Elering Hosts a Round Table Discussion about the Development of the Smart Grid

Elering has convened a round table discussion for 1 April to discuss and set the agenda for the development of the smart grid in Estonia. One of the first projects in implementing the concept of the smart grid is to create the IT solutions that will make electricity consumption information available equally to all potential sellers. Access to the data will be one of the first steps towards making the electricity market function more efficiently for the full opening of the market in 2013.

As electricity prices rise it is important to introduce measures that will help lead to more efficient production and more rational consumption of electricity. The smart grid means innovative solutions and services for the electricity network with intelligent monitoring, management and data communication, which will, for example, make it possible to regulate the consumption levels and timings of various electric devices depending on the demand for and price of electricity at any given time.

For the full opening of the electricity market in 2013, a smooth information flow between consumers and sellers of electricity must be guaranteed so that each customer would be genuinely able to choose their own electricity seller. The Estonian market today is dominated by one producer and seller, and to improve competition it will be necessary to make entering the market as easy as possible. To achieve this, Elering is developing a data exchange platform which can be accessed by all market participants on equal terms.

Chair of the Elering board Taavi Veskimägi said that specific steps towards creating a data exchange platform would be agreed at the first smart grid development meeting. “It is extremely important for ensuring that the many market participants all have an equal starting position when the market opens, and for getting information into the market, and it allows consumers to compare information about the various offers. The IT solution being created will be a selling and purchasing environment which will allow sellers to make targeted offers and each consumer to choose their own electricity seller, just as there is now a choice of mobile telephone or internet service providers. It is equally very important for any project related to the smart grid to consider very carefully the project’s socio-economic impact, because the experience of other countries shows that there is a high risk of doing things wrong for which the consumer has to pay later,” he said.

The other partners at the Elering Centre of Excellence’s round table discussion were the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, the Competition Authority, representatives of the market participants and Tallinn University of Technology.