New consortium of power system operators commits to decarbonisation action
21 Apr 2021 - 3 minute read
The US and UK energy secretaries joined with power system operators from around the world today – including National Grid ESO – to formally launch the Global Power System Transformation (G-PST) consortium, ahead of President Biden’s Leaders Summit on Climate (April 22-23).
Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy, Jennifer M. Granholm, and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) secretary of state Kwasi Kwarteng – together with global leaders of power system operators and research organisations – introduced the bold initiative, established to accelerate transitions to net zero emission power systems and drive broader economic growth.
Read our director Fintan Slye's blog about the new G-PST consortium
The launch event signals a major commitment from power system operators and other key institutions to implementing the technologies and approaches that will permanently change their emissions trajectories, while simultaneously improving grid reliability, resilience and security.
Secretary of energy Granholm said:
"While each country will take a different path to 100% clean energy, we’ll all face similar obstacles along the way—which means there’s great value in collaboration.
"The Global Power System Transformation Consortium gives leading power system operators a broad range of support—from world-class research institutes to government agencies and private companies—in solving these common challenges, clearing the way for us to collectively cut emissions by 50% over 2020 levels in the next 10 years.
"At the same time, American grid operators will be able to use these solutions to speed our transition at home and unlock millions of new jobs in the U.S."
Secretary of state Kwarteng said:
"Tackling climate change requires international cooperation and if we want to successfully achieve cost-efficient, green energy networks that work for everyone, we need to work together.
"As a world leader in both technological innovation and the renewable energy market, I am delighted that the UK is co-hosting the launch of this new consortium, uniting the very best of business, research and academia to bring world-class renewable energy to the grid – key for economic growth, job creation, the climate and building back greener."
National Grid ESO executive director Fintan Slye said:
"This is a real opportunity to lead the world in decarbonising power systems, at a time when the transition to clean energy has never been more important.
"Our consortium has an ambitious research agenda, and we’re seeing that work in action as we continue to overcome technical challenges to harness more and more renewable power on our respective electricity systems."
The G-PST consortium is led by CEOs of five of the world’s leading system operators – National Grid ESO, Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), California ISO (CAISO), Ireland’s EirGrid and Denmark’s Energinet – supported by a core technical team.
A recording of the launch event is available on the G-PST consortium YouTube channel.