

Jan 6th, 2025
HO CIRED seminar – active consumer in smart distribution grid
The Croatian branch of the international CIRED conference (HO CIRED) and UNIZG FER co-organized the Seminar “Active customer in a smart grid” on December 6th at the University of Zagreb Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing.
HO CIRED Seminar “Active customer in a smart grid” explores the role of the active customer in the context of smart distribution grids, with special emphasis on innovations, challenges, and opportunities brought by the modernization of power systems. Experts from industry and academia discussed new business models, smart meter technologies, the impact of the integration of renewable energy sources on the power grid, flexibility services, new tools, and the impact of digitization on the energy sector. The aim is to encourage interaction between engineers, researchers, and decision-makers to jointly develop solutions that enable active participation of customers in the energy system, improving the efficiency, sustainability, and reliability of electricity supply.
The seminar consisted of 4 sessions. The first session was dedicated to the Croatian and European regulatory framework for active customers. There were two presentations within the first session. The first presentation was held by professor Davor Škrlec from UNIZG FER, who gave a talk on the topic “Active customers in the legislator and regulatory framework of the European Union”, while Mrs Minea Skok from Energy Institute and Mr Hrvoje Požar presented “Active customers in the Croatian legislator and regulatory framework”. The theme of the second session was “Active customers in a real-world environment: Theory and practical implementation”. Same as in the first session, there were two presentations. Mr Tomislav Stašić from an SME Project2Idea talked about real-world challenges in controlling HVAC systems in smart buildings. In contrast, in the second presentation, Mrs Leila Luttenberger Marić from Končar Digital talked about the integration of smart buildings in power systems and challenges related to communication protocols that enable easier exchange of information between different entities in power systems.
The third session focused on smart grids in Croatia and was the largest session of the seminar, featuring four presentations. Professor Tomislav Capuder from UNIZG FER, who hosted and led the seminar activities, delivered a speech about the smart grid projects in which UNIZG FER has participated over the years. Among the projects highlighted in the presentation was SynGRID, but professor Capuder also discussed earlier projects that preceded SynGRID, identifying them as exemplary initiatives. Following professor Capuder’s presentation, three additional talks were delivered by representatives of the Croatian distribution system operator (HEP ODS). Mr Ivica Hadjina discussed the potential for installing advanced metering infrastructure and addressed the challenges associated with networks that include a significant number of smart meters. Meanwhile, Mr Ivan Periša and Mr Anđelko Tunjić focused on the operational and planning challenges in distribution grids, particularly in scenarios where active customers play a pivotal role.




The final session was dedicated to business models and the coordination between active customers and smart grids. Two successful SMEs gave their insight and shared experience with the topic. Firstly, Mr Goran Jurišić from GridOne presented the platform for managing energy communities and talked about regulatory barriers when founding an energy community in Croatia. The last presentation of the seminar was from Mr Dominik Maričević, Nano Energies, who talked about the concept of virtual power plants and how the company participates in ancillary service markets and helps the system operator resolve issues in the grid.
Following the presentations, there was a discussion between the presenters and all seminar participants. The discussion gave more detailed insight into the topic and provided answers to emerging questions in the field of the role of active customers in smart grids.