Press Release:

Equigy welcomes Austrian Power Grid as fifth TSO partner

Pioneering crowd balancing platform continues roll-out across Europe.

Arnhem, 2 February, 2021 – Today, APG became the fifth European transmission system operator to partner with Equigy, joining founding TSOs TenneT GmbH (Germany), TenneT TSO BV (Netherlands), Swissgrid (Switzerland), and Terna (Italy) in the pioneering crowd balancing platform. Using the Equigy platform, the TSOs are working with OEM partners (such as electric vehicle makers and producers of solar panels), energy companies, and other aggregators on a host of new projects to accelerate the energy transition.

Ersilia Aloia, CFO of Equigy, says: “We’re delighted to welcome APG as the newest TSO to join our crowd balancing platform. This is another step towards setting a European standard for TSOs to manage the increasingly volatile grids by using the flexibility from aggregated distributed energy resources.”

 

 

Equigy powers forward

Equigy uses a platform to provide a trusted data exchange between parties when  aggregators add new sources of electricity from the owners of consumer-based devices, such as electric vehicles and batteries. TSOs – the entities tasked with transporting energy and balancing supply and demand – can use the additional decentral capacity to help balance the grid and ensure security of supply for the energy transition. Equigy enables the validation of the delivery of these millions of future decentral devices.

Since launching in April 2020, Equigy has powered forward, signing a host of new agreements with a wide variety of players in several countries.

‘Logical next steps for APG’

For its part, APG will focus particularly on making markets for balancing energy and redispatch more efficient. As in the rest of Europe, energy supply in Austria is increasingly fed by weather-dependent wind and solar energy in electricity generation. At the same time, energy demand is rising as new electrical appliances such as electric cars, heat pumps, or storage batteries are adopted throughout the country.

APG’s CFO Thomas Karall says: “It is increasingly challenging for TSOs like APG to maintain a stable balance in the delicate interaction between energy supply and demand. Joining EQUIGY is a logical and necessary step for us: in this joint venture we can develop innovative, digital solutions and create standards in close cooperation with our TSO partners to manage the energy transition even better at a national and international level. This is the only way to guarantee the high-quality power supply that our customers in Austria are used for the future.”

 

Most viable approach

Equigy’s solution is seen as the most viable collective approach, offering standardisation, a common approach from TSOs with neutral governance, and the opportunity for scale.

“Equigy is set to play a significant role in driving the energy transition in Europe, and we’re very pleased it’s generating so much interest. We look forward to collaborating with APG,” says Equigy’s Aloia.

 

Equigy welcomes new partners across Europe. If you are interested in joining us, or would like more information, please click here.

 

About Equigy

Equigy plays a key role in the acceleration of the energy transition and the integration of the energy system. With the European crowd balancing platform, Equigy creates a trusted data exchange to enable aggregators to participate with smaller flexibility devices, such as home batteries and electric vehicles, in electricity balancing markets, turning consumers into prosumers. Founded by TenneT, Swissgrid and Terna, three national transmission system operators, Equigy aims to set cross-industry standards throughout Europe, to support a future-proof, reliable and cost-effective power system that is independent of fossil fuel-based flexibility sources.

 

About Austrian Power Grid (APG)

Austrian Power Grid (APG) is Austria’s independent transmission system operator in charge of monitoring and managing the nationwide transmission network. Its infrastructure is the lifeline of the country, its population, and its businesses. The APG network totals a length of about 3,400 km and is operated, maintained, and continuously adapted to the increasing challenges of economy and society by a team of more than 600 specialists. The capacities of the APG grid are the precondition for a successful energy transition. APG’s staff develop suitable market products, have an excellent knowledge of physics, and ensure security and efficiency of supply for Austria. With an investment volume of 357 million Euros in 2021 for the expansion and renovation of the grid infrastructure, APG will provide an important impulse for the domestic construction industry. Over the next ten years APG will invest a total of 3.1 billion Euros in grid expansion and renovation projects, which amounts to approximately 17 percent of the total of 18 billion Euros which the energy industry will invest in the grid development over the next ten years. In the Sustainable Brand Rating 2020 APG has been voted number one in the category ‘public utility infrastructure’ and finished second in the overall ranking of the category ‘investment’.