Meet the winners of the 2nd annual ISGAN and the GSGF Award

ISGAN and GSGF Celebrate Excellence in Smart Grids for Renewable Energy Integration

Today, during an awards ceremony at the sixth Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM), the International Smart Grid Action Network (ISGAN) and the Global Smart Grid Federation (GSGF) announced the winners of the second annual ISGAN Award of Excellence and the first‐ever GSGF Best Smartgrid Project Award.

ISGAN honored the “GRID4EU Large‐scale Demonstration of European Smart Distribution Networks” as the winner of its ISGAN Award of Excellence. Exemplifying the 2015 competition theme of “Excellence in Smart Grids for Renewable Energy Integration,” GRID4EU used demand management and grid automation to improve the integration of renewables on medium‐ and low‐voltage electricity networks in Europe.

“GRID4EU pools the expertise and experience of six major European smart grid demonstration projects to achieve the common vision of a ‘smarter and greener grid,’” said Michele de Nigris, Chair of ISGAN’s Executive Committee. “This multi‐project structure, as well as GRID4EU’s approach in using smart grids to integrate renewable energy, stand as best practice examples for the rest of the world.”

ISGAN recognized two other projects for honorable mention, including “DS3 – Delivering a Secure, Sustainable Electricity System”, submitted by Eirgrid (Ireland), and the “Smart Grid Station of Korea Electric Power Corporation” (KEPCO). During the CEM Awards ceremony, Swedish Minister for Energy Ibrahim Baylan presented each of the ISGAN honorees with a certificate noting their achievement.

GSGF announced that KEPCO’s “Smart Grid Station” project would also receive its inaugural Best Smartgrid Project Award, to be presented as part of a GSGF event at the Smart Communities Summit in Tokyo, Japan in June 2015.

The GSGF Chair, Paddy Turnbull, said, “The Smart Grid Station integrates both building systems and renewable energy generation using an impressive assortment of smart grid technologies. The project has tremendous potential for replication, which is a key reason why we will celebrate it with our inaugural GSGF award.”

A distinguished international jury of smart grid experts led by Dr. Ronnie Belmans, GSGF Executive Director, selected the winning projects for both the ISGAN and GSGF awards, drawing from a pool of 14 nominees across 12 countries.

With these annual awards competitions, ISGAN and GSGF aim to showcase global leadership and innovation in smart grids. Honored projects will be promoted by ISGAN and GSGF to an audience spanning more than 27 major developed and emerging economies across five continents.