Grid digitalization and smart meters the keys for European grids future

As this year’s Eurelectric ‘Powerbarometer’ points out, Europe might reach carbon neutrality around 2040, marking another sustainable goal for the continent.

However, in order to meet its decarbonization targets, Europe needs to overcome the bottleneck in expanding grid digitalization. As the recent IEA report ‘Electricity Grids and Secure Energy Transitions’ underlines, investments are needed in order to update grids, which in some cases are not adequate to meet the challenges of the energy transition.

Global grid investment is still static at around $300 billion per year, but needs to almost double to meet the required national commitments. Among the findings and calls to action presented in the IEA report, the Grid Delay case describes the impact of limited investment in modernization and digitalization: while globally we risk having less than 20% of clean electricity generation in 2050, in the EU, that relies heavily on solar photovoltaic and wind to decarbonize electricity, this scenario results in an eight-fold rise in the utilization of natural gas for power generation.

Hence, reinforcing and digitalizing grids is essential. This is the reason why Gridspertise was founded: to help electricity distributors leapfrog into the future of energy by providing cutting-edge technologies and solutions for transforming power networks into smart grids.

Smart meters penetration an opportunity for European grids

Smart meters are the foundational elements of smart grids as they connect consumers to energy distributors, enabling Distribution System Operators (DSOs) to effectively manage electricity demand through real-time data monitoring and ensure grid reliability.

The findings of a recent research conducted by ACER have presented a divided Europe concerning the adoption of smart meters. Half of the 27 EU members have completed their national rollouts while in other countries such as Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany and Greece the technology still has a very low penetration.

Their availability can represent a key enabler for the energy transition: smart meters facilitate the integration of renewables by enabling DSOs’ monitoring of energy produced in real-time, thereby better managing the intermittent nature of these sources and enhancing the clean energy transition. Moreover, smart meters enable end customers to benefit from detailed information on their consumption habits, encouraging more sustainable behaviour and increased energy efficiency.

Gridspertise celebrates 100 million smart meters delivered

The recent 100 million smart meters milestone achieved by Gridspertise encompasses 20 years of smart meters production utilizing the company’s technology: it began with Enel’s first large-scale deployments and the subsequent production of devices under the Gridspertise brand.

The 100 million smart meters with Gridspertise technology have been delivered across Italy, Spain, Romania, Malta, Brazil, and Chile. The company’s extensive experience in the smart grids industry has helped offer end-to-end Advanced Metering Infrastructure along with DSO-specific services that are optimized for different geographical contexts.

Today’s devices are capable of understanding better the increasing complexity of the grid. As customers become increasingly active, and the penetration of distributed energy resources continues to rise, the latest smart meters are more reliable, sustainable and secure.

With the latest deliveries and the recent acquisition of Aidon, a smart metering leader in the Nordics, we have reached over 107 million of smart meters, making Gridspertise a major player in massive rollouts at the European level.

Unveiling and showcasing new solutions at Enlit Europe 2023

Building on its unique expertise, Gridspertise will be unveiling at Enlit Europe 2023 a new cutting-edge solution: a flexible smart meter adaptable to customers needs and built to last. Depending on the DSO’s requirements, this device enables to switch or adapt the communication technology directly in the field, allowing to choose the most appropriate solution from a variety of communication protocols (including Hybrid PLC and RF, Cellular LTE, and Cellular NB-IoT). This new smart meter is also interoperable with third-party vendor solutions, allowing backward compatibility and integration with existing installations.

Gridspertise’s offer also includes compatible Head End System and Meter Data Management System as well as a pool of technical services and support activities, including planning, installation, logistics and maintenance, up to the full operations of a control room, data reporting and billing, with a Metering-as-a-Service approach.

Enlit Europe 2023 will be the occasion for the Company also to showcase other solutions: the ecosystem for MV/LV monitoring and control, as well as the solutions for MV grid protection, automation, and control.

By leveraging on a new edge device integrated with different merging units, as well as on a Low Voltage SCADA, the first solution will enable DSOs to enhance visibility and remote control from the transformer up to its downstream connected LV network, enabling to improve the reliability and quality of service, decrease SAIDI and reduce total costs.

In the field of medium voltage, Gridspertise will present a scalable solution for grid automation, which allows to enhance any legacy SCADA system capabilities with advanced fault location, isolation and service restoration functionalities, reaching a response time within one second.

About Gridspertise

Set up in 2021 and jointly controlled by Enel and CVC, Gridspertise offers grid intelligent devices, end-to-end cloud-edge platform solutions and services to accelerate the digital transformation of electricity distribution grids. Its portfolio easily integrates with DSOs’ existing infrastructure, combining intelligent and automated grid devices with ready-to-use modular applications, running at central level and on the edge.