Online Event

Energy Network Innovation for Green Transition

29 April 2020

#FSR_CSEI online debate

At the 2019 Copenhagen Energy Infrastructure Forum, the European Commission invited the Copenhagen School of Energy Infrastructure (CSEI) and the Florence School of Regulation (FSR) to organise roundtables on the uptake of innovative technologies for transmission and distribution and report to the next Forum.

Given the exceptional coronavirus circumstances, we decided to organise the roundtables as two complementary online debates that each conclude an interactive online consultation. Please find more information on the consultation below.

This first online debate discusses whether this age of low-cost capital and stimulus packages is the best time to heavily invest in tomorrow’s energy networks and research infrastructure and how to enable such investment by energy network companies.

In the academic literature, it is widely acknowledged that innovation is key to foster sustainable development and decarbonise the energy sector. However, post-liberalisation it has been difficult to promote R&D and innovation. Is this a case of business, regulatory, or policy failure or whether there are other factors involved? Main solutions to address this shortcoming will be discussed, such as incentive-based regulatory solutions, the establishment of competitive funding models like Ofgem’s Low Carbon Network Fund or a European collaborative super research hub.

Watch the recording!

Panellists:

Signe Horn Rosted (Energinet)
Benoit Esnault (CRE)
Joe Perkins (Ofgem)
Mark Van Stiphout (European Commission)
Tooraj Jamasb (CSEI)
Riccardo Vailati (ARERA)

Moderator: Leonardo Meeus (FSR)

Background paper and discussion – give us your input!

You can provide your input in two ways:

1. Comment on the discussion note. You can leave comments addressing specific paragraphs. For example, you believe some points need to be highlighted more, a point is not raised, or you have an opinion you want to voice.

We will revise our discussion note based on your feedback and the online debate. Your contribution will be acknowledged in the final publication that is addressed to the Copenhagen Energy Infrastructure Forum 2020.

2. Answer our polling question and elaborate on your answer. You can find more background to the polling question in the discussion note. This polling and your response will be discussed during this online debate.