The new grids: smart and open to all
The new grids: smart and open to all
An approach that includes small-scale technologies and renewable energy sources to generate electricity close to the end user: to make the most of all the opportunities, we need to focus on the modernization of distribution grids – a commitment that puts Enel at the forefront. Meanwhile, the number of prosumers connected by the Group now exceeds 1.5 million.
Today, networks can belong to everyone. Not just the Internet, where anyone can upload their own content, but electricity grids, too: with a small electricity generating system – for example, a solar panel – you can become a prosumer (a term derived from the union of ‘producer’ + ‘consumer’) or self-producer, thus moving from a role of passive user to active participant in the electricity system.
Prosumers can generate electricity for their own use but also feed it back into the grid in a process called distributed generation, simultaneously contributing to the generation of renewable energy and the enhancement of grid infrastructure, one of the most significant aspects of the ongoing energy transition. "It’s a massive phenomenon that is changing the very nature of energy systems," as Gianni Vittorio Armani, Director of Enel Grids & Innovability, explains.
And like all structures in which we move, modern electricity distribution grids need to be smart, capable of handling many more energy entry points, accommodating highly variable amounts of energy over time, balancing supply and demand in real time, with flows changing direction all the time. This is a far more complex landscape than the one in which today's electricity grids were conceived and developed, requiring equally sophisticated tools, especially at the infrastructure level.
It is precisely for this reason that the Enel Group, as an operator of distribution grids on a global scale, is committed on the one hand to increasing the number of prosumers, and on the other hand to building increasingly innovative and digitalized grids in the countries in which we’re present: two sides of the same coin, because a more efficient grid is a prerequisite for more and better involvement of self-producers.
Record growth
In 2021, we reached a historic milestone, passing the threshold of one million prosumers connected to our grid, totaling about 57,000 MW of installed capacity in various countries: Italy, Brazil, Spain, Chile, Colombia and Argentina.
Since then, we’ve even accelerated: 411,000 more prosumers were added in 2022 (including about 317,000 in Europe and the rest in Latin America) for 5.6 GW, bringing the total to 1.4 million prosumers and 65.7 GW of capacity.
The scenario for 2023 is even more promising. Preliminary data reveals that in the first seven months of this year alone, Italy had already exceeded the figure for the entire previous year, while in Spain we reached 125,000 connections, compared to 82,000 in 2022, for 1.8 GW. By the end of 2023, we expect a total of more than 370,000 prosumers in Italy alone, for more than 4 GW of capacity – an increase of 66% percent over the previous year.
The Italian figure alone is enough to bring the Enel Group's total to over 1.5 million prosumers – a record 50% growth in less than two years.
The centrality of the grid
The prosumer galaxy encompasses a wide variety of systems in terms of capacity, ranging from residential systems with a capacity of less than 250 W up to systems with a capacity of 10,000 kW. Such a high number of producers with different needs and capacities requires flexible and intelligent management: that of the smart grids.
"We’re talking about millions of producers: in this new scenario, it’s necessary to ensure not only the availability of energy but also the security of the system, and this makes it necessary to invest in further digitalization," explains Armani, who also points out our pioneering contribution in this field, starting with our electronic meters: "In recent years, we first made our meters intelligent with the smart meter, which can now be read remotely, whereas before, it was necessary to go into buildings to be able to read individual consumption. Then we also made the grid controllable remotely, and today almost all switches on distribution girds are able to operate automatically."
According to Armani, the next phase will include the use of distributed intelligence for functions and processing capabilities of multiple networked devices: "The amount of information coming in from a grid powered by millions of producers requires distributed intelligence and the ability to act automatically to ensure the security and power of the grid. Introducing intelligence into both our secondary substations – which are the closest grid element to our customers and will be able to interact with the devices in people’s homes – and into the production and consumption systems will obviously make the grid not only more flexible, but also more secure."
The role of storage
The vast majority of distributed generation systems consist of solar panels: this means that, in addition to the benefits to prosumers – savings on their utility bills, energy independence, autonomy in the event of a blackout, and the possibility of selling the energy produced back to the grid – there’s also a benefit to the environment, thanks to less reliance on fossil fuels.
However, this also involves dealing with less stable production, which is linked to weather conditions. For this reason, the role of energy storage systems becomes crucial.
"Today, 400,000 of our customers already have storage capacity," Armani continues. "They can provide services for themselves, to store electricity that’s generated during daylight hours, for example, and then have it available at other times. But they can also offer services to the grid: in particular, they can help balance flows based on demand trends."
In this regard, the solution that makes the most innovative developments possible is the digitalization of grids – and the presence of distributed intelligence to be able to orchestrate the new energy resources connected to the distribution infrastructure.
Simplification and security of processes
This rate of growth and the increasing requests for prosumer connection to the grid from customers, especially in Italy, have prompted the Enel Group to further digitalize and automate the entire process. Interaction channels have been further enhanced, ensuring integration with the systems and databases of all stakeholders in order to better integrate information flows.
The main new digital features introduced to facilitate the management of connection requests are:
- A connection simulator: available for prosumers operating on low voltage, it is intended to verify whether or not work on the grid is needed and to assess the associated connection costs. The simulator allows customers to independently obtain useful information about the complexity of their request, thus providing a better understanding of connection times.
- Artificial intelligence algorithms: templates with QR codes have been set up on the distributor's website to automate document validation with artificial intelligence algorithms, reducing processing time and waiting time for customers.
- Tracking of requests for real-time and fully transparent consultation of the progress of requests.
- Smart Quotation: automation of the calculation of technical and commercial estimates and automatically sending them to the customer.
In addition, Italian regulations, through joint activity between the regulator and distributors, are undergoing a profound reformation of access rules, aimed at increasingly facilitating customer participation in the evolution of the electricity system.