The French Smart Grid vision revolves around a series of competitive advantages that have been developed since the 1970s. Today the stakeholders in this field are driving the transition towards smarter grids, while ensuring a high level of security, favourable business case and overall positive externalities for society.

CONCLUSION:The French Smart Grid vision

The French vision for Smart GridsDEPENDABILITY – WHAT’S INVOLVED?

LARGE SCALE DEPLOYMENT

Ability to manage the deployment at the scale of the French territory

for Smart meters, for control systems…

MASTERING COMPLEXITY

Ability to control the deployment of complex systems, at every level

of the electric grid.

HIGH LEVEL OF DEPENDABILITY

Development of reliable and maintainable electric systems, with high levels of security

and high rate of availability.

Mastering large-scale deployments

The result – a system with a high degree of dependability

Mastering complexity

Reliability: Reliable grid, with a high level of performance

Maintainability: Economically viable maintenance through the transition to self-healing networks

Availability: High availability factor, for both generating capacity and the grid as a whole

Security: Reduced exposure to all types of risks, in particular black-outs. Sustainability.

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© Laurent Caillierez/ADEMESmart Grid Experience – © Cofely Ineo Arnaud Février

© Arnaud Bouisson MEDDE-MLETR © Arnaud Bouisson MEDDE-MLETR © Laurent Mignaux MEDDE-MLETR © Sylvain Gignet MEDDE-MLETR

Source : Coda Stratégies

About ADEME

The French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME) is a public agency under the joint authority of the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy, and the Ministry for Higher Education and Research. The agency is active in the implementation of public policy in the areas of the environment, energy and sustainable development.

ADEME provides expertise and advisory services to businesses, local authorities and communities, government bodies and the public at large, to enable them to establish and consolidate their environmental action. As part of this work the agency helps finance projects, from research to implementation, in the areas of waste management, soil conservation, energy efficiency and renewable energy, air quality and noise abatement.

www.ademe.fr

French Environment &Energy Management Agency

PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS

Ministry for Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy www.developpement-durable.gouv.fr

Ministry for the Economy, Industry and Digital Affairs www.economie.gouv.fr

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development www.diplomatie.gouv.fr

ADEME - French environment and energy management agency www.ademe.fr

Club ADEME International www.clubinternational.ademe.fr

Business France www.businessfrance.fr

AFD - French Agency for Development www.afd.fr

ANCRE - French National Alliance for Energy Research Coordination www.allianceenergie.fr

CRE – Commission de régulation de l’énergie (French Energy Regulatory Commission) www.cre.fr

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CONTACTs

PROFESSIONAL BODIES AND SOLUTION PROVIDERS

Think Smart Grids - French solutions for Smart Grids www.thinksmartgrids.fr

GIMELEC - Industrial companies in the service of smart energy www.gimelec.fr

IGNES - The Digital Engineering, Energy, and Security Industries www.ignes.fr

Clusters

Smart Grids France www.smartgridsfrance.fr

The union of 10 competitiveness clusters specialized in Smart Grids and IT:

RTE www.rte-france.com

ERDF www.erdf.fr