A Harmonized, Optimized, and Integrated European Flexibility Market: Powering Europe's Energy and Water Transformation
Sergio Lazzarotto, President and Executive Director of DLMS UA, reveals how interoperability, digitalisation, and data governance can drive Europe's next phase of energy and water transformation.
Europe is on the cusp of a significant energy and water transformation, and Sergio Lazzarotto, President and Executive Director of DLMS UA, is at the forefront of this revolution. In this article, we explore how smart data standards, interoperable grids, and digitalised water networks are paving the way for a more resilient and sustainable future.
Turning Ambition into Collaborative Action
The European energy sector is ambitious, but to turn these ambitions into collaborative action, the EU must move beyond fragmented national strategies. The Common European Energy Data Space (CEEDS) Initiative is a guiding light, fostering cross-border, scalable, and interoperable data governance systems.
Sector Coupling: Unlocking Synergies
The future energy system goes beyond electricity. It integrates electricity, heat, and gas, requiring infrastructure planning in unison. This sector coupling is a key aspect of Europe's energy transition.
Public-Private Partnerships: A Collective Effort
The energy transition is a collective responsibility. By bringing together utilities, regulators, hardware builders, and digital innovators, Europe can deploy energy systems at scale and ensure safety.
Standardization: The Foundation of Success
Standardization is the cornerstone of this transformation. DLMS/COSEM, IEC, and Common Information Model (CIM) standards are not just technical facilitators; they ensure long-term investment security, interoperability, and cross-border integration.
Competitive and Resilient Energy by 2030
To achieve competitive and resilient energy by 2030, Europe must focus on three key areas:
- Expanding Renewables: Rapidly and extensively deploying renewables while ensuring system stability and capacity solutions like storage, demand-side flexibility, and backup generation.
- Grid Digitalization: Investing in smart, digital grids and robust cross-border infrastructure to unlock the full potential of renewables.
- Markets for Flexibility and Resilience: Designing markets that incentivize distributed energy resources (DERs), flexibility providers, and resilience services, mirroring the historical rewards for generation capacity.
The Future Energy Mix: A Renewable Dominance
By 2030, Europe's energy mix will be predominantly renewable, with solar and wind as the primary contributors, followed by hydro and bioenergy. Nuclear power will remain important in some member states.
Learning from Other Industries
The energy sector can learn from the telecommunications industry's roaming and interoperability standards, enabling devices and customers to participate seamlessly across Europe. Information technology offers valuable lessons in open ecosystems, rapid innovation, and cybersecurity.
Workforce Challenges: Reskilling and Talent Acquisition
The energy transition demands reskilling the workforce and attracting new talent, such as engineers and data scientists, to build the necessary infrastructure and digital systems.
Maximizing AI in Energy and Water
While AI holds promise, large-scale rollouts are still rare. The focus should be on trust, transparency, and governance, ensuring AI enhances rather than hinders critical infrastructure.
A Harmonized European Flexibility Market
If given a magic wand, Lazzarotto would create a fully harmonized European flexibility market, enabling seamless participation of devices like EV chargers and heat pumps across borders.
Digitalization in the Water Sector: Efficiency and Sustainability
Digitalization transforms water management, especially in water-scarce areas. Smart meters and sensors provide real-time data, enabling utilities to offer flexible pricing and dynamic demand management.
Addressing Enlit Europe Challenges
At Enlit Europe in Bilbao, DLMS UA will focus on standardization roadmaps, showcasing Generic Companion Profiles for electricity, water, and gas smart metering, as well as dedicated metering devices and edge applications.
Lessons from Digitalization
Three key lessons emerge: data standardization, cybersecurity as a foundational element, and customer engagement with transparency.
Data-Driven Water Resilience
Data is crucial for building a smarter and more resilient water system. Smart meters and sensors provide real-time data on water flow, pressure, and quality, enabling proactive maintenance and dynamic pricing.
DLMS UA's Role
DLMS UA plays a pivotal role in the energy and water transition, offering:
- Standardization of energy and water data models for edge-to-cloud exchange.
- State-of-the-art cybersecurity solutions proven at scale.
- Time-to-market reduction for manufacturers.
- Global standards with regional flexibility.
- Backward compatibility for long-term infrastructure investments.
DLMS UA is a strategic partner, bridging ambition and action, innovation and stability, local diversity, and global interoperability.
Driving Water Digitalization with DLMS WSM GCP
DLMS introduces the Water Smart Generic Companion Profile (WSM GCP), a standardized data model for water meter data exchange, set for IEC adoption, ensuring secure and interoperable communication across devices and manufacturers.
