What is the Grid Action Plan?
2023 was the year of the “Grid momentum”, which welcomed initiatives and declarations at the European level acknowledging the relevance of grids in reaching the energy and climate targets.
During the 4th PCI Energy Days held in Brussels on 28-29 November, the European Commission presented its Communication “Grids, the missing link – An EU Action Plan for grids” that described grids as cornerstone for the energy transition and, especially, highlighted the key-role of Distribution System Operators in the new decentralised energy system.
The non-legislative Communication:
- Identified and addressed seven core challenges faced by grids in delivering on the net-zero targets such as financing/funding of high investments needs, the regulatory framework or long lead times in permitting or supply chains
- Proposed 14 action points to support grids over the next 18 months, engaging institutional key-stakeholders
- Assigned DSO Entity with the delivery of seven out of the 14 action points, mostly together with ENTSO-E
To simplify the contents of the Grid Action Plan, the 14 action points can be divided into five thematic clusters which show where the core intention of the Grid Action Plan lays (see depiction below).
- What is the role of DSO Entity regarding the implementation?
As mentioned before, DSO Entity appears as a key-actor in the delivery of seven of the 14 action points, mostly together with ENTSO-E. However, when reading carefully through the Grid Action Plan several sub-tasks emerge out of the seven action points to be delivered by DSO Entity (see table below).
Through collaboration with other stakeholders and with the support of the European Commission, DSO Entity has already been actively working towards the implementation of the Grid Action Plan’s provisions throughout the last six months. The successful implementation of the action points will be a good start to tackle the challenges already addressed by DSO Entity’s members and highlighted in the paper “DSOs Fit for 55: Challenges, practices and lessons learnt on connecting renewables to the grid”
- How is DSO Entity working to implement the Grid Action Plan?
DSO Entity is already in action mode to ensure the coherent implementation of the Grid Action Plan. Each of the Action Points have been attributed to an existing Expert Group or Task Force, that will oversee its full delivery. In addition, DSO Entity welcomed in March 2024 the creation of a new Task Force Finance, Investment and Remuneration (TF FIN), created specifically to work on the Plan’s provisions related to funding, investments, and remuneration of DSOs.
The action points involving DSO Entity have been clustered in five chapters, to allow for a comprehensible overview .The timeline below gives a concise outline of all the individual actions that need to be delivered within each cluster and which Expert Group / Task Force within DSO Entity is responsible for the delivery. This timeline is work in progress and susceptible to additions and changes over the course of the next months.
- The GAP at a glance
