By Renewable Energy Focus staff

“Although the smart grid has a technical focus, we must make private sector involvement a priority,” says Guido Bartels, General Manager, Energy & Utilities Industry, IBM and Chairman, GSGF.

“Regulators and consumer organisations have to get involved from the outset in demonstration and especially in deployment to make sure they understand and benefit from smart grids. We must become adept at reviewing and adjusting our policy and market models as technologies evolve and provide new options and opportunities for business and consumers.”

Smart grids roadmap

GSGF has contributed to the formulation of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Technology Roadmap on Smart Grids – the result of a series of valuable expert consultation workshops organized by IEA throughout 2010.

“The roadmap is a comprehensive consolidation of worldwide opinion in matters relating to the adoption and implementation of smart grid technologies,” Bartels says. “The most notable section of the document highlights the significant value of policy and regulation in driving smart grid investment; this is perhaps the single most important task for all stakeholders in the electricity sector.”