Renewable energy sources are key enablers to decrease greenhouse gas emissions and to cope with the anthropogenic global warming. The intermittent behaviour of them and their limited storage capabilities present new challenges to power system operators in maintaining power quality and reliability. However, the increased availability of advanced automation and communication technologies has also provided new intelligent solutions to these challenges. Previous work has presented various new methods to operate highly interconnected power grids with corresponding components in a more effective way. As a consequence of these developments the traditional power system is transformed into a cyber-physical system, a Smart Grid. Previous and ongoing research activities have mainly focused on validating certain aspects of Smart Grids, but until now no integrated approach for analysing and evaluating complex configurations in a cyber-physical systems manner is available. The lack of system validation approaches for Smart Grids is especially addressed by ERIGrid. By providing a Pan-European research infrastructure ERIGrid supports the technology development as well as the roll out of Smart Grid solutions and concepts in Europe. It tackles a holistic, cyber-physical systems based approach by integrating 18 European research centres and institutions with outstanding research infrastructures and jointly develops common methods, concepts, and procedures. ERIGrid also integrates and enhances the necessary research services for analysing, validating and testing Smart Grid configurations. System level support and education for industrial and academic researchers in is provided as well to foster future innovation. ERIGrid addresses these challenging aims by providing a single entry point to the provided research infrastructure and offering a broad spectrum of services to researchers active in Smart Grids. This will strengthen the technical leadership of Europe in the energy domain.

MEAN4SG network aims to educate 11 young researchers in the smart grids metrology field by constructing a training network gathering the whole innovation value chain. The main EU actors in the field of smart grids metrology have worked together, under the umbrella of the European Association of National Metrology Institutes (EURAMET), and relying on the support of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), in order to design a training program coping with the principal R&D challenges related to metrology for smart grids while tackling the shortage of highly-skilled professionals on this area that has been foreseen by the European Commission, the electricity grids industrial sector and the academia. The overall MEAN4SG research programme tackles the main research challenges in the smart grids metrology field identified by the European R&D community: (1) power quality analysis, (2) smart grids modelling and management, (3) advanced monitoring through Phasor Measurement Units applications and (4) smart cable diagnosis. These main goals have been divided into eleven specific objectives, which will be assigned to the fellows, for them to focus their R&D project, PhD Thesis and professional career. The established training plan answers the challenges identified by the SET Plan Education Roadmap. Personal Development Career Plans (PCDP) will be tuned up for every fellow, being their accomplishment controlled by a Personal Supervisory Team (PST), composed by a main supervisor from the beneficiary and two mentors from the institutions hosting the two fellows’ secondments. The training plan includes intra-network activities, like Specific Courses lectured by the project partners, as well as network-wide initiatives, like two secondments for every fellow, PhD Seminars organized in cooperation with EURAMET and Summer Schools. Internal agreements have been reached among the beneficiaries to ensure the access for all the fellows to the obtention of a PhD degree.

A driving force for the realization of a sustainable energy supply is the integration of renewable energy resources. Due to their stochastic generation behaviour, energy utilities are confronted with a more complex operation of the underlying power grids. Additionally, due to technology developments, controllable loads, integration with other energy sources, changing regulatory rules, and the market liberalization, the system’s operation needs adaptation. Proper operational concepts and intelligent automation provide the basis to turn the existing power system into an intelligent entity, a smart grid. While reaping the benefits that come along with those intelligent behaviours, it is expected that system-level developments and testing will play a significantly larger role in realizing future solutions and technologies. Proper validation approaches, concepts, and tools are partly missing until now. In order to tackle the integration of renewables in a first phase the FP7 RI project DERri focused on the provision of access around distributed energy resources. In a second phase, the provided portfolio of services has been successfully enlarged in the H2020 RI project ERIGrid to the system-level covering mainly electric power system, information and communication issues. However, in order to fulfil the challenging goals of the European Union towards a clean, secure, and efficient energy transition to face climate and energy challenges, additional research services are required. In a third phase ERIGrid 2.0 addresses these challenging energy transition aims by widening and advancing the provided RI access. As a single-entry point for researchers active in smart grids, smart energy systems, and integration of renewables, it offers a broad spectrum of improved services, methods, and tools. This will further strengthen the technical leadership of Europe in the energy domain and foster research and innovation to extend its leading role.