EUSAIR - Final Report

»European
power system is
one of the most
sophisticated
machines
in the world«
Interview with Uroš Salobir,
Director of the Strategic Innovation Department,
ELES, d.o.o.
The Adriatic-Ionian Region, given its climatic
characteristics, seems a paradise of sun and wind.
How green is the Adriatic-Ionian Region really
in terms of energy?
It’s certainly green. However, the return on investment
in renewable energy sources is not only dependent on
climatic conditions and investment resources, but also
the region’s ability to penetrate other regions in Europe
with its energy. And, of course, that it is able to transfer
energy from these regions back when the system conditions
require it. In the Adriatic-Ionian Region, in order to
achieve this goal, it is necessary to ensure the resilience
of the network through investments, new market mechanisms
and innovations, which will be able to implement
the above.
What good practices in the field of integration
of new dispersed resources can Slovenia offer
to countries of the region?
The Slovene electricity network is very well connected
with neighbouring countries, so it is a strong hub among
some of the most important regional electricity markets.
Compared to the electricity networks of other European
countries, it is relatively small, so of course what is happening
on it also strongly depends on what is happening
in the neighbouring networks. Strong international
involvement and the ability to create major national
projects quickly are our comparative advantages.
The main motivation for designing two major international
demonstration projects (SINCRO.GRID and
FutureFlow) was to address regional challenges related
to the integration of larger amounts of renewables into
the grid and to provide sufficient flexibility resources
needed to regulate the electricity system. In the NEDO
project, with the inclusion of a large number of Slovene
partners and the establishment of a system of integrated
and centrally managed cloud solutions, we actually
introduced a smart grid at the national level. After all
this, Slovenia has a lot of experience in testing new
technological solutions and implementing demonstrations
or pilot projects, which can then be used at the
regional or European level.
How would you summarize your key experiences
from participating in the European Commissionfunded
MIGRATE project through Horizon 2020?
The MIGRATE project was constructed and carried
out due to fundamental changes in the technical
characteristics of the future interconnected system.
38 | EUSAIR Slovene Presidency