The four European associations representing electricity distribution system operators: the European Federation of Local Energy Companies (CEDEC), the European Distribution System Operators' Association for Smart Grids (EDSO), the association of the electricity industry in Europe - EURELECTRIC and the local energy distributors network GEODE, in addition to ENTSO-E, representing the transmission system operators, have produced a joint report on how to manage data and information exchanges between system operators.

The five associations teamed up to share their views and set out how rules on data management and exchanges represent a precondition for deploying smart grids and unleashing the full potential of the demand side of the electricity system.

EDSO said in a statement that, with more variable generation and distributed loads, the EU electricity system was being operated close to its limits. It said that solutions could be found in more flexibility. “With more customer participation and more decentralised generation, flexibility providers connected to the distribution grid are significantly and continuously increasing,” the statement said.

Consequently, the management and exchange of information and data between the transmission system operators (TSOs), responsible for balancing supply and demand, and the distribution system operators (DSOs), responsible for the system’s security of supply and quality of service, is fundamental to integrating the new forms of demand and supply.

The joint TSO/DSO data management report aims to stir the debate, amongst aggregators, retailers, utilities, traders, new service providers, policy-makers and networks. The report delivers eight recommendations:

• Data exchange has to support the efficient functioning of the market;
• The focus should be on services needed rather than on platforms;
• Third parties should be able to access grid data to perform their activities;
• Party or parties responsible for data management should be neutral to all market players;
• Standardisation and interoperability of data exchange is needed, first at national and then at EU level;
• Flexibility should be used where it maximises social welfare without putting system security at risk;
• Avoid harmful interference between congestion management (mainly at distribution level) and balancing (at transmission level);
• TSOs need to access data of customers connected to the distribution grid – directly or indirectly – if they become flexibility providers to the TSO.