Accelerating Power Flexibility: How a Virtual Substation propels decarbonisation and efficiency
Arnaud Cantin, Schneider Electric’s Senior Vice President of the Digital Power Line of Business, shares his insights into the biggest DSO challenges and how virtual substations are a valuable piece in solving these.
The most impactful power management trends and Schneider’s innovations, like virtual substations, enable power flexibility, leading to decarbonised and efficient grids.
The discussion focused on the challenges of optimizing energy flows in existing infrastructure, emphasizing the importance of flexibility and intelligence at every grid level.
Virtual substations are highlighted as key enablers for local optimization and smarter grid management. The conversation also touched on the shift from analog to digital systems and now to virtual, which includes the entire life cycle of design and testing.
The use of digital twins is seen as a method to de-risk projects and enable real-time upgrades. The goal is to accelerate the adoption of these technologies to integrate more renewables and electric vehicle charging within the current infrastructure.
Arnaud emphasizes the importance of flexibility in optimizing energy flows within existing infrastructure, highlighting the high costs and long timelines associated with building new infrastructure.
Arnaud highlights that flexibility in substation operations and the ability to upgrade schemes in real-time are key benefits of virtual systems.
Watch the video interview with Arnaud Cantin below.
You might be interested in:
Energy Transitions podcast: Virtualisation in utilities – Technological innovation or necessity?
Virtual substations, the driver for digitalised grids
