International audienceIn many electric systemsworldwide the penetration ofdistributed energy resources (DER) at the distribution levelsis increasing. This penetration brings in different challenges for electricity system management; however if the flexibility of those DER is well managed opportunities arise for coordination. At high voltage levels under responsibility of the system operator, trading mechanisms like contracts for ancillary services and balancing markets provide opportunities for economic efficient supply of system flexibility services. In a situation with smart metering and real-time management of distribution networks, similar arrangements could be enabled for medium-and low-voltage levels. This paper presents a review and classification of existing DER as flexibility providers and a breakdown of trading platforms for DER flexibility in electricity markets

The increased share of renewable generation and the integration of Distributed Generation (DG) require more electricity system flexibility. One way to increase this flexibility is to use the potentials of demand response (DR). In order to activate the full range of customers in DR, a new market intermediary actor is needed to aggregate the resources in an adequate technical and economical format. These actors, so called “aggregators”, can act as flexibility providers to support security of supply considering network, generation and consumers constraints. However, despite their technical and economical utility, aggregators are not self-emerging in many European countries. Consequently, this paper aims at identifying the main barriers accounting for this lack of aggregators in Europe. Eventually this paper provides a policy review for European market designs that support aggregation.

Due to the increasing penetration of distributed generation and new high-power consumption loads - such as electric vehicles (EVs) - distribution system operators (DSO) are facing new grid security challenges. DSOs have historically dealt with such issues by making investments in grid reinforcement. However, an alternative solution, enabled by the expected roll-out of smart meters and high penetration of flexible loads, would be the increased use of flexibility services. Flexible loads, with EVs at their forefront, can modulate their consumption or even inject power back to the grid depending on current grid conditions. In return, flexibility provision should be remunerated accordingly. In this paper, the authors are interested in making an accurate description of the flexibility services at the distribution level which could be provided by EVs as well as their requirements, e.g. location, activation time and duration. Market design recommendations for enhancing the provision of DSO grid services by EVs are derived from the conducted analysis.