The electricity industry is undergoing far-reaching transformations. While the primary focus has been on decarbonizing supply and electrifying end uses, the challenges faced by grid operators, particularly Transmission System Operators (TSOs), have so far received less attention. TSOs play an essential role in maintaining the security and quality of electricity supply and are central to the energy transition. Despite being regulated monopolies shielded from direct competition, TSOs face numerous challenges, necessitating proactive future-proofing through investments in innovation and new technologies, organizational changes, and innovative business models.
This thesis explores how TSOs approach innovation to counter these challenges, what drives their efforts, and how they see their role evolving in the future. It employs a mixed-methods approach, combining a qualitative benchmarking analysis to create a comparative assessment of TSOs' innovativeness, in-depth interviews with innovation leaders to provide more detailed perspectives, and quantitative modeling of the impact of disruptive technology on their business.
In particular, it creates a comprehensive dataset of projects and initiatives being undertaken by TSOs across key technologies, identifying factors that might influence their innovativeness. It examines how TSOs perceive their evolving roles. Additionally, it conducts economic analysis on the impact of disruptive innovations like battery electricity storage.
Finally, the thesis identifies strategies for future-proofing TSOs, emphasizing among others: decentralized innovation approaches, digital innovations, grid-enhancing technologies, sustainability, collaboration and integration with other network operators, alongside regulatory adaptations to support innovation and investment in new technologies.
TSOs must embrace innovation to effectively drive and implement the energy transition in a timely manner, ensuring the achievement of climate goals. This necessitates strong regulatory support and strategic adaptability.