Abstract :
Aim of this presentation is to introduce, from a utility point of view, the set of technologies that are generally named as “Smart Grid Technologies” and the likely evolution of these technologies in the next decade. Current electricity grid has been designed more than one century ago, when there was not Distributed Generation from renewable sources, electric mobility and tight energy efficiency requirements; consequently, smart equipments have to be introduced in the electricity grid in order to perform a fine-grained monitoring and control of the grid status as well as implementing state-of-the art functionalities; moreover, the cutting-edge communication technologies have to be exploited in order to connect all these devices. Enel began its smartening path early this century, being the first utility performing a full rollout of an Advanced Metering Infrastructure involving more 32 million customers in Italy; concurrently Enel deployed one of the most advanced grid control and automation system aimed at identifying and isolating faults on Medium Voltage lines. Furthermore, Enel designed a set of charging stations for electric vehicles, a set of solutions to increase consumer awareness as well as its own LED-based public lighting solution. Further Research, Development and Deployment (RD&D) activities have to be performed in the next decade in order to validate and deploy new technologies; particularly, technological solutions aiming at i) increasing hosting capacity of distributed generation from renewable sources ii) storing energy iii) implementing demand response and vehicle-to-grid applications, and iv) improving energy efficiency. Enel´s on-going projects will be introduced, related to the European Electricity Grid Initiative as well as the SET plan.
