Today, electricity grids are the essential pillars of the energy transition and meet the needs of all stakeholders: generators, network operators, and final users. Over the last few years, they have become increasingly 'smart' and digital, making the electricity system more reliable, resilient, and flexible, reducing its costs and environmental impact.
A series of investments are needed to foster the digital transformation of the grids. The European Union's action plan published at the end of 2022 includes investments of around EUR 584 billion in the electricity grid by 2030. Out of these, approximately 400 billion will be dedicated to distribution networks, including 170 billion for digitization.
Electricity distributors (Distribution System Operators, known by the acronym DSO) can contribute to the digitization process of the grids with measures such as the mass installation of smart meters. These devices are a key part of the change, and their market is set to grow: in the coming years, around EUR 24.2 billion of investments are foreseen in Europe alone for their deployment over the period 2021-2027.
We recently celebrated the milestone of 100 million smart meters delivered confirming our reliability and expertise in the field of power grid digitization. This milestone reflects the effective use of the Enel Group's legacy: it all started with the development and first roll-out of first-generation smart meters at the beginning of 2000, up to the most innovative, interoperable, and flexible solutions produced under the Gridspertise brand as of 2021.
Today, our smart meters are installed on a massive scale in Italy, Spain, Romania, Malta, Brazil, Peru, and Chile, and they are also part of initiatives for introducing this technology in Colombia, Bolivia and Ecuador. Thanks to our solid experience in the field of energy distribution, the solutions offered are field-tested for the management of smart electricity grids worldwide.
Our CEO, Robert Denda, and Gridspertise Heads of business lines discussed about this milestone and the future that awaits the company.
100 million smart meters with Gridspertise technology is a remarkable achievement. How did you reach it?
Robert Denda, CEO of Gridspertise: The milestone of 100 million smart meters produced is certainly linked to our solid foundations within the Enel Group, but this milestone would not have been possible without Gridspertise's design and manufacturing teams, which embody our commitment to innovation, an integral part of our DNA: we combine, in fact, a unique experience in the world of smart grids with a constant focus on the search for new technological solutions.
In particular, our 20 years of experience in energy distribution has enabled us to create products that have several value-added features in terms of reliability, cybersecurity, and sustainability, providing benefits to the entire ecosystem of energy distributors.
We have a solid experience: our smart meters are largely used in field by dozens of DSOs of different sizes and geographies.
Moreover, we offer more than just metering technology: Gridspertise provides software solutions and services and is also able to support DSOs with turnkey smart metering as a service projects, which include the design, planning, installation, integration, operation and end-to-end maintenance of the entire infrastructure.
Smart meters are a key component in the transition towards increasingly digital and intelligent electricity grids. Can you explain their role?
Sergio Martín Guerrero, Chief Digital Officer: Smart meters are the foundational elements of smart grids as they collect data and information on energy consumption and communicate them to users and their suppliers. They are, in fact, crucial in connecting consumers to energy distributors, enabling them to effectively manage electricity demand through real-time data monitoring and ensure grid reliability.
Smart meter solutions provide DSOs with information on the electricity grid, supporting operation and maintenance processes such as real-time collection of data that would otherwise require field inspections. They also enable the monitoring of load balancing on the distribution network so that the infrastructure can always operate in the best condition, maximizing efficiency and minimizing the likelihood of failure.
Smart meters also facilitate the integration of renewables by enabling the monitoring of energy produced in real-time, thereby better managing the intermittent nature of these sources. Finally, they enable end customers to benefit from detailed information on their consumption habits, encouraging more sustainable behavior and increased energy efficiency.
What are the main challenges you faced in reaching this milestone?
Maurizio Rossetto, Chief Operations Officer: Compared to other products such as smartphones, smart meters have a life span of over 15 years and this poses a challenge at the design level because both hardware and firmware have to be designed to handle possible product evolutions and market demands in terms of functionality, standards, and cybersecurity.
For this reason, they must be state-of-the-art. The main challenge is to introduce innovative components, often not yet mass-produced, that already have a high level of reliability. In addition, in anticipating possible future evolutions, the right compromise has to be found between the flexibility to add new functionalities and the demand to keep prices down.
Product evolution also requires a focus on sustainability, recovering more and more from the discarded and maximizing the efficiency of circularity. Indeed, the latest generation of Italian smart meters has been designed with a focus on the environment and the circular economy. These new devices can be produced with recycled plastic materials from first-generation smart meters. Reuse initiatives will also be implemented in Spain and Brazil in the coming years.
What are the key changes in smart meter technology and capabilities over the past 20 years?
Gianni Ceneri, Chief Technology Officer: The first smart meters aimed to digitize electricity consumption readings, providing operational and billing benefits. Their use brought simplicity and transparency, optimizing the relationship between customers and electricity distributors and becoming the most "intelligent" devices in the low-voltage network.
Today, they are turning into real network sensors capable of collecting detailed information, in case of relevant events, and they can be used as a monitoring tool.
The latest generations of smart meters allow to face the increasing complexity of the grid, they enable the deployment of distributed energy resources and, at the same time, ensure consumers an active role in the energy market thanks to high performance standards and new functionalities.
Furthermore, with the growth of information technology infrastructures, the amount of data produced has increased exponentially. This data originates from multiple sources, and it is therefore becoming increasingly important to create standardized, open, and interoperable systems capable of exchanging this information with systems of different types and/or from different producers.
Gridspertise offers a broad portfolio of solutions, adapted to different market requirements and compatible with different communication technologies: from PLC (power line communication) and RF solutions to hybrid solutions, to cellular solutions (LTE-M; NB-IoT). To ensure that our solutions are compatible with international standards, we have joined several associations such as DLMS, G3-Hybrid, PRIME, WiSun, etc. The latest generation of smart meters can advise end customers on their behavior based on the data produced in real time by their generation system. These devices can collect data on home appliances’ consumption, that can be used, for example, to modulate the charging power of an EV charger according to the available capacity and other demands for power in the house. These products also enable DSOs to detect fraud and tampering with increasing accuracy.
The latest addition to Gridspertise smart meter solutions is Globy: a new flexible, built to last and interoperable smart meter. Depending on the DSO's location and requirements, the new device enables them to switch or adapt the communication technology directly in the field, to choose the most appropriate solution from a variety of communication protocols to maximize coverage and connectivity even in rural areas. Globy is also interoperable with third-party vendor solutions, allowing backward compatibility and integration with existing installations, breaking down technology constraints related to proprietary frameworks and vendor-specific ecosystems.
Why do energy distributors choose Gridspertise? What is the company's strength in the grid digitization market?
Santiago Cascante, Chief Commercial Officer: Gridspertise is a customer-centric partner that uses its extensive experience gained within a DSO to deliver solutions that meet the unique needs of each customer. We come from the world of energy distribution and, as a natural consequence, we have been able to create a synergy with distributors that allows us to improve the products we produce daily.
Gridspertise is uniquely positioned to understand the needs of DSOs in various regions and combines in-depth market knowledge with technological innovation. Indeed, Gridspertise offers end-to-end solutions and services to accelerate the digitization of distribution networks. The company's portfolio is designed as an open ecosystem, easily integrated with the existing infrastructure of distribution system operators, combining intelligent, automated grid devices with modular, ready-to-use applications.
What are the prospects for the future of smart metering?
Robert Denda, CEO of Gridspertise: The smart metering industry is being driven by macro-trends that see an increasing electrification of the energy system, the need for an efficient and sustainable electricity grid, the relentless deployment of distributed energy resources (DERs), and the consequent transformation of traditional grids into smart grids.
To meet these challenges, more and more governments are promoting programs to adopt these solutions, leveraging different communication technologies.
Gridspertise responds to these trends with solutions designed for DSOs present in different countries, with geographic configurations ranging from urban to rural environments. Firstly, it is introducing a new flexible smart meter adapted to meet future needs. Depending on the customer's needs, 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.
At the same time, the growing amount of data collected from smart meters and the advances in cloud technologies are leading business to shift from CAPEX to OPEX models. In addition to the traditional way of providing smart meters, there is now a growing demand for metering as a service (MaaS) models, which involve a significant evolution in the way energy consumption is measured and managed.
To meet the changing needs of DSOs, Gridspertise’s metering offerings is being further structured combining the Software as a Service (SaaS) model, in which Gridspertise hosts the metering and data monitoring software on its cloud while DSOs retain management of the software, with the Metering as a Service model, where Gridspertise manages all operational activities for the DSO, and the Infrastructure as a Service model, which also allows the DSO to lease smart meters, avoiding costly upfront investments. We therefore can offer a wide range of services, from simple SaaS solutions to full project management, and tailor our services to meet the specific needs of each customer.
Our recent acquisition of Aidon, a leading provider of smart grid and smart metering solutions, applications and services in the Nordics, perfectly fits in this strategy: it will enable us to further structure our Metering as a Service business, providing our customers with an even more comprehensive portfolio of solutions.
As we will continue to innovate our solutions, we will enable the electricity grid to adapt digitally to a rapidly changing demand for electricity even in very different contexts.