Distribution : the forgotten constellation of the European power network

As part of the Ifri Energy Breakfast Roundtables series, a seminar with Valérie Le Peltier, Pôle Utilities Programme Smart Cities, Orange, Jean-Baptiste Galland, Director Strategy and Smart-Grids, ERDF Distribution, expert CEZ Distribution (to be confirmed)

Chaired by: Maïté Jauréguy-Naudin, Director of the Center for Energy, Ifri and Jacques Lesourne, President of the Scientific Committee of the Center for Energy, Ifri.

When debating the needs for more infrastructures as an answer to RES integration, political attention was mostly turned to transmission grids. The costs are however bore by distributors.
Distributors are in fact now in charge of connecting thousands of little PV producers to the grid, and they have to carry out the deployment of smart meters. In sum, they are in the heart of the overall conversion process of a system once based on consumers ("withdrawals") rather than producers ("injections").
The entire value chain is actually being challenged: consumers are now becoming producers as well and the interaction among actors-consumers, suppliers and distributors will be more complex as new activities, such as information management, could be managed by service companies. Smart meters, which should give access to realtime measures, will be pivotal to ensure the adequate transmission of information in this new system.
How can national and European legislation support this transformation? What are the costs and how these will be managed by Distribution System Operators? What will be the more transparent and effective way for all the actors involved in the value chain to interact? How should sensitive information be best managed in the process?