Redes de energí­a e "innovación" tecnológica en Europa: El caso de Francia

Abstract

Many authors from different disciplinary fields analyze the transformation processes that characterize societies since the late twentieth century, where the advancement of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has been prevailing. However, the literature from the humanities and social sciences is limited. In the first years of the 2000s, the relation between technology-energy-territory appears as a field of debate. At this scenario, one way to understanding the development of innovative technology projects is studying the emergency and potential transformations of energy networks.

Territorial production and distribution of energy are presented as challenges in most of the “central” and “peripheral” countries, but especially those whose energy matrix is characterized by reliance on hydrocarbons.

In recent years, it is adding to the growing distribution network, communication systems advocating passage from an electricity system “centralized” to another “distributed” where consumers are actively involved in the whole system manner. In this framework, they begin to transcend the so-called Smart Grids that combine the traditional power grid ICT, to constitute a new way of managing the flows of electricity and the incorporation of renewable energies. While internationally the experimental cases of Smart Grids are multiplying, their incorporation depends on the available infrastructure, flows of resources possible, of the existence of a market, the interest of public and private stakeholders and the establishment of national and regional institutions chords.

This paper presents the progress of an investigation initiated in 2014, which has the overall objective to know the characteristics of the processes of technological “innovation” in the Smart Grids in Europe, particularly in France.