“Characterization of TSO and DSO Grid System Services and TSO-DSO Basic Coordination Mechanisms in the Current Decarbonization Context” is the most recent scientific publication from the EUniversal project members Clara Gouveia, Everton Alves, José Villar, Ricardo Silva  and Ricardo Ferreira (INESC TEC), and with the indirect contributions of those other members that were involved in tasks 1.2 and 2.1 of the project.

This paper:

• is based on existing literature and on the work of ongoing European projects such as EUniversal, EU-SysFlex and Interconnect. Those interested on Distribution System Operators (DSO) services can refer to Deliverable 1.2 “Observatory of research and demonstration initiatives on future electricity grids and markets” and Deliverable 2.1 “Grid flexibility services definition” for a more detailed characterization.

• presents an integrated view on grid services for both Transmission System Operator (TSO) and DSO and a summary on TSO-DSO coordination mechanisms. Both current TSO grid services, but also potentially new grid services for TSO and for DSO that may be needed as a consequence of the current decarbonization strategy are presented. The contribution of Distributed Energy Resources (DER) can provide to meet those needs is also discussed.

Therefore, its main contributions are:

1. a characterization of the current and expected TSO services considering the power system evolution and expected scarcities;

2. a characterization of the potential future DSO system services, with the identification of the main attributes to specify their technical requirements and a DSOs’ practical assessment on the needs and services identified;

3. a revision of the main TSO-DSO markets coordination mechanisms to integrate DER in the provision of system services.