EU Projects Zone Podcast: How to deliver interoperability and flexibility for DSOs

In this episode of The EU Projects Zone Podcast, Areti Ntaradimou finds out more about the EUniversal project from Pedro Marques.

The core objective of EUniversal, an energy project funded by the European Union, is to develop a universal approach to the use of flexibility by DSOs and their interaction with new markets.

This approach will be enabled through the development of the concept of the Universal Market Enabling Interface or UMEI, a unique approach to foster interoperability across Europe.

But how possible is it to achieve interoperability at a pan European level or would it have to be localized? According to Pedro Marques, coordinator of the project, “It is possible if you keep it simple”.

And that is because the various European grids may have some peculiarities, “but the flexibility issue is not that different,” says Pedro. He adds: “Our aim is to reduce this barrier to introduce new stakeholders”.

“By proposing an open solution without imposing limits. So, the UMEI will become publicly available and it can be a basis for a direct interface between all these stakeholders allowing for future enrichment.”

Moreover, Pedro adds that one of the project’s many goals is “the integration of different market flexibility options”. After all, in a union of so many different states and grids, flexibility is where most stakeholders focus on.

Listen also to other episodes of The EU Project Zone Podcast:
FITGEN with Michele de Gennaro
GIFT with Igor Steiner
Project POLYPHEM with Alain Ferriere
Project MERLON with Antonis Papanikolaou

In the end, however, it all comes down to the consumer. “We should never forget the customers. The customers are the ones that will make the best decisions maximizing social welfare if they have the right tools at their disposal”, says EUniversal’s coordinator.

Listen to the full discussion and find out also why Pedro believes that Europe is a leading authority when it comes to smart grids and why artificial intelligence will eventually take the lead.

More about EUniversal:
Portugal’s EUniversal flexibility demo gets going