Enel calls for collaborative action and expands Gridspertise into US
Yusuf Latief
Posted on: 18 May 2022
Enel and stakeholders of the power distribution ecosystem gathered in Rome for the Net Zero Grid Day, in which Enel announced Enel’s Open Power Grids association and Gridspertise’s expansion into the US as part of their ‘net zero strategy’ for grids.
Enel and stakeholders of the power distribution ecosystem gathered in Rome for the Net Zero Grid Day, in which Enel announced Enel’s Open Power Grids association and Gridspertise’s expansion into the US as part of their ‘net zero strategy’ for grids.
Italy’s Enel, Europe’s biggest utility, used the event as an opportunity to reveal details on how it intends to collaborate with the wider industry to promote sharing and advancement of standards for grid components.
The aim of the event was to provide a lens through which Enel could showcase how it will focus on zeroing the inherent emissions of grid infrastructure.
The company also revealed how it intends to collaborate with the industry to promote sharing and advancement of standards for grid components that meet efficiency, safety, quality and sustainability criteria, in compliance with net zero requirements.
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Open Power Grids association
Towards this aim, the event saw the launch of the “Open Power Grids” association.
The association aims to bring together industry stakeholders to share and develop standards and technologies for critical grid components that comply with net zero requirements.
Enel’s own Antonio Cammisecra, head of global infrastructure and networks, spoke on the association and the role of collaboration in a very competitive industry. Cammisecra emphasized during the event how – despite surprise from many – reaching net zero places collaboration as the top priority.
“We’re not sceptical or worried by the surprise from this. We are entering into an expanding universe. We have to transform energy consumption into clean electricity consumption…Right now, collaboration is worth more than competition and (this is especially true) when talking about distribution grids.”
Gridspertise expands into US
In light of this need for supportive collaboration, Enel’s company Gridspertise outlined the next step of its growth strategy.
Gridspertise provides distribution system operators (DSOs) and utilities with solutions for the digitalisation of electricity distribution networks. Their next step will see them focused on supporting infrastructure modernisation efforts in the United States.
Robert Denda, Gridspertise CEO, commented: “We are very happy to unveil the next step of our growth strategy with the entry into the large US market with digital solutions to increase resiliency and reliability of power distribution grids.
“We are working to establish partnerships with local utilities to support grid modernisation and digitalisation plans in an open way, also through collaborative testing of our innovative QEd – Quantum Edge Device – for digital secondary substations.
“This digital solution can be retrofitted to legacy infrastructure, allowing for example the integration of electric mobility and decentralised renewables without costly grid rebuilds.”
Speedy resilience
Gridspertise’s expansion comes at a time when utilities increasingly emphasize the need and importance of hardening and managing the grid to be more resilient. And, according to Gary Lawrence, Segment President Power and Grid at Schneider Electric, time is of paramount importance to do so.
During one of the Enel Net Zero Grid Day talks on grid resilience, Lawrence elaborated:
“We need to move as fast as we can. At the speed of light.
“It’s obvious that we need to make a big change…We’re facing a number of grid issues, none of which are scarier than climate change.
“On the backdrop of the energy contribution (80%) to climate change, we have a fairly old grid system. And it’s not coping in the context of more severe weather – storms, fires etc. On top of that, we have a structural energy transition – more demand, more need of electrification…and of DERs, which contribute to the complexities of grid management.”
Stakeholders attending the event included, among others, leading equipment manufacturers, testing and certification firms, engineering consultancies, research and design institutes as well as utilities.
They shared strategies and actions already in place to support the delivery of sustainable grids as a critical part of the transition to a low carbon world.
The Net Zero Grid Day took place in the context of Enel’s sixtieth-anniversary celebrations.
