2026 Event Schedule

Customers want electricity that is safe, affordable and reliable. Some want it to be clean. Most of them are connected to the grid. Some require new service connections or interconnections.

Here is the question: How do we plan resilient and reliable grid interconnections to deliver excellent power quality to customers, while ensuring grid investments are sustainable, affordable and cost-effective?

We propose to share an overview of these challenges are addressed in France for its 40million customers and 1.5 million kilometers of power lines.

Starting from the multi-annual energy plan designed by French State, we will summarize the fifteen-year grid development plans for transmission and distribution assets published by the regulated grid operators.

We will present a methodology involving grid master plans and tailored investment plans. These plans are designed to prepare the infrastructure for load growth and new grid connections, prevent outages, replace aging equipment and mitigate the impact of extreme weather events on the grid.

We believe there is significant differences in the timeframes associated with planning. Grid operators design and build the infrastructure for 40 years or more, whereas some digital technologies progress and reach technological maturity in a matter of months, and customer behavior can change rapidly. For instance, the number of self-consumers in France has tripled in the last two years, exceeding 300,000, and the grid operator has updated its voltage plan to consider the dynamic integration of additional renewable energies.

Additionally, we note that extreme weather events tend to occur more frequently and cause more damage to the grid in France and its overseas departments and territories. After each event – whether a storm, snowfall, flooding or wildfire - a special investment plan is designedto adapt and rebuild the grid. Grid planning teams define the most appropriate investments to repair, mitigate and prepare for further risks.

Reliability sometimes requires redundancy, which can result in increased costs. We believe that there is a balance to be achieved between reliability and affordability, and that grid operators can act as trusted parties to manage grid reliability for all on a large scale in asustainable, affordable and cost-effective manner.

For instance, grid operators work closely with stakeholders from the electricity industry, including producers, consumers and prosumers, as well as regulatory authorities, to define requirements for electrical equipment interconnected to the grid. We will see how laboratory and field tests are important for ensuring that interconnected equipment is safe and will not cause major disturbances for other consumers interconnected to the grid. Occasionally, field testing campaigns may be necessary to ensure compliance with the set requirements.

Reliability and resiliency necessitate observability, automation, command and control tomonitor grid assets and their status. Grid system operators need information and data to operate the grid, perform predictive maintenance and restore power as soon as possible after an outage. Therefore, the information and communication technologies that grid operators rely on must also be secure, reliable and resilient. Additionally, grid operators must share information with customers, regulators and local authorities in a fast-paced environment where people want to know what is happening and when power will be restored.

We propose to share some experiences and practices regarding how these challenges are addressed in France. We look forward to discussing these topics further with the audience.