A strategic position paper and guide for action - December 2025 This strategic position paper explores the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI (GenAI) within the context of European smart grids. These technologies offer powerful capabilities to enhance grid efficiency, reliability, flexibility, and resilience. AI can optimise grid operations, improve forecasting for variable renewable energy sources (RES) like solar and wind, enable predictive maintenance, facilitate active consumer participation through demand response, and bolster cybersecurity. GenAI adds further value by enabling synthetic data generation to overcome data scarcity, assisting complex decision-making, and enhancing human-AI collaboration. However, realising this potential requires navigating a complex landscape.

Working Group 2 - December 2025 District energy storage systems (DESS) are identified as a critical enabling technology for achieving deep decarbonisation, enhancing grid stability, and improving energy resilience at the local level. Scaling their deployment from pilot projects to industrial use requires a concerted, multi-faceted strategy that addresses financial, regulatory, technical, and societal challenges simultaneously. The promise of a decentralised, renewable energy future hinges on this DESS critical component. If DESS is to be adopted on a large scale, then a joined-up approach needs to be applied across policy, finance, technology, and society.

Working Group 4 - December 2025 This document focuses on the enhanced supervision and control requirements for current power systems, given the large penetration of variable renewable energy sources (RES) into transmission and distribution networks. A brief overview of current developments and trends in hardware and control equipment and functionalities for energy management and system control at the Transmission and Distribution level is provided, including energy management systems, advanced distribution management systems, distributed energy resources management systems, transactive energy systems, phasor measurement units, and wide area monitoring systems, advanced meters, and flexibility platforms.

Focus on control solutions: ETIP SNET WG3 - August 2025 This paper emphasises the crucial role of control solutions, particularly digital ones, in ensuring the flexibility of renewable generation in future power systems. It identifies key areas for further research and development, including the integration of new control techniques such as artificial intelligence, digital twin, hardware-in-the-loop platforms, and cybersecurity mechanisms, while also leveraging AI-driven forecasting for load, generation, and storage optimisation.

Working Group 1 - July 2025 This document, written by WG1, aims to provide the ETIP SNET perspective on the new high-level initiatives to be developed concerning the integration of sustainable transport with electricity networks. The most relevant are the Sustainable Transport Investment Plan, the Grid Package, and the Electrification Action Plan, as announced in the new Industrial Action Plan for the European automotive sector.

Working Group 4: digitalisation of the electricity system - July 2025 This document analyses the status and future of the skills needed to support the energy system during its transition to achieve the decarbonisation objectives. The digital transformation in the energy sector, as is any other part of the economy, affects especially the requested skills. The main focus of this document is targeting digital and other skills.

2024 Annual Activity Report The ETIP SNET 2024 annual report delves into the activities of the initiative and its main achievements for 2024.

Bridging the gap from innovation to market - December 2024 This policy paper aims to bridge the gap between innovation and market by addressing the multifaceted challenges that inhibit the effective commercialization of innovative energy solutions. It is not merely a response to current market dynamics but a strategic initiative to ensure that Europe remains a global leader in technological advancement and competitiveness in the energy market.

Planning for a decarbonised system - October 2024 The paper underscores the importance of a Coordinated Energy Infrastructure (CEI) planning approach to ensure Europe can meet its policy objectives and legislative requirements. It delves into the core aspects needed for effective CEI planning, including the requirements, attributes, and challenges that must be addressed. The paper proposes solutions to these challenges through new policy frameworks, legislation, and targeted research and development.

ETIP SNET has published the 2024 Brochure This comprehensive document provides an in-depth look at the ETIP SNET initiative, highlighting its strategic objectives, mission, and involved stakeholders. It offers detailed insights into the Governance and Working Groups that form the initiative, showcasing their contributions, key topics, and the benefits of joining.

WG3 focus paper - June 2024 The paper provides guidelines and recommendations for using hydrogen (H2) in electric power generation to maintain a stable energy supply with variable renewable energy sources (RES). H2 and other chemical energy carriers can store and quickly dispatch large amounts of energy, making them essential for long-term grid balancing. While H2-based power generation is costly due to the high price of renewable H2, it remains crucial for balancing electricity supply and demand in future power systems.

Working Group 1 (May 2024) Thispaper written together with ISGAN, aims to discuss about the role of energy communities for DSOs and TSOs. Energy communities can unlock active consumers' flexibility potential and more effectively integrate distributed renewable resources and new technologies. In contrast, they also have to fulfil all related duties and responsibilities.

ETIP SNET, European Technology and Innovation Platform Smart Networks for Energy Transition - January 2024 This is a policy paper written by ETIP SNET's WG4 - Digitalisation of the eletricity system and customer participation. The goal of this policy paper is to give a short technical introduction to the topic, providing references for a deeper analysis, and then to focus on the identified opportunities, challenges and necessary actions for a quick deployment of a common European energy data space. For this reason, the document is as much as possible technology agnostic and focuses on the next steps for the concrete implementations.

2023 Annual Activities Report The ETIP SNET 2023 annual report delves into the activities of the initiative and its main achievements for 2023.

ETIP SNET R&I IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 2025+ - August 2023 The ETIP SNET R&I Implementation Plan 2025+ describes the most urgent R&I needs to be tackled through European Commission and national R&I work programmes and calls. It covers the 2025-2028 timespan with a total overall proposed budget of 954 M€ for R&I. This version updates the previous 2022-2025 edition.

ETIP SNET R&I Roadmap 2022-2031 - March 2023 By 2050, the extensive electrification in (nearly) all sectors of the energy system, combined with significant energy efficiency improvements and CO2 reductions in all sectors, will lead to a carbon-neutral energy system. It is widely understood that this will rely on: The massive use of renewables for electricity, transport and heating & cooling generation; Smart Grids technologies(Digitalisation and Smart control of flexible generation and demand, sustainable buildings); The combination of the above with sector coupling of all energy carriers via storage (such as batteries, by use of liquids (e.g., hydro pumping), CO2-neutral or CO2-free gases) and conversion technologies (for extensive use of carbon-neutral gases and green fuels and possibly hydrogen in industry, transport and buildings); A widely adopted circular approach to energy systems with high recycling rates. The ETIP SNET R&I Roadmap (RM) 2022-2031 describes the 10-year path towards this future and is regularly revised. This version updates the previous 2020-2030 edition.

Update report - July 2023 This ETIP SNET's report is the first to provide an update on progress monitoring using the new research methodology with High-Level Use Cases (HLUCs) and Priority Project Concepts (PPCs) first introduced in the ETIP SNET 2022-2025 Implementation Plan. The new methodology required that the results of the (previous) 1st progress report could be related to the current results. This has been ensured by cross-referencing the PPC development scale with progress on the Research Tasks covered in the previous survey. Such a comparison makes it possible to assess whether progress in PPC and HLUC development is being hindered or facilitated by progress in Research Tasks.

Impact of hydrogen integration on power grids and energy systems - July 2023 The EU is undergoing an energy transformation towards a climate-neutral continent by 2050. It has set targets to progressively reduce greenhouse gas emissions towards clean energy to reach this goal and deliver on the EU’s Paris Agreement commitments. These high-level climate targets will require structural changes in various sectors and impact society and the economy. Decarbonisation is reached mainly through electrifying various sectors (currently relying on fossil fuels) stemming from variable Renewable Energy Sources (vRES) and low-emission sources complemented by low-carbon gases.

Updated slide deck - 2024 This is the ETIP SNET slide deck 2024 with main information on the initiative such as descriptions of key objectives of the Working Groups.

KPI assessment and prioritisation of R&I targets - March 2023 This Position Paper is an initiative of the ETIP SNET WG2 (Storage technologies and system flexibilities) with the objective of defining a vision for R&D&I of storage technologies and involving stakeholders therein. It analyses different energy storage and conversion technologies, focusing on the specific challenges they face and trying to prioritise and suggest R&I actions to overcome them. Performance Goals are introduced and defined to support the analysis and identify the main challenges. A mapping exercise is performed to define priorities and optimise the R&I strategy to overcome them, as well as a set of KPIs to set targets for the years 2025 and 2031. Energy storage and conversion technologies can provide the necessary flexibility to the energy system across different timescales. Several technologies are available, and their state of the art showed different level of development and maturity. Some of these are established technologies, while others have yet to demonstrate their potential at scale.

Working Group 3 (November 2022) This White Paper, a joint work by ETIP-SNET and ETIP-RHC, focuses on the implications of coupling the electricity, heating and cooling vectors as a vital part of efficiently decarbonising the whole European energy sector. It proposes a way towards efficient decarbonisation in terms of both energy efficiency and infrastructure optimisation aligned with the goals of the “Fit-for-55” package and the REPowerEU plan. To succeed within the challenging timeframe the EU has set, different renewable energy technologies for electricity as well as for heating and cooling should have been verified at least on a pilot scale and need to be further developed and up-scaled. In many cases, they could be coupled to increase energy efficiency. In addition, this White Paper elaborates on promising, often decentralised generation side as well as demand side technologies and solutions. The key role of energy storage as a sector coupling enabler in the decarbonisation strategy is highlighted.

Impact of EV and charging infrastructure on European T&D grids: innovation needs - March 2022 The energy and transport sectors will face important challenges in the next years. Decarbonisation and pollution reductions are no longer optional, and new technologies and solutions need to be deployed to reach the ambitious targets set by National and European policies like the European Green Deal. In this context, electric mobility represents a crucial building block in future energy systems, also providing a new flexibility resource for system operators (SOs). Therefore, an integrated analysis is required to identify the most relevant impacts on current energy systems, taking into account which are the different elements interacting in the system: perspectives of Distribution System Operators, Transmission System Operators and users, technological and regulatory state of the art, and the relevant enablers, such as technological advancements and interoperability. It is in the context of this new ecosystem that the European Technology & Innovation Platform (ETIP) Smart Networks for Energy Transition (SNET), gathering research and industry experts, European and national public authorities, European associations and other relevant actors from the energy sector, has prepared this paper on the ability of SOs to play a major role in facilitating the development of an electrified mobility.

How can flexibility support power grids resilience? - March 2022 As zero operational-cost variable Renewable Energy Sources are foreseen to dominate the future energy mix, the abundance of green electricity will allow the replacement of fossil fuels in sectors such as heating, cooling, industrial processes, and transport. The intermittency of such energy resources implies significant systemic requirements for flexible solutions; thus, developments of the energy sector in general, and the power system in particular, instigate significant innovation activities in the fields of power system flexibility. Concurrently, complexities and interdependencies of system components and multitude of actors increase the risks of service failures and the complexity of production and grid planning, raising the demand for stronger and more agile resilience means and countermeasures. In this white paper we discuss the item “How can flexibility support resilience?”, considering the increased societal needs of a secure electricity supply.

ETIP SNET R&I Implementation Plan 2022-2025 - December 2021 The ETIP SNET R&I Implementation Plan (IP) describes in detail the most urgent R&I needs for the next 3–4-year timespan. This version updates the previous 2021-2024 edition. The publication introduces the concept of High-Level Use Cases (HLUC) and the associated Priority Project Concepts (PPCs) to better communicate to its key audiences. Through the HLUCs, the ETIP SNET intends to underline the urgency of realising the transformation of today’s energy system through concrete R&I projects into the needed widely renewable energy system of 2031 and the fully CO2-neutral energy system of 2050 as the ultimate goal. This is connected with concrete outcomes and scopes for real world demonstrations. The R&I Priority Projects Concepts (PPCs) for each of HLUC cover key integration features of the Future European Energy Systems with concrete goals and time schedule. Nine HLUCs – each valid until 2031 – are used to structure the needed R&I Priority Project Concepts.

1st report on mapping progress in energy systems research and innovation - November 2021 Progress monitoring of European research and innovation is an essential activity to assess the progress towards a decarbonised energy system and to shape future R&I efforts accordingly. The ETIP SNET Research and Innovation Roadmap presents the framework in which progress monitoring is executed. The framework consists of six Research Areas, 24 Topics (Research sub-Areas) and 120 Tasks. The objective of the progress monitoring activity is to analyse the state of R&I to identify promising technologies and innovations and measure the coverage degree of the ETIP SNET R&I Roadmap. The results are to be used in the upcoming ETIP SNET Implementation Plan (2023-2026).

EUROPEAN TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION PLATFORM SMART NETWORKS FOR ENERGY TRANSITION - 16 July, 2021 The updated ETIP SNET brochure provides a general overview of our mission, organisation and how to get involved.

Building blocks, enablers, architectures, regulatory barriers, economic assessment - July 2021 The goal of the paper is to address topics related to the EU sector integration strategy, beyond the focus on the technology of energy conversion. It is a follow-up to the first Sector Coupling Paper published by ETIP-SNET in 2020. The energy transition context and the closely linked hydrogen strategy developments are presented considering all the relevant building blocks: architectures, enablers, economic assessment criteria, regulatory and market issues, as well as the related research and innovation needs.

Connecting R&I priorities of ETIPs and PPPs for a common path to achieve the Energy Transition by 2050 - 18 June, 2020 In the virtual workshop which took place on 18th June 2020, the priorities identified by ETIP SNET in the 10year Roadmap 2020-2030 and Implementation Plan 2021-2024, and the R&I priorities of the invited ETIPs and PPPs have been shared. The goal has been to create progress in connecting the priorities of the invited ETIPs and PPPs with ETIP SNET priorities and support and collaborate towards achieving the energy transition in 2030-2050.

ETIP-SNET WG3 "Flexible Generation" - January 20th, 2020 This White paper briefly evaluates all major energy generation systems. It highlights how fit they are and what needs to be done to guarantee unlimited dispatchability and flexibility to the end-use sectors (households, industry, transport). Decarbonised thermal power generation can compensate any available limitations of on-demand renewable power generation (incl. hydro power and bio-mass, …), such that it will strongly contribute to support the transition towards a future carbon-neutral energy supply. Flexible thermal generation technologies for electricity and heat powered with “green” fuels generated by renewable sources will close the existing gap between power supplied by variable renewable energy sources (vRES) and the demand profiles from different end-use sectors smartly shaped by demand-site energy management (DSM) systems.

Synergies and Complementarities of European and International Initiatives Towards Energy Transition - March 2019 This document proposes an analysis of the key organisations that act on a daily basis to research priorities that allow a deep transformation of our energy system, informing public authorities who can make the transformation happen on where to prioritise funding and putting such recommendations into practice with research and development programmes.

Coverage analysis of the present roadmap (2017-2026) - February 2019 The 10-year RD&I roadmap will be updated by 2020 to define the RD&I activities planned for the period 2021-2030. In this aim, a thorough assessment of recent and ongoing RD&I projects contributing to the activities planned within the roadmap, needed to be done. This is the purpose of the “monitoring activity” carried out by the INTENSYS4EU support team. The objective of the monitoring activity is two-fold: To analyse and to disseminate results from RD&I projects being in the scope of the ETIP SNET towards the energy community;To measure the coverage degree of each RD&I item of the roadmap and decide which RD&I activities deserve to be maintained, and which are sufficiently well covered by results of recent and ongoing projects and could consequently be removed (“gap analysis”).The first sub-objective of the monitoring activity focusing on the analysis and dissemination of RD&I projects’ results lying in the ETIP SNET scope has been published by the end of 2018. The present report contributes to the second sub-objective of the monitoring activity by analysing in detail the degree of coverage of each RD&I item of the 10-year RD&I roadmap covering 2017-26.

2019 Action Plan - 2019 This report summarizes the ETIP SNET’s 10-year Roadmap & Implementation Plan as well as the ETIP SNET’s main activities and events to be carried out in 2019.

Prioritising research in Energy crucial for achieving the Paris Agreement Targets - 24 October, 2018 The current EU proposed Missions for Horizon Europe do not include Energy. This omission creates a risk of not prioritising future research needed to meet the Paris agreement targets. We are asking the members of the Council and the European Parliament to include Energy and Decarbonisation among the themes of the first missions that will be adopted at the end 2018-early 2019.

ETIP SNET Reply to Public Consultation October 2018 - 9 October, 2018 On July 17, 2018, the European Commission launched a public consultation on the “Future climate and energy policy – a Strategy for long-term EU greenhouse gas emissions reductions.” This document covers the ETIP SNET’s view on the types of transformations required, level of ambition and key actions to achieve it.

Presentation of recent and ongoing R&I projects in the scope of the ETIP SNET - August 2018 The 10-year R&I roadmap will be updated by 2020 to define the R&I activities planned for the period 2021-2030. In order to do this, a thorough assessment of recent and ongoing R&I projects contributing to the activities planned within the roadmap is to be done. This is the purpose of the “monitoring activity” carried out by ETIP SNET. The present report contributes to the monitoring activity by analysing and disseminating R&I projects’ results lying in the ETIP SNET scope. It has been elaborated following a survey conducted towards 250+ projects, amongst which 121 projects have contributed: 43 of them are co-funded by FP7 or Horizon 2020 and 78 are funded through other instruments, in general at national or regional level.

2017 Annual Report - 24 January, 2018 This annual report summarizes the ETIP SNET’s internal organisation and main achievements in 2017.

2018 Annual Report - 2018 This annual report summarizes the ETIP SNET’s internal organisation and main achievements in 2018.

D3.3 Minutes of the regional workshops 2017 - 03 November, 2017 The workshops were organised for 2017 according to the schedule presented below: Regional Workshop 1 – Location: Aachen (Germany) 18-19 September 2017Regional Workshop 2 – Location: Lisbon (Portugal) 28-29 September 2017Regional Workshop 3 – Location: Nicosia (Cyprus) 23-24 November 2017Regional Workshop 4 – Location Riga (Latvia) 7-8 December 2017

Support to R&D strategy in the area of SET Plan activities in smart grids and energy storage - 9 December, 2016 The new 10 year ETIP SNET Research & Innovation Roadmap 2017-26 provides a System view of the entire energy transition. It addresses a scope larger than smart electricity grids by encompassing interactions with the gas and heat networks and focuses on integration of all flexibility solutions into the power system, including energy storage technologies.

Energy Stories Compilation - November 2016 The “ETIP SNET Energy Stories” are designed to bring successful applications in energy transition technologies, often developed through public funding, closer to the citizen, highlighting whenever possible the direct benefits of the latest technologies to the energy consumer. In this publication you will find a collection of 20 stories.

10 key messages from CIGRE and ETIP SNET - 2016 The European Technology and innovation Platform for Smart Networks in Energy Transition (ETIP SNET) and the International Council on Large Electric Systems (CIGRE) strongly welcome the announcement of the European Green Deal by the European Commission and to take this opportunity to highlight 10 key messages that illustrate our common Vision of the energy sector to be achieved by 2050.