How Enedis is accelerating regional development in Hauts-de-France

In an exclusive interview during Enlit on the Road, Thierry Pagès of Enedis, explains their role in accelerating economic development in the region and how the role of a distribution system operator is rapidly changing in the energy transition.

Pagès highlighted three main goals Enedis is working towards in the Hauts-de-France region, namely: economic development, the decarbonisation of industry, transport and construction as well as the development of new uses of electricity.

When speaking of developing new uses of electricity, Pagès pointed to collective self-consumption, since 25% of such French projects are located in the Hauts-de-France region.

"Collective self-consumption means that people, consumers, and producers can share their energy within a short perimeter...that means developing a circular economy" he explains.

More from Enlit on the Road – Hauts-de-France:
Site visit: France’s first EV battery gigafactory
A region focused on an energy revolution
For Enedis collective self-consumption is key to energy sharing 

The changing role of a DSO

Pagès adds that the deployment of Linky smart meters and the accompanying data has accelerated in the evolution of the DSO as Enedis is now is also a service provider.

The biggest change in the role of the DSO, now and in the future, has come as the result of the integration of renewable energy

“We are at the heart of balancing production and consumption. This role was the role of RTE in the past," adds Pagès, who was previously the Regional Managing Director and is now the Purchasing Director for Enedis.

"We are going to integrate more than 25% of the production on the network, we will have a role in balancing production and consumption. We have a really good relationship between RTE and Enedis. This question of balancing, of the role of balancing production and consumption, is treated at the highest level of Enedis.

To learn more about Enedis’ plans to build 10 substations to face the acceleration of renewables development and re-industrialisation in Hauts-de-France, watch the video.