Map the Green Deal’s drivers: Distribution grids across the EU

On the occasion of the start of a new EU term which will place the Green Deal’s implementation at the core of Europe’s strategic priorities, distributions grids deserve to be put in the spotlight. Increasingly renewable and customer driven, DSOs are remarkably diverse across Europe, all working to fulfill the same mission: distributing electricity through the grid to and from households and industries.

Distribution System Operators (DSOs) are central players to deliver the EU’s energy and digital transitions and are pivotal for the implementation of most of the Fit for 55 requirements. Given their local and decentral nature, distribution grids were often overlooked in the past at the EU level where the focus was on cross-border energy infrastructure.

A first-ever EU DSO map to show the role of DSOs as the technical enablers of the energy transition

DSO Entity launches an original ‘EU DSO map’ which provides for the first time on a single chart a state of play of distribution grid in the EU and highlights the key role of DSOs as the facilitators of the Fit for 55 Package. Displaying a set of data collected from DSO members in all EU Member States, the map shows the expected impact of the implementation of the EU’s energy and climate targets on the distribution grid, highlighting the current level of progress achieved compared to the level of ambition.

DSOs strongly contribute to delivering the EU’s 42.5% Renewable Energy (RES) target by connecting more than 70% of the additional RES installations to the distribution grid by 2030. DSOs also play a key role in the electrification of transport and heating and cooling sectors by integrating the roll-out of the 30 million electric vehicles expected on European roads and the 10 million additional heat pumps to be installed in the EU over the next 5 years. Although the EU has yet to achieve its targets, DSOs already face a massive increase in the number of demands to accommodate the integration of new decentralised energy resources to the grid, with a 3-4-fold growth of connection requests for solar PV for DSOs between 2021 and 2022. Despite their diversity, European DSOs are all confronted with common challenges in the 27 Member States from investment needs to capacity constraints, when adapting to the new electrified, decentralised, customer-driven and flexible energy system.

Unity in diversity: Special feature of European DSOs

Across Member States, European DSOs are highly diverse and differ in number, size and organisation. Together they manage 10 million of kms of grids across the EU, representing around 97% of the total EU’s power lines, and connect 260 million households to the EU’s power system. Inherited from the historical way the energy network infrastructure (in particular low- and medium-voltage levels) developed in early days, this diversity aspect constitutes a unique particularity of the distribution grid in Europe, which should be kept in mind as the EU’s moves towards the implementation phase of the Fit for 55 Package.

Illustrating how diverse DSOs are in the EU, the EU DSO map provides an up-to-date picture of the electricity distribution grids in the EU-27. For each Member State, the map provides key facts on:

• The number of DSOs and the level of DSO concentration.
• The number of customers connected to the electricity distribution grid.
• The length of the power distribution grid.
• The level of deployment of smart meters.

The map allows for comparisons between countries and illustrates different national profiles of distribution grids across the EU, including between Member States that share similar characteristics. For example, while comparable in geography size and population, Austria and Hungary differ greatly in number of DSOs, accounting respectively 124 Austrian DSOs and 6 Hungarian DSOs. Another example is France and Germany which experience different grid organisations. While France exhibits a high concentration of DSOs with one DSO managing 80% of the distributed power, Germany has more than 850 DSOs with a low concentration and is mainly operated by small and local DSOs with the three largest DSOs operating around 50% of the distributed grid.

The Clean Industrial Deal needs to keep the focus on grids

The next five years will be decisive to ensure that the EU will not lag behind on its energy and climate commitments. The EU Grid Action Plan published by the European Commission last November recognised the major role of distribution grids in achieving EU’s net-zero targets. This late grid awakening at the EU level is only but a first step as challenges is still pressing and not overcome yet. Distribution grids should be part of the upcoming EU strategic priorities to keep the momentum ongoing. To do so, a “grid mainstreaming” approach should be established to ensure DSOs’ needs are considered in every new and revised regulation, and that grid expansion does not lag behind. Grid mainstreaming should already be visible in the Clean Industrial Deal announced by Ursula von der Leyen to be proposed in the 100 first days of her second term as European Commission’s President.

Distribution grid matters! Check out the EU DSO map to explore DSOs across the EU and learn more about their relevance in the energy transition.