The digital transformation of the electricity grid | edp.com

The future of energy grids is digital

The networks that guarantee electricity are becoming increasingly complex, due to the growing number of ‘actors’, whether they are producers (especially renewables), consumers or aggregators, with specific needs that are not always easy to balance.

The energy that powers our lives today comes from everywhere, from the top of a mountain to the roof of a building, from a sunny plain to the ocean. Green energy that accelerates the energy transition, expanding the use of electricity to more and more electrical equipment, reaching cars and public transportation. The transmission and distribution networks, which guarantee the stability of the power system in general, have to be more agile and secure, relying on digitalisation and advanced technologies that make breakdowns or shortages increasingly rare. The digital transition is reaching all areas of operation, from production infrastructures to customers' electricity meters.

"It's a very targeted effort to improve the service provided. To do what needs to be done more efficiently, faster and better", explains Pedro Terras Marques, from the System Management and Operation Department at E-REDES, the company responsible for electricity distribution in mainland Portugal. The sector has undergone profound transformations recently, with the increase in wind and solar production, the strengthening of electrification and the emergence and expansion of electric mobility. All this evolution has been supported by technological advances. Over the last 20 years, EDP has invested heavily in digitalisation, not only of its network and the assets associated with it, but also of nearly all its business processes and tools.

Customers at the forefront of digitalisation 

One of the major technological advances in the energy sector started right at the end of the distribution chain, with private and business customers. The introduction of smart meters has brought greater efficiency and predictability to operations. According to Pedro Terras Marques, "The rollout of smart meters on the low-voltage network has allowed for a completely different visibility and interaction with all the customers who are connected to the low-voltage network, which until then was mainly managed on a reactive basis". From the company's point of view, he gives the following examples: "the access to a range of information that can influence their decision-making", whether in terms of investment or maintenance of the network, or from the point of view of the service provided. “For example, if a customer calls the contact centre with a power failure and has smart metering equipment with active remote management, we'll be able to tell if the fault is inside the customer's installation or in the fault in the distribution network,” says the director of E-REDES.

All of this makes it easier to manage the pickets, who only travel to a customer's home if necessary. "It has improved the efficiency of the company's processes, contributing to a significant reduction in operating costs, a much closer, customer-centred interaction, and ultimately an improvement in the quality of the services provided," says Hugo Miguel Pereira, from the Infrastructure, Platforms & Connectivity team in E-REDES’ Digital Platform Department. He also points out that with smart meters, "consumers can monitor their consumption in real-time, encouraging more efficient consumption habits".

All interaction with the operational teams is managed in a computerised way, whether it's managing faults, scheduled interventions in the network (technical or commercial) or solving problems in the public lighting network. The growing use of digital channels for customer/company interaction, especially the E-REDES application, allows for more fluid and georeferenced communication, which is directed to the work centres of the pickets, allowing all requests to be tracked and the quality of service provided to be monitored.

Sensorization: the importance of data

The detailed gathering of consumption data can optimise the management of the energy distribution network, improving operational efficiency and offering customers greater transparency and customisation in their energy consumption, which results in fairer tariffs and an improved quality of service. For Pedro Terras Marques, it's no longer just about managing electricity networks: "Today, we not only manage energy flows, but above all we manage information flows".

“The digitalisation of the energy grid is crucial to making it smarter and more efficient", sums up Hugo Miguel Pereira, amd that is why "technologies such as smart meters and energy management systems play a key role". And soon, IoT sensors “will make it possible to collect real-time data on the performance of the network, identifying faults and areas of inefficiency”, he adds, explaining that "this data can be transmitted to control centres, where artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms can analyse the information, anticipate problems and optimise the flow of energy".

"All data is important for the management of the network, but it can also be important for the academic world and other areas of society, and it could stimulate innovation and generate new business models centred on the use of electricity", says Ricardo Santos, from E-REDES' Digital Acceleration Department. With this in mind, the Open Data portal was launched, which makes such information transparently available. "We believe that collaboration and knowledge sharing are essential to driving innovation and building a more sustainable future. At E-REDES, we are committed to opening our doors to the world, promoting a culture of transparency and co-operation", says Ricardo Santos.

The cybersecurity challenge...

One of the main concerns in the field of digitalisation is the issue of computer security for energy systems, both in terms of data and network operation. A communication port, as in the case of smart meters, can become a risk. ‘If there's a gateway, it's always an invitation for someone with less favourable intentions to cause some kind of disruption", emphasises Pedro Terras Marques, "and naturally this is a concern for the entire EDP group, particularly in the networks".

...And the challenge of human resources

“Digitalisation represents a significant human resources challenge”, reminds Ricardo Santos, "especially with regard to the change in the technical profile needed to operate and manage the new technologies". Software engineering, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity are some of the areas that are gaining ground in most sectors of activity worldwide, and Energy is no exception.

Pedro Terras Marques points out that when he joined the company 28 years ago, electrical engineers were the overwhelming majority of hires, but that profile has changed a lot: "Naturally, we still hire electrical engineers, but we also hire mathematicians, data analysts, cybersecurity specialists and forestry engineers". The director of E-REDES emphasises that this focus on the diversity of profiles generates a rich variety of perspectives and provides a complementary approach.

For Ricardo Santos, "it's essential that companies invest in training and retraining their employees, and that they also invest in attracting new talent with technical profiles that traditionally wouldn't consider a career in this sector". According to him, "digitalisation also requires a change in organisational culture, companies need to adopt a more agile and innovative mentality, where experimentation and continuous adaptation are encouraged".

Understanding meteorological events and their impact on networks

Another area in which digitalisation and technology can play a decisive role is the connection with the natural environment and the management of weather events, whose impact has profound consequences for networks and infrastructures, affecting energy distribution to customers. "One of the fundamental issues for managing the electricity grid is constantly updating the weather conditions for the coming days", says Pedro Terras Marques.

Storms, floods or fires are climatic events that have an impact on energy distribution networks and are difficult to deal with, but technology is helping to anticipate problems and constraints. Pedro Terras Marques explains that "based on the weather forecast for the next 24 or 48 hours, renewable production forecasts and consumption needs, we are beginning to be able to anticipate how the network will behave and anticipate possible constraints, in order to take mitigating measures to minimise risks and increase stability in energy distribution".

Exchange of solutions between countries

In the field of meteorology, E-REDES is studying solutions that are already employed in Spain, attempts to improve platforms that use satellite images to provide information on fire outbreaks. This sharing of information between networks in different countries is one of the advantages of EDP's presence on several continents.

The best example of this exchange so far is the decision to share the same advanced platform for supervising and controlling the electricity grid in three countries. “This is the first time that Brazil, Spain and Portugal will be using the same system”, states Pedro Terras Marques, which "allows for a particularly interesting economy of scale". According to the E-REDES director, ‘managing networks has a specific geographical context, but the fact that we have the same system makes it possible to solve problems related to infrastructure support or to design joint training plans, so that those who are operating the network can be trained better and more quickly".

One Portuguese project that could in turn be used in other countries is Analytics4Vegetation, a technology that combines image collection and artificial intelligence to predict tree growth along the power lines and anticipate maintenance. A perfect example of how digitalisation makes networks more modern, efficient and resilient, and how essential it is to the energy transition.

Renewables: digitalisation eases integration into the electricity grid

The continuous increase in renewable energy sources, which is crucial to the energy transition, has brought both opportunities and challenges for power grids. With the diversification and expansion of energy producers and sources throughout the territory, energy balancing has become more complex, requiring greater adaptation to different production and consumption scenarios.

There are various paths and solutions. The implementation of the FiRMe project is a case in point. FIRMe aims to raise awareness among market agents to adjust their consumption and generation profiles, consolidating E-REDES as a facilitator in the ‘flexibility market’.

1. How did digitalisation emerge and evolve in the energy sector?

Digitalisation emerged in the late 1980s and from the early 2000s it began to accelerate enormously in all areas of the company, with the greatest impact on the customer side. Everything regarding the rollout of smart meters in the low-voltage network has allowed for completely different visibility and interaction with all customers. In the past we had EDP shops all over the place and a contract, a change of contract or a request for connection to the network was something that was done manually, with a face-to-face service. Today all this can be done via the digital counter. As another example, if a customer calls the contact centre with a power failure, if they already have smart metering equipment with active remote management, we can tell if the fault is inside the customer's installation or if it's in the distribution network.

2. What challenges does digitalisation pose?

Interconnecting all energy sources is naturally complex, above all because of its size and the information management it involves. In all the meters, a universe of 6.4 million customers, we record the energy consumption values every 15 minutes. So every hour there are 4 counts of 6.4 million, which are then repeated over 24 hours a day, over 30 days a month, and 365 days a year, just for energy counting. The level of data collected is absolutely enormous.

With specific regard to the challenges, I would highlight two at operational level: (1) collecting and analysing more information, with greater automation, will allow us to better manage the electricity grid, largely backed up by decision support systems, which the new grid supervision and control platform integrates and which will be decisive in providing a robust response to the challenges of the energy transition; (2) the issue of cybersecurity will always be critical and we need to be highly defended in order to safeguard the grid.

3. What innovation would you like to see regarding digitalisation?

We are particularly focused on all the opportunities for the transformation of our processes to be as fluid as possible, to be lighter, to produce internal efficiencies and to add external services. One of the important work fronts we are committed to is the progressive integration of all meteorological information into our network supervision and control platform, something that will also be decisive for a more efficient and global management of the electricity network.

To give a practical example: when we are alerted to the occurrence of a fire and predict its evolution (wind direction and speed), we are able to anticipate possible impacts on the electricity network and act preventively, with reconfiguration manoeuvres and/or the mobilisation of pickets on the ground.