Hosts: Gerard Reid & Laurent Segalen
Guest: Antonio Cammisecra | Head of Global Infrastructure & Networks | ENEL
Category: ⚡ Renewable Energy
Podcast’s Essential Bites:
[3:07] “The fast penetration of renewables in the energy matrix of modern countries will impose an extraordinary evolution of the role and the technologies distribution grid. So from one side we will have to augment visibly […] the capability of the grid to receive more and more renewables. And on the other side, we will need to manage the power flows that […] are […] more intermittent.”
[4:25] “In the new energy systems […] of the next 10 to maximum 15 years, the number of power plants will multiply by a factor of 10. So, we will have much more power plants, much smaller, that naturally will be connected not to the transmission system, but to the distribution networks. […] Having so many new power plants, wind, solar, biomass, etc. it's implying the necessity for the grid to reinvent itself. […] It was a distribution infrastructure, it will become a marketplace somewhat.”
[5:31] “[Across the globe,] everything is going in the same direction. But of course, in different waves, and with different time spans. What we will observe in Europe in the next five years, will then be experimented in the largest metropolitan areas of South America. And then maybe five years later, so in the next 10 years, we will experience these evolutions in the rest of the South American grids.”
[6:13] “It's natural that regulation will have to change and I would say even quickly in order to not only follow, but actually to push the energy transition. […] Many observers, many analysts, many market players, many distributional grid operators […] say we want the regulatory stability. It's the number one item that typically come out of what is needed for a safe investment environment. I am totally in disagreement. We have to design an evolution of the rules in order to let these transitions happen in the fastest, safest, more affordable way for the final consumers. So we will have to [adapt to] the new role of flexibility and those need rules.”
[17:57] “[On] one side, having centralized systems helps you to protect the number of accesses, the way [cyberattacks] have access to it etc. On the other side, if you lose control of the centralized system, then you're done. You paralyze the entire grid. So it's a balance between the two things. You need to centralize it, but with the decentralization possibility.”
[18:50] “The energy transition will happen from […] generators […] becom[ing] cleaner and cleaner, more renewable […]. But also and mainly, if final consumers will decide to act wisely, sustainably, choosing decarbonized electricity as the main or sole source of energy. Our […] [is to] work well so that in any location, the electricity consumers can [make] their decision with peace of soul in mind. […] It's like telling our consumers to go and choose an electric car, because you will always have the availability to power, to refuel it, because this is on us. We are working to make the infrastructure reliable, completely safe for you to make your own sustainability choice. It's an exchange between the grid operator and the consumer that will decide the speed with which the [energy transition] will happen.”
Rating: ⚡⚡
🎙️ Full Episode: Apple | Spotify
🕰️ 24 min | 🗓️ 10/31/2021
✅ Time saved: 22 min
