DSO for Digital Twins

Project Information

DSO4DT

Grant agreement ID: 101213413

DOI

10.3030/101213413

EC signature date 19 November 2024

Start date 1 January 2025

End date 31 December 2027

Funded under

• Climate, Energy and Mobility

Total cost

€ 750 000,00

EU contribution

€ 750 000,00

Coordinated by

EU DSO ENTITY
Belgium

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - DSO4DT (DSO for Digital Twins)

Reporting period: 2025-01-01 to 2026-06-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Europe's electricity grids are at the heart of the energy transition. As more renewable energy, electric vehicles, heat pumps and local energy communities connect to the system, the distribution grids operated across Europe must become far more flexible, observable and intelligent than before. Digitalisation, and in particular the concept of the “Digital Twin”, is widely seen as one of the key enablers of this transformation. A Digital Twin is a living digital representation of the physical grid that can be used to monitor it, to simulate different situations and to plan ahead. The European Commission's Action Plan for Grids (2023) explicitly calls for the faster deployment of such innovative grid technologies.

So far, however, the European debate on Digital Twins has been shaped mainly by transmission system operators, technology providers and research projects. The distribution system operators (DSOs), the companies that run the medium- and low-voltage grids to which most citizens and most renewable installations are connected, have been largely absent from this conversation, even though Digital Twins must ultimately work in their networks.

DSO4DT (DSO for Digital Twins) addresses this gap. It is a Coordination and Support Action funded under Horizon Europe and carried out by the EU DSO Entity, the body that represents Europe's DSOs. Its overall objective is to accelerate the uptake of Digital Twins of the European electricity grid by mobilising the practical expertise of DSOs and connecting it to the many ongoing Digital Twin initiatives. The project concentrates on four outcomes defined by the EU: stronger observability and control of the grid; better infrastructure and network planning; joint modelling for a more resilient grid; and greater use of active system management and forecasting to support flexibility and demand response.

By giving DSOs a clear and common voice, DSO4DT aims to ensure that Digital Twins are developed in a way that reflects the real operational needs of distribution networks. In doing so, the project supports Europe in building a more reliable, efficient and future-proof electricity system.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During its first eighteen months, DSO4DT put in place the structures, contacts and analysis needed to bring the expertise of European DSOs to the development of Digital Twins.

The project first mapped the European Digital Twin landscape, identifying the main initiatives, projects and organisations active on the topic and grouping them into five categories of stakeholders. It then engaged with these actors to understand their work and their support needs, and identified four complementary approaches to Digital Twin development that are being pursued across Europe.

The most important technical result of the period is the project's first “State of Digital Twins for the Electricity Grid Across Europe” report, which has been published openly. It is the first document to set out clearly what a Digital Twin means from the point of view of a distribution system operator, and to assess how widely Digital Twins are actually used across European DSOs. A central finding is that a Digital Twin is best understood as the gradual integration of data, models and processes over time, rather than as a single product to be purchased. The report also shows that adoption is still at an early and uneven stage across Europe. These conclusions were tested and confirmed with experts from all stakeholder groups at a dedicated expert exchange organised during ENLIT 2025.

In parallel, the EU DSO Entity and the European transmission operators' association ENTSO-E deepened their cooperation on Digital Twins. Together they published a technical report describing concrete Digital Twin use cases and the solutions needed to deliver them across voltage levels, and they jointly launched the public DSO/TSO Technopedia. This online knowledge platform catalogues proven grid technologies, including Digital Twins, together with real examples of implemented projects, and is freely accessible to operators, policymakers and the wider public.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The project's results advance the European state of play on Digital Twins in several ways.

First, DSO4DT has produced the first shared, distribution-oriented understanding of what a Digital Twin is and what it is for. Until now, definitions were driven mainly by transmission-level and technology-provider perspectives. Offering a common, evidence-based reference point from the distribution side is a genuine novelty and gives the whole sector a clearer basis for cooperation.

Second, the project delivered the first Europe-wide baseline assessment of how ready DSOs are to use Digital Twins. It shows that strong foundations exist in areas such as network planning and, increasingly, data integration and observability, but that fully integrated, continuously updated Digital Twins remain rare and are found only among a small number of front-runners.

Third, through the DSO/TSO Technopedia, the project helped create a durable, openly accessible knowledge platform that links specific grid technologies to concrete, measurable use cases. Because the platform is anchored in a European policy mandate and jointly governed by the distribution and transmission communities, it is designed to outlive the project and to keep growing.

To turn these results into wider uptake, several needs stand out. The sector has clearly asked for concrete, demonstrable examples that show the more theoretical concepts in action, especially from the most advanced operators. Broader deployment will also depend on progress in data interoperability and standardisation, on regulatory frameworks that allow operators to recover the cost of advanced digital investments, on continued cooperation between transmission and distribution operators, and on targeted support for smaller DSOs, which often have limited in-house capacity. Addressing these needs is the focus of the project's remaining work.