Nowadays, the interest in direct current (DC) power transmission and distribution (T&D) systems among academia and industry has been rekindled mainly due to the proliferation of power electronic based (or interfaced through power electronics) loads and the increasing deployment of distributed energy resources (DERs), which operate intrinsically in DC or have a DC stage. Reacting to the recent events in Ukraine, the European Commission (EC) unveiled the REPowerEU Plan. This plan aims to reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian energy imports by increasing the total renewable energy generation capacities to 1236 GW by 2030 (compared to 1067 GW originally envisaged under the “Fit for 55” package). To achieve this goal, the energy sector, including DC technologies, is expected to play a prominent role. While considerable progress has been made in increasing electricity generation from variable RES in various member states, additional efforts are needed to reach a carbon-neutral power system. Within this context, the widespread adoption of offshore wind generation is anticipated to play a significant role in the years to come, as it is favored for its higher availability rates and greater public acceptance. The HYNET projects aims to: (i) develop innovative technologies for transnational design and planning of AC/DC hybrid power systems, (ii) establish standardized methodologies and interoperability for multi-terminal, multi-vendor MVDC and LVDC systems, (iii) define and validate functional requirements for AC and DC grid forming capabilities, (iv) design, implement and demonstrate a complete workbench of innovative solutions that promotes the adoption and deployment of DC power systems across all voltage levels while evaluating the technoeconomic benefits of DC vs AC systems, (v) demonstrate HYNET innovations in 4 countries across Europe in existing and planned AC/DC hybrid grids.

CROSSBOW will propose the shared use of resources to foster cross-border management of variable renewable energies and storage units, enabling a higher penetration of clean energies whilst reducing network operational costs and improving economic benefits of RES and storage units . The objective is to demonstrate a number of different, though complementary, technologies, offering Transmission System Operators higher flexibility and robustness through: 1) A better control of exchange power at interconnection points; 2) new storage solutions – distributed and centralized-, offering ancillary services to operate Virtual Storage Plants (VSP); 3) better ICT and Communications -e.g. better network observability, enabling flexible generation and Demand Response schemas; 4) the definition of a transnational wholesale market, proposing fair and sustainable remuneration for clean energies though the definition of new business models supporting the participation of new players –i.e. aggregators - and the reduction of costs. The CROSSBOW results will be evaluated by 8 TSOs in Easter Europe, grouped to form clusters that will validate each of the projects outcomes in at least three different countries, demonstrating in all cases how CROSSBOW tackles the transnational challenges faced by these TSOs.

Nowadays, the adoption of a single and unified electricity market [1] is one of the main challenges faced by Europe. Although the Western and Northern regions of Europe have been working for several years towards reaching such objective, the South-Eastern region of Europe has not followed the same roadmap and it not as advanced in this field as Western Europe. TRINITY will address this challenge in order to improve the current situation and facilitate the interconnection of South-Eastern electricity markets - among them and also within the current Multi Regional Coupling area (MRC). TRINITY will develop a set of solutions to enhance cooperation among the transmission system operators of SEE in order to support the integration of the electricity markets in the region, whilst promoting higher penetration of clean energies. This strategic goal will be driven by end-users (8 TSOs, 4 NEMOS and 1 RCC) and will be achieved through the deployment in the region of four independent, but complementary, products: T-Market Coupling Framework; T-Sentinel Toolset; T-RES Control Center and T-Coordination Platform.