Smart grids and energy markets: towards a real-time energy system

This chapter provides an overview on how information systems and digital technologies can support the integration of increasing shares of renewable energy sources into electricity grids and energy markets by describing current challenges and opportunities to bridge the existing “digital gap” (Section 2), by highlighting relevant technologies (Section 3), by giving examples of what a real-time energy system may look like (Section 4), and by outlining key challenges on the way towards a real-time energy system (Section 5). In this context, the chapter underlines the particular importance of establishing and implementing standards and using latest methods for the analysis of data to actively integrate millions of (heterogeneous) devices and assets into the system. Digital technologies can help in this process both to capture each of these devices in the system and to automate their actions via data exchange in real time, as well as to preserve necessary privacy of market participants.