Energy Unplugged by Aurora EP.272 – Renewables at Scale: Flexibility, Grids and the Future Power System
Jan 13, 2026
In this engaging discussion, Ana Paula Márquez, Executive Board Member at EDP, delves into the critical role of flexibility and grids in the renewable energy landscape. She highlights EDP's strategic focus on technology diversity and disciplined value creation for sustainable growth. The conversation covers how renewables and storage are key to system stability, sharing insights from the Iberian blackout, and the evolving demands of data centers and hydrogen. Ana offers a vision for the future energy landscape driven by innovation and market shifts.
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Renewables Need Grids And Flexibility
- Renewables are cheapest and fastest to deploy, but the system needs much more flexibility and grid modernisation.
- Without resilient, interconnected and smart grids we cannot fully harness the clean energy being built.
Invest With Scale, Diversity And Digital
- Drive value via scale, technology diversification and disciplined lifecycle management when investing in renewables.
- Use digital and AI for predictive maintenance, autonomous monitoring and smarter operations.
Renewables Are Becoming Grid Service Providers
- Wind, solar and storage increasingly provide ancillary services when equipped with advanced plant controllers and real-time comms.
- Hybridisation (renewables + batteries) turns variable generation into flexible, marketable resources.