About
The future energy system will be predominantly electric. Recent advances have made direct current (DC) technologies ideally suited to complement alternating current infrastructure and realise such a system supporting sustainable economic growth and infrastructure scalability. This will result in future electrical infrastructures that are more resilient, efficient, cost-effective, sustainable and scalable, thereby promoting sustainable economic growth, better integration of renewable energy sources and the electrification of demand.
The implementation working group on direct current technologies (IWG-DCT) brings together European national government representatives and stakeholders from the energy sector, such as grid operators; technology providers, research centres and academia and renewable energy developers. The goal is to identify the needs and pathways for the development and deployment of DC technologies in the EU. The IWG-DCT supports transmission level applications (High voltage direct current, HVDC), distribution system applications (Medium voltage direct current (MVDC)) and end-user applications (Low voltage direct current, LVDC) applications.
Targets and objectives
The objective of the IWG-DCT is to present a clear, credible and forward-looking vision of the role of DC technologies in the future European energy system and to identify the research and innovation efforts required to realise this vision.
Direct Current technologies are key enabling components of a future sustainable, resilient and cost-effective energy system. By enhancing controllability, reducing losses and supporting system integration, they can help ensure that electricity grids evolve from a potential bottleneck into a facilitator of the energy transition. The IWG-DCT sets out a clear pathway for their development and identifies the actions needed to unlock their full potential while maintaining European industrial leadership.
IWG-DCT proposes to focus on 5 Innovation Themes:
- Theme 1: Industrialisation, Scale-up and Competitiveness
- Theme 2: DC technology Development
- Theme 3: DC system integration
- Theme 4: Sustainability and circularity
- Theme 5: Skills and acceptability
The Thematic Vision is developed considering three application domains.
- Direct Current transmission systems, which refer to the part of the power system that connects the largest generators and loads with each other and with internal (national) as well as neighbouring systems (international) and the distribution grids. Direct current applications are the connection of synchronised and non-synchronised systems, the connection of large offshore wind farms, bulk power transmission over longer distances and controllable or flexible transmission grids that facilitate underground connections. The DC technology used is referred to as HVDC.
- Direct current distribution systems, which refer to direct current applications targeted at integrating customers into a regulated distribution system. The distribution of electric power can happen at medium and low voltage levels (MVDC and LVDC) but generally referred to as MVDC in the description of visions and targets.
- Direct current end-user applications (LVDC), including communities, which refer to equipment installed at the user side, operated and managed by that user. Such a system is typically non-regulated and contains both residential, commercial and industrial applications. These systems are typically referred to as LVDC, or low voltage DC applications, without limiting to LV definition of 1.5 kV, excluding pure distribution and transmission activities.
The high-level targets for the IWG-DCT are the following:
- DC technologies are recognised at European level as a key contributor to a resilient, efficient and flexible power system.
- DC technologies become a mainstream technology for efficient, resilient and sustainable grids, resulting in interoperable DC grids that are modular in design and seamlessly integrate with the existing energy system.
- Evolution towards modular DC systems.
- A coordinated, secure-by-design and competitive European industrial ecosystem for DC technologies.
- Circular design and harmonised life-cycle assessment methodologies for DC technologies.
Contacts
Belgium is co-chairing this group and its members include representatives of industrial associations, regional and national authorities in charge of research, innovation, education, climate action and energy in the following SET Plan countries.
Participating SET Plan countries (in alphabetical order):
| Country | Membership |
| Belgium | Co-chair |
| Cyprus | Active member |
| Denmark | Temporary observer |
| France | Active member |
| Germany | Active member |
| Germany | Active member alternate |
| Ireland | Active member |
| Italy | Active member |
| Lithuania | Temporary observer |
| Malta | Temporary observer |
| Netherlands | Active member |
| Norway | Active member |
| Norway | Temporary observer |
| Poland | Temporary observer |
| Portugal | Active member |
| Portugal | Temporary observer |
| Slovenia | Temporary observer |
| Spain | Active member |
| Sweden | Active member |
| Switzerland | Temporary observer |
| United Kingdom | Temporary observer |
Documents
Key members
- IWG Chair: Dirk Van Hertem, KU Leuven, Department of Electrical Engineering, dirk [dot] vanhertem
kuleuven [dot] be (dirk[dot]vanhertem[at]kuleuven[dot]be) - IWG Co-chair: Robert Dimitrovski, TenneT, robert [dot] dimitrovskitennet [dot] eu (robert[dot]dimitrovski[at]tennet[dot]eu)
- IWG Co-chair: Hartwig Stammberger, Eaton Industries Gmbh, HartwigStammbergerEaton [dot] com (HartwigStammberger[at]Eaton[dot]com)
- IWG Co-Chair: Harry Stokman, DC Systems, harrydc [dot] expert (harry[at]dc[dot]expert)
- IWG Secretariat: secretariatdcforeu [dot] com (secretariat[at]dcforeu[dot]com)