Decentralized energy: how much of it?

Antoine Cahuzac, chief executive officer of Electricite de France (EDF) said yesterday at a panel discussion in Abu Dhabi's Sustainability Week (ADSW) that EDF clearly sees a trend towards the development of decentralized energy systems. This trend stems from the fact that renewable energies, like solar PV, are becoming very cheap and local communities increasingly want to generate their electricity locally, said Cahuzac. We don't see this trend being reversed, however, EDF's CEO added, we [EDF] believe what is going to prevail is a mixed system that combined both centralized and decentralized structures. Developed power markets A seminar titled "Energy Governance: New ideas, New Institutions, New People", organized last month in London by the University of Exeter, suggested that in various developed power markets we already see a move towards decentralized energy systems, but this doesn't mean that a centralized co-ordination process is not in place. Event participants stressed out that as we move towards a physically and financially decentralized, customer-based model of energy market, there is need for greater clarity regarding the architecture of the new model and who is governing it. In other words, greater functional and institutional clarity is needed. Matt Hastings, director of Centrica's, an energy utility, distributed energy and power division told the event that given traditional roles of the energy stakeholders are blurring into one, we need to address what roles are missing from the current energy market models that are needed to transition into a decentralized energy system. Charlotte Ramsay, director of the Future Role of the System Operator program at the National Grid, a power transmission company tha operates in the USA and the UK, told the event in London that National Grid recognizes the fundamental shift in the energy sector towards a decentralized and decarbonized energy system. ...

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