THE BALTIC POWER SYSTEM BETWEEN EAST AND WEST INTERCONNECTIONS

Due to historical and geographical reasons, the Baltic States are strongly connected to the power (electricity) transmission grids of Russia and Belarus. Current energy security and energy independence targets in the EU trigger seeking for alternative power sources for the Baltic. Knowing that, a power system model of the Baltic States has been developed and validated with the purpose of providing comparative options for a reliable and secure development of the Baltic electricity system. The analysis of horizon 2020 and 2030 showed that the dependency of Baltic States on the outside resources is fairly low, provided that the expansion of the electricity system goes as planned.JRC.F.3-Energy Security, Systems and Marke

Development of Smart Grid Standards in View of Energy System Functionalities

A range of technologies must be developed and deployed for achieving a decarbonised energy system. A smart grid aims to integrate these different technologies into a single, over-arching system that is at the same time both complex and interoperable, which cannot be achieved without standardisation. Moreover, standardisation is a method of transferring research into successful processes and products. Without this, existing conventional energy systems will not change much longer, as it is more difficult to achieve significant market penetration of new technologies and deployment of new functions and applications. It seems that standardisation issues are not sufficiently addressed in scientific publications and are treated as a very specific topic by community of researchers despite the fact that standards may serve as a knowledge base for further research and improvement of emerging technologies and approaches. This paper presents a bird's-eye smart grid standardisation review based on a unique functionality - technology approach developed within Horizon 2020 project PANTERA.acceptedVersio

Smart Grid Standardisation: Contributions and Opportunities of EU Horizon 2020 Projects

Standards are critically important for smartening the grid because they affect the interoper-ability, compatibility, efficiency, and realisation of new technologies and services. In this paper we assess the contribution of EU funded Horizon 2020 projects to adapting or initiating new Smart Grid standards. We provide a comprehensive overview of the Smart Grid standardisation ecosystem and identify opportunities for researchers and innovators to participate in stan-dardisation activities. We identify 225 Horizon 2020 Smart Grid projects and explore which have contributed to the creation or revision of Smart Grid standards. We identify the type of standardisation activities undertaken and explore the factors that influence engagement. We have found that 21 % of EU Horizon 2020 Smart Grid projects engage in some level of standardisation activities. Of these projects the majority (60 %) are involved in understanding standards, 31 % actively engage in influencing standards, while 8 % successfully participate in elaborating new standards. Our study demonstrates that despite the complexity of the Smart Grid Standardisation ecosystem, EU funded researchers and innovators play an important role in the standardisation process.Smart Grid Standardisation: Contributions and Opportunities of EU Horizon 2020 ProjectspublishedVersio

Experimental verification of smart grid control functions on international grids using a real-time simulator

The drastic increase in distributed energy resources (DERs) leads to challenges in the operation of distribution systems worldwide. While several solutions for grid monitoring and control are available on the market and in literature, this research is the first of its kind aiming to supervise the grid by providing a modular configurable unified hardware and software architecture. The control algorithms are configured using data models according to IEC 61850-7-3 and IEC 61850-7-4. The novel system architecture is a portable, modular and flexible architecture that aggregates smart grid control functions onto a standardised hardware platform, emphasising the need for hardware independence. The central controller contains several smart grid control functions and the various field devices are distributed across the distribution grid. This paper deals with the simulation of different real-world distribution grids on the Real-Time Simulator (RTS) and experimental verification of the control algorithms. Smart grid control functions such as Coordinated Voltage Control (CVC) and Optimal Power Flow (OPF) are experimentally verified on a German grid. The grid dynamics are compared when the central controller executes the CVC against the OPF implementations. The experimental results, advantages and challenges of each control are presented here. The results also showed the variation in grid behaviour when the control parameters were varied. The paper also shows that the algorithm and the choice of the control parameters depend upon the distribution grid's complexity and the system operator's individual needs. The results illustrate the potential of such a universal distribution automation solution for system operators worldwide

The novel adrenergic agonist ATR-127 targets skeletal muscle and brown adipose tissue to tackle diabesity and steatohepatitis

ObjectiveSimultaneous activation of β2- and β3-adrenoceptors (ARs) improves whole-body metabolism via beneficial effects in skeletal muscle and brown adipose tissue (BAT). Nevertheless, high-efficacy agonists simultaneously targeting these receptors whilst limiting activation of β1-ARs – and thus inducing cardiovascular complications – are currently non-existent. Therefore, we here developed and evaluated the therapeutic potential of a novel β2-and β3-AR, named ATR-127, for the treatment of obesity and its associated metabolic perturbations in preclinical models.MethodsIn the developmental phase, we assessed the impact of ATR-127's on cAMP accumulation in relation to the non-selective β-AR agonist isoprenaline across various rodent β-AR subtypes, including neonatal rat cardiomyocytes. Following these experiments, L6 muscle cells were stimulated with ATR-127 to assess the impact on GLUT4-mediated glucose uptake and intramyocellular cAMP accumulation. Additionally, in vitro, and in vivo assessments are conducted to measure ATR-127's effects on BAT glucose uptake and thermogenesis. Finally, diet-induced obese mice were treated with 5 mg/kg ATR-127 for 21 days to investigate the effects on glucose homeostasis, body weight, fat mass, skeletal muscle glucose uptake, BAT thermogenesis and hepatic steatosis.ResultsExposure of L6 muscle cells to ATR-127 robustly enhanced GLUT4-mediated glucose uptake despite low intramyocellular cAMP accumulation. Similarly, ATR-127 markedly increased BAT glucose uptake and thermogenesis both in vitro and in vivo. Prolonged treatment of diet-induced obese mice with ATR-127 dramatically improved glucose homeostasis, an effect accompanied by decreases in body weight and fat mass. These effects were paralleled by an enhanced skeletal muscle glucose uptake, BAT thermogenesis, and improvements in hepatic steatosis.ConclusionsOur results demonstrate that ATR-127 is a highly effective, novel β2- and β3-ARs agonist holding great therapeutic promise for the treatment of obesity and its comorbidities, whilst potentially limiting cardiovascular complications. As such, the therapeutic effects of ATR-127 should be investigated in more detail in clinical studies

GRK-biased adrenergic agonists for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity.

Biased agonism of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) offers potential for safer medications. Current efforts have explored the balance between G proteins and β-arrestin; however, other transducers like GPCR kinases (GRKs) remain understudied. GRK2 is essential for β2 adrenergic receptor (β2AR)-mediated glucose uptake, but β2AR agonists are considered poor clinical candidates for glycemic management due to Gs/cyclic AMP (cAMP)-induced cardiac side effects and β-arrestin-dependent desensitization. Using ligand-based virtual screening and chemical evolution, we developed pathway-selective agonists of β2AR that prefer GRK coupling. These compounds perform well in preclinical models of hyperglycemia and obesity and demonstrate a lower potential for cardiac and muscular side effects compared with standard β2-receptor agonists and incretin mimetics, respectively. Furthermore, the lead candidate showed favorable pharmacokinetics and was well tolerated in a placebo-controlled clinical trial. GRK-biased β2AR partial agonists are thus promising oral alternatives to injectable incretin mimetics used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity

Correction: GRK-biased adrenergic agonists for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity (Cell,

(Cell 188, 5142–5156.e1–e23; September 18, 2025)In the original online version of the article, the predicted binding modes for compounds 15 and 21 were mislabeled as 21 and 15, respectively, in Figure 3C. The template and mutant constructs of β2AR were incorrectly referred to as ADRA2B instead of ADRB2 in the “method details.” In Figure S1C, the figure caption underreported the number of independent experiments (n = 4–10) and should read: “Data are shown as ligand-stimulated BRET mean ± SEM (n = 5–10 biologically independent experiments).” Two errors were also noted in Mendeley Data S14 and S21. Specifically, the error bars presented in subpanels C to F in Mendeley Data S14 are SEM, not SD, and the image depicting compound 21 on page S4 of Mendeley Data S21 is missing a fluorine in position 3 on the benzene ring. These items have now been corrected in the online version of the article, and the authors apologize for any confusion that this may have created. [Figure presented][Figure presented

Customer Dissatisfaction Index and its Improvement Costs

Customer Dissatisfaction Index and its Improvement CostsThe paper gives description of customer dissatisfaction index (CDI) that can be used as reliability level characterizing factor. The factor is directly joined with customer satisfaction of power supply and can be used for control of reliability level of power supply for residential customers. CDI relations with other reliability indices are shown. Paper also gives a brief overview of legislation of Latvia in power industry that is the base for CDI introduction. Calculations of CDI improvement costs are performed in the paper too.</jats:p

Estimation of Power Supply Interruption Related Costs. Methodology, Survey Questionnaire and Received Data Normalization

This paper deals with problems related to determination of customer costs of reliability – the total amount of costs related with power supply interruptions (loss of production, overtime costs to personnel (stuff), etc.) and expenses related with activities for diminishing negative effect of power supply interruptions (UPS devices, generators, additional insurance, etc.). The paper gives description of different cost estimation methods based on review and analysis of proposals for customer cost estimation and customer cost estimation surveys from different countries. On the basis of analysis of different customer cost estimation surveys and questionnaires, there is proposed new design of questionnaire for surveys with the aim to use it for performing customer cost evaluation study in the frames of “Government action plan” of Latvian government for year 2012. Problem of survey data normalization is discussed and proposal of appropriate normalisation factors, from authors` point of view, is given. Results of the work presented in the paper could be used when: • trying to get knowledge of customer valuation of reliability; • developing financial incentives for performance-based regulation of utilities (system operators); • developing guaranteed reliability standards; • etc