First EU-US interoperability center for e-mobility and smart grids inaugurated

19 July 2013

The first of the twin centers designed to promote common standards in electric mobility and smart grids on both sides of the Atlantic was inaugurated at Argonne National Laboratory. Chicago. The launch of the Interoperability Centre for electric vehicles and smart grids is the fruit of 18 months of dedicated work following the Letter of Intent (LoI) for closer co-operation, signed by the JRC, the European Commission’s in-house science service, and the US Department of Energy (DOE) in 2011.

Converging standards and interoperability between smart grids and electric vehicles will allow for deeper penetration of renewable energies in the electricity systems, thus facilitating the way to a low-carbon economy, The JRC said. Technology harmonization will drive product and service innovation in the two world’s largest economies and could prove instrumental in establishing global standards for electric mobility.

The second Centre will be opened in the EU, at the JRC sites in Petten, The Netherlands and Ispra, Italy, in 2014.

The interaction between smart grids and electric vehicles will enable economically efficient, sustainable power systems with low losses and high security of supply and safety. Smart grids, as upgraded electricity networks, will provide a two-way digital communication between supplier and consumer which will predict and respond to the actions of all users connected to the grid.

Standardization in this field will benefit the European energy landscape while converging transatlantic technical regulations could lead the way to global standards, the JRC said.