Abstract
The emergence of new technologies and the involvement of new market players, force both the regulator and Distribution System Operators (DSOs) to reconsider their role of distribution in the new electricity market. DSOs have to reinvent themselves so they can deal with the necessity to integrate all market operators and increase efficiency in the management of, for instance, non-despatchable energy sources. DSOs’ legal and regulatory framework was last rectified in 2019 by the Fourth EU Energy Package. In this chapter, we investigate the role of the DSOs, which have started to feel the impact of the energy transition, looking at the evolution of the Italian system. Through a case study approach in Italy, we explore the conditions that favour DSOs’ settlement and activity expansion.
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Notes
- 1.
“Clean Energy for all European” package can be found here: https://ec.europa.eu/energy/topics/energy-strategy/clean-energy-all-europeans_en.
- 2.
i.e. Renewable energy sources with the exception of hydropower.
- 3.
See also the position of European Energy Retailers on unbundling http://europeanenergyretailers.eu/eenergy/uploads/2019/07/EER-position-on-Unbundling-20190726.pdf, accessed on April 14, 2020.
- 4.
- 5.
“Action plan for energy distribution in the Province of Bolzano” can be found here http://www.provincia.bz.it/it/servizi-a-z.asp?bnsv_svid=1003663 (last accessed April 15, 2020).
- 6.
Decreto-legge December 30, 2019, n. 162 (in Gazzetta Ufficiale - Serie generale - n. 305 del 31 dicembre 2019), coordinated with the conversion law February 28, 2020, n. 8.
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Acknowledgement
Silvia Blasi acknowledges financial support from Centro per l’Economia e Tecnica dell’Energia “Levi Cases”, University of Padova.
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Bertolini, M., Blasi, S. (2021). The Role of the DSOs in the Energy Transition Towards Sustainability. A Case Study from Italy. In: Sedita, S.R., Blasi, S. (eds) Rethinking Clusters. Sustainable Development Goals Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61923-7_5
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