A smart grid journey with Robert Denda, Gridspertise

In an exclusive conversation with Robert Denda, CEO of Gridspertise, he explains how digital grid solutions conceived in Italy, building on Enel Grids’ legacy, are supporting DSOs worldwide. Talking about his journey from planning a large-scale regional smart meter rollout in Spain, to leading a company that is fully dedicated to transforming power grids on a global scale.

Going back to the early 2000s, Endesa – Enel’s Spanish subsidiary – was very much a pioneer with smart metering in Spain, as the technology was at an early stage of development.

From the outset, Denda was involved in the initiative, which gained added impetus with Enel’s initial share acquisition of Endesa in 2009. The Italian giant had in fact pioneered in Italy the first country-wide smart meter deployment in Europe and among the first globally.

“I was working on looking at finding the right technologies for Spain,” recalls Denda, who with the successful completion of Endesa’s smart meter rollout based on Enel’s leading technology, became Enel’s global lead for smart metering solutions.

Subsequently, he took on responsibility for network technologies and innovation for the Enel Group’s global business line overseeing distribution – “everything related to the Operations Technology part of the grid” – until 2021 when the decision was made to bring together all the expertise developed in grid digitalization over the years, into a single entity named Gridspertise.

“Smart meters are a perfect example of how Enel’s role has been more industrial than simply as a user, including the design and engineering right up to the management of outsourced manufacturing,” he says.

“We felt that we should do this not just for Enel but for the whole sector. Worldwide, grid operators are facing the need to invest in the digitalization of power distribution infrastructures. We have the opportunity to share the technological expertise we have developed in Italy with countries that are tackling the energy transition, starting with regions where Enel Group is already present but with global growth ambitions.”

What is the Gridspertise offer?

With the digitization of grids, a priority shift is needing to be made. In September 2021, Gridspertise was officially launched and introduced as a technology and solution developer and provider, drawing on Enel’s over 20 years of experience in developments for diverse markets, from Italy to Europe, to Latin America.

While we have the strong foundation and backing of Enel’s credible technologies, we have introduced innovations, which in our opinion, are groundbreaking and could change the face of grid digitalization.

One is the QEd – Quantum Edge® device, which we expect to revolutionize how substations are digitalized. In addition, there are IT platform solutions that help optimize the flow of data, and other technologies such as digital twins.

We work with a huge ecosystem of partners and leverage the investment made by Enel in the past to find the best solutions for others. It is an acceleration of grid digitalization.

What is the approach to developing new technologies?

By looking at different markets, we collect their requirements and define their needs. We then challenge those needs with customers in different geographies.

We are fully conscious of the potential of our current product portfolio and we can determine the delta that needs to be developed to address specific needs. In those cases, Gridspertise continues to invest in innovation to reach the goal to satisfy those needs. In some instances, the Company launches co-creation activities working with customers and industry leaders.

We work with numerous customers, not only within the Enel Group. The company delivers its solutions based on a significant intellectual property portfolio of field-proven solutions to dozens of Distribution System Operators (DSOs) of different sizes in different geographies.

The question is: How do we create the right solution?

With a collaborative effort between Gridspertise and other market players, applying an open approach to design the right solution for each customer.

What is the QEd – Quantum Edge® device?

The ‘QEd’ is an innovative edge computing solution that we developed from scratch. It enables to virtualize key grid functionalities into applications and running them directly on the edge, increasing the reliability of the network and improving service quality for end users. This solution can do protections, RTUs for remote control, power quality measurements, routing, and distributed energy resources management – all technical functions that typically would need different individual devices.

Once intelligence is put into the grid, and close to the transformer, many use cases are opened up; flexibility management, power flow optimization, fault detection, predictive maintenance, etc. With the capabilities of artificial intelligence, the functions that typically would be done in the cloud, or on a central system, can be extended to the edge. This brings it closer to the problem of reduced latency.

We have already made the first deployments within Enel and started the first co-creation programs with customers in order to fine-tune their use cases. In 2023, we will start to see deployment happening on many different sites.

The QEd Co-creation Program is also available for technology providers to build applications that run on that hardware.

What other developments are in the pipeline?

We are focusing our efforts on the digital platform.

For example, we have developed Digital Asset and Vegetation Intelligence, which is very helpful for predictive maintenance. Simple use cases, such as the identification of vegetation in critical closeness to the overhead lines, can be automatically optimized, creating value by reducing operational costs for trimming. Moreover, the solution enables automatic recognition of anomalies on specific grid components, preventing the risk of failure.

In terms of technology, the platform enables advanced functionalities to customers or even operates the technology as a service.

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What gaps are there in the market?

Every geography presents specific needs and gaps to be covered.

In APAC, for example, the main issues are power losses and grid quality, whereas, in the US and Europe, where the digitalization level is more advanced, there is a need to integrate flexibility dynamically. Then there are some areas where the quality of the supply is still a big issue in regular situations or some emergencies.

In terms of solutions, our portfolio is able to cover the entire value chain of DSOs’ operations and we are progressively including new solutions focused on addressing the future needs of grid operators all over the world.

Much of the focus we see, will be on the integration of electric vehicles, storage, and the demand side in real-time at the control level.

What’s next for digital solutions and services?

The utility sector has been a very traditional one but over the past five to ten years there has been a shift to the cloud and away from legacy technologies, and that mindset has become a reality. The next step we will see is ‘everything as a service’. It will bring a lot of value as there are many power grid operators which do not have the technological muscle to make the jump.

In the near future, DSOs will also need help in reducing their carbon footprint and achieving net zero emissions. Sustainable Grids are not only determined by their ability to host more renewable energy sources. They require more sustainable operations and the adoption of zero or low–emissions equipment, materials, and digital technologies. To reduce the grids environmental footprint, Gridspertise strives to deliver integrated solutions that are sustainable by design.

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How would you evaluate the past decade and what do you see for the future one?

In the last decade, smart meters have helped stabilize the grid with granular information on consumption, allowing for real-time monitoring of electricity use, advanced management of the technical parameters of the grid, and detection in near real-time critical events, such as blackouts. The increasing awareness of low-voltage grid information has also enabled the improvement of the management of the medium-voltage grid.

Coming up in this decade, I see three evolutions. The first one is the transformation of the traditional grid into a smart grid. This means that the grid will need to increase its hosting capacity, work on network flexibility, and make system operators more responsible. In the future, I think we will have grids that can automatically reconfigure in real-time according to the situation.

The second trend I foresee is related to the shift towards electrification and the consequent increase in power consumption. This together with an increasing demand for information in real-time will stimulate customer engagement and participation in the electricity sector as well.

The third aspect is that the digitalization of the grids requires the right training and skillsets for managers and the workforce, as well as the right digital tools to streamline field operations. While the lack of grid managers with expertise in digital grids represents a huge challenge, the development of digital tools and their integration with operations is already in progress. Our solutions, for example, augmented and virtual reality, can be coupled with a digital twin overlay for workers in the field.

What is the vision for the future grid?

In the short term, the top priority is to accelerate grid digitalization to manage the key challenges of grid operators: loss reduction, quality improvement, reliability, etc.

In the future, with the increasing electrification and distributed generation, the grid will still play a central role to manage the complexities of the market. Even if everyone becomes a generator, there will still be a need to share and trade excesses. The electricity grid is like the internet of power and it will be extended even in the most remote locations.

For power grid operators, their role will also be different: by 2050 they will also be digital operators with the digital control of energy – unless we find another energy source even better than electricity, but that’s not foreseeable in my mind!

** The recent announcement by Enel of an agreement to sell 50% of Gridspertise to CVC Capital Partners is a further sign that the smart grid space is vibrant and at the center of the transformation of the current energy model, making this conversation even more relevant.

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About Robert Denda

Robert Denda is the Sole Administrator and CEO of Gridspertise. Previously, he served as Head of Innovation & Industrialization and Head of Network Technology and Innovation at Enel Grids. In that capacity, he led the development and application of digital grid technologies at Enel, the largest privately-owned international operator of power distribution grids, serving 74 million customers.

As Global Head of Smart Metering Solutions from 2014 to 2015, he oversaw Enel’s international rollout of digital meters, building on his previous experience in coordinating the rollout of 13 million smart meters for Enel Group subsidiary Endesa in Spain. At Endesa, Dr. Denda also served as director of the R&D department, innovation manager in the telecommunications sector, and manager of technology services at Endesa Ingenieria. As well, he is an active participant in European and international energy sector associations.

He holds a degree in Computer Science and Business Administration and a Ph.D. from the University of Mannheim in Germany.

Robert Denda will be a Keynote speaker at Enlit Europe on 29 November 2022; addressing ‘Europe’s Balancing Act: Energy Security and the Green Transition’. View more details on the Keynote here, and register to attend the event below.