Madrid, September 29, 2021 – The General Assembly of FutuRed, the Spanish Electricity Grid Platform, was held today. A day during which the word “digitalization” was on the lips of all the speakers.

The technology employer DigitalES has participated in one of the round tables, during which it has offered its support to the energy industry for an early adoption of tools such as 5G, artificial intelligence or sensorization, aimed at the creation of ‘smarter’ and more efficient power grids.

“Telecommunications networks represent a competitive advantage for Spain, on which the rest of the sectors must rely,” said Carmen Sánchez, Director of Regulation and Public Policy at DigitalES, before adding: “But without electricity, these communications would not exist. Both sectors are called to work together”.

During his speech, Sánchez also outlined some of the challenges for this transformation of the electricity sector in Spain.

In the first place, “stable regulation is necessary, which provides legal certainty and at the same time opens the field to innovation,” he said. “From DigitalES we promote smart regulation, which is nothing more than seeking to regulate well, simplifying the rules and applying a long-term perspective to their content.”

Smart’ regulation, in short, is one where the objective is not to regulate more, but to regulate more efficiently, while maintaining an attractive and flexible economic environment for private sector activity.

In this context, the advance of the digitalization process and the transformation of the energy sector will require new regulatory principles that guarantee:

• simplify bureaucratic processes between companies and the regulator;
• provide a stable legal framework with clear rules for all stakeholders,
• harmonize the rights of consumers, users, regulators, and businesses, and
• to add value to the sector being regulated.

Another important challenge for the digital transformation of power grids is cybersecurity, including cyber risks on these critical infrastructures, as well as on customers’ personal data, or the privacy of users’ communications. In this regard, Sanchez highlighted the “pioneering” action of the European Union in the field of data protection.

Image: Carmen Sanchez, of DigitalES Director of Regulation and Public Policy, with Guillermo Aman, President of AFBEL; Francesc Acín, President of AFME; Aureo Diaz-Carrasco, Director of FEDIT; and Julio Nieto, Secretary General of ADEMI.

 

---

Related information:

Report – The Digitization of Energy (2019)

DigitalES – Line of work: Digital transformation

Video – Intervention Marina Serrano, president of AELEC, at DigitalES Summit 2021

DigitalES – Recovery Plan: NextGenEU Work Tables