Workshop with DG ENER – “Data sharing in renewable energy: experiences and incentives”

Brussels, 25th February 2022 –DG ENER organized a series of workshops to collect input from stakeholders on the Action Plan on the Digitalisation of the Energy Sector, aimed at developing a competitive market for digital energy services and a digital energy infrastructure that is cyber-secure, efficient and sustainable. One meeting in this series – Data sharing in renewable energy: experiences and incentives – was co-hosted by EUREC on 24th February, from 15:00 – 16:30 CET. EUREC was happy to support the European Commission – and DG Energy in particular – to underscore the need to support digitalisation and data sharing in the renewable energy sector.

EUREC has long been interested in furthering digitalization in renewable energy and has promoted data sharing in the debates happening now on the ‘Fit for 55’ package, including proposals to revise the Renewable Energy Directive. The scope of the workshop was therefore focused on people’s experience of data sharing and hearing their views on the incentives that may need to come from the public sector to stimulate digitalization further.

The event began with an introduction by EUREC Secretary General Greg Arrowsmith and Mark van Stiphout, Deputy Head of Unit ENER.B.5. Mr. van Stiphout, who is deputy head of the unit responsible for Action Plan, introduced the Action Plan and its areas of interest. The next session was a series of short presentations on data sharing perspectives and insights from the following individuals: Sarah Barber, who presented WeDoWind as a platform to initiate and coordinate new collaborative wind energy projects in the areas of R&D, learning, and teaching; Dimitrios Anagnostos, representing the WinJi AG asset management platform for renewables; Ricardo Jorge Bessa from the Smart4RES H2020 project which aims to improve renewable energy prediction by proposing the next generation of RES forecasting models; and Gofran Chowdhury (3E) who described how data sharing can apply to and benefit the solar PV industry.

The presentations were followed by a moderated discussion featuring the following panelists:

• Carsten Hoyer-Klick (German Aerospace Center (DLR))

• Mike Anderson, (ETIP Wind Advisory Group)

• Tobias Söderlund (Skellefteå Kraft AB)

• Emanuel Vallarella (Huawei)

• Elena Koumpli (Statkraft)

• Vasso Katsiki (Inaccess)

• Christian Orthofer (Energie Steiermark)

• Christian Schill (Fraunhofer ISE)

Participants were able to contribute questions ahead of the workshop and could also pose questions during the discussion. Mr. Arrowsmith, who led the moderated discussion, concluded by asking the participants if some public tenders for renewable energy capacity from time to time should stipulate that detailed operational data be shared publicly (perhaps with anonymisation). Panelists overwhelmingly supported this idea and offered additional feedback on the nature of public dissemination. Sarah Barber, for example, stipulated that the incentives must be made clear for tenders and data sharing “is not black and white,” i.e. 100% private or 100% public, rather there “is a lot of grey area between, which [should be exploited]”. Approximately 100 participants attended the event, in addition to the speakers and panelists, and contributed their questions to the discussion.

Thanks again to all our speakers, presenters, and panelists for joining our event!