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In spite of the dramatic changes that affected the electricity sector in the last decade across Europe, the governance of the system has not evolved accordingly, and the centralised regulatory framework is still the norm. This paper focuses on the role of governance as a driver for innovation in the power sector: through the assessment of the Italian market and of significant Italian policies, it reflects on the instruments that allow the full integration of Distributed Energy Resources and the creation of distributed grid control systems across Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liberalization policies, the challenges of integrating distributed generation resources, and the recent flattening of electricity demand due to the economic crisis and technological change have led to lower returns for European electricity suppliers. Innovative and sustainable business models are needed to serve electricity customers while reflecting the operational needs of the system and maintaining supplier financial viability. This paper describes a novel model of Integrated Energy Services that encompasses distributed generation (DG) and demand response (DR) resources for industrial customers. We further reflect on some of the market opportunities and regulatory drivers for the development of similar schemes across Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public, freely available, searchable and updated datasets might support citizens, professionals and analysts in understanding several aspect of the life: from demographics trends of a nation to renewable energy potential of specific areas. The focus of the research has been to make a portrait on how territorial data are distributed in Italy by regional geoportals. The developed platform would like to enable stakeholders to discuss the assessment and to enhance the evaluation framework in a collaborative and web-based way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This analysis investigates the business case of a virtually aggregated unit with PV and Power-to-Gas, outlining the added value of enhanced operation modes for the deepened market integration of distributed energy resources in an aggregated form. Based on empirical generation and market data, the presented analysis outlines the added benefit of the so-called value stacking that considers the exploitation of short-term arbitrage opportunities, the provision of secondary and tertiary frequency reserve, and active imbalance management to balance forecast errors. A multi-stage and multi-period optimization approach is presented to generate an aggregated bidding strategy on multiple energy and ancillary service markets. On a case study basis with hourly resolution, annual energy flows and financial outcomes are derived for the modelled plant. Overall, nine different operating modes with different levels of market integration of the aggregated unit are analysed. While static baseline operation results barely profitable, proper integration into energy markets raises the annual cash flow from operating activities to around 60 k€ per aggregated MW. This six-fold increase is accompanied by a much more price-specific dispatch with the equivalent full-load hours of controllable output effectively dropping to about one-third. Integrating the aggregated unit further into balancing markets and performing active imbalance management leverages the freed-up capacity margin and further increases the operational results up to 150 k€ per MW. The provided empirical insights from the case study are beneficial for both practitioners in the energy sector that want to evaluate the potential value of virtual aggregation with enhanced operation and policymakers that consider further regulatory amendments to open markets and enable further integration of new energy sources. • Outlining the implications of enhanced operations modes for distributed energy models. • Considering value stacking of an aggregated unit with Power-to-Gas and Photovoltaics. • Focus on integration into energy and balancing market as well as imbalance management. • Multi-stage and multi-period optimization approach built on empirical data from Italy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of the advancing energy transition and an increasing amount of intermittent renewable energy to be integrated, flexibility from distributed energy resources will be key. In this paper, the Italian UVAM (Unità Virtuali Abilitate Miste, i.e., virtually aggregated mixed units) project, one of the biggest pilots in Europe to serve this purpose, is critically reviewed and mapped after two years of operation. The pilot is analyzed on a global level as well as the individual participant level. Based on the extensive analysis of actual market data, different strategies of participating companies to obtain capacity in accordance with the pilot project's design are identified. Furthermore, the specific bidding strategies of individual participating units on the balancing market are outlined. Alongside this, the overall pilot project's market integration, in terms of offered and accepted bids, is depicted. The thorough data analysis, therefore, serves as an input and fundamental building block for future electricity market modeling. Comprehending specific data from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, provides insights for future high renewable-energy scenarios. Based on the analysis findings, valuable deliverables are devised for both policy-makers and decision-makers who aim to leverage the flexibility potential of distributed resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enhancing energy efficiency is an important goal of climate change mitigation policies. Promoting energy efficiency projects in developing countries has faced several barriers, preventing optimal investments. One of the main barriers has been the lack of internationally recognized indices to compare projects across countries. In this era of global political turbulence and a looming trade-war that will likely lead to unjustified tariffs, it is critical to provide publicly available robust indices for investors. We construct the Energy Efficiency Country Attractiveness Index to evaluate countries' competitiveness in terms of energy efficiency potentials and related investment risks to aid investment decision-making in the oil and gas sector. Our index includes 30 indicators congregated in four pillars covering political, economic, social and technological factors, combined by means of Fuzzy measures and Choquet integral according to the preferences of a panel of experts. Although experts consider the economic and technological factors as the most important elements affecting investment in the energy related projects and they are moderately tolerant following disjunctive behaviour in dealing with the political, economic, social, and technological criteria, squared correlation analysis shows that, at least for OPEC countries, the political pillar is the crucial one in shaping the composite index. • We construct Energy Efficiency Country Attractiveness Index for OPEC member countries. • We aggregate indicators covering political, economic, social, and technological (PEST) dimensions. • Indicators are combined using Choquet integral based on fuzzy measures and experts' elicitation. • Experts identify economic and technological factors as the most important elements affecting energy investments. • Experts are moderately tolerant following disjunctive behaviour in dealing with PEST criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]