R&D Nester, the research and development centre created by REN and State Grid Corporation of China,  debate the future of electricity networks, especially substations, at an event in Lisbon on 22 May. The goal of this event, which brings some of the world's most renowned experts in this field to Portugal, was to make distribution networks technologically more sustainable.

The slogan for this event is R&D Nester's own R&D project, Substation of the Future, which seeks to anticipate how future substations will operate within the concept of Smart Grids. World-renowned experts in the field attended to the event, including Alexander Apostolov, manager of OMICRON in the United States, a member of CIGRÉ and one of the world's leading authorities on the study of Substations of the Future; Gregory Huón, director of the substations project at ELIA, transmission grid operator in Belgium and Germany; and Xu Ming, director of Science and Technology at the State Grid Corporation of China.

The meeting discussed how new technology can be incorporated into equipment on existing networks, having an impact on robustness, quality of service, acquisition costs, and the operation and maintenance of electricity networks. Special attention will be paid to the protection, automation and control of equipment and the networks.

According to Nuno Souza e Silva, General Manager of R&D NESTER, "this workshop provided an unequalled opportunity to hear about and participate in this fundamental development that is ongoing in energy networks across the world, and for R&D Nester to share with society and engage it in the work it is developing in this field together with REN and SGCC"

About R&D Nester:
R&D Nester is a research and development centre established by REN and State Grid Corporation of China to promote and implement R&D projects in the fields of power system simulations, management of renewable energies, smart network technologies and the energy market and economy.

Find out more at www.rdnester.com/