Strasser, T. I.de Jong, E. C. W.Sosnina, M.Rodriguez-Seco, J. E.Kotsampopoulos, P.Babazadeh, D.Mäki, K.Bhandia, R.Brandl, R.Sandroni, C.Heussen, K.Coffele, F.2020-11-09Strasser , T I , de Jong , E C W , Sosnina , M , Rodriguez-Seco , J E , Kotsampopoulos , P , Babazadeh , D , Mäki , K , Bhandia , R , Brandl , R , Sandroni , C , Heussen , K & Coffele , F 2020 , ' Achievements, experiences, and lessons learned from the European research infrastructure ERIGrid related to the validation of power and energy systems ' , e & i Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik , vol. unknown , no. 8 , pp. 502-508 . https://doi.org/10.1007/s00502-020-00843-41613-7620researchoutputwizard: 11556/1024Publisher Copyright: © 2020, CIGRE - Reprint from www.cigre.org with kind permission.Power system operation is of vital importance and must be developed far beyond today’s practice to meet future needs. Almost all European countries are facing an abrupt and very important increase of renewables with intrinsically varying yields which are difficult to predict. In addition, an increase of new types of electric loads and a reduction of traditional production from bulk generation can be observed as well. Hence, the level of complexity of system operation steadily increases. Because of these developments, the traditional power system is being transformed into a smart grid. Previous and ongoing research has tended to focus on how specific aspects of smart grids can be developed and validated, but until now there exists no integrated approach for analysing and evaluating complex smart grid configurations. To tackle these research and development needs, a pan-European research infrastructure is realized in the ERIGrid project that supports the technology development as well as the roll-out of smart grid technologies and solutions. This paper provides an overview of the main results of ERIGrid which have been achieved during the last four years. Also, experiences and lessons learned are discussed and an outlook to future research needs is provided. © 2020, CIGRE - Reprint from www.cigre.org with kind permission.71549637enginfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessjournal article10.1007/s00502-020-00843-4EducationHardware-in-the-loopResearch infrastructureSimulationSmart gridsTestingTrainingEducationHardware-in-the-loopResearch infrastructureSimulationSmart gridsTestingTrainingElectrical and Electronic EngineeringProject IDinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/654113/EU/European Research Infrastructure supporting Smart Grid Systems Technology Development, Validation and Roll Out/ERIGridinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/654113/EU/European Research Infrastructure supporting Smart Grid Systems Technology Development, Validation and Roll Out/ERIGridFunding InfoThis work is supported by the European Community’s Horizon 2020 Program (H2020/2014-2020) under project “ERIGrid” (Grant Agreement No. 654113).This work is supported by the European Community’s Horizon 2020 Program (H2020/2014-2020) under project “ERIGrid” (Grant Agreement No. 654113).http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85095722721&partnerID=8YFLogxK