There’s a new paradigm in the electricity industry sector. It is based on more efficient usage of energy, supported on demand management, renewable and micro generation (distributed production), reinforcing the role of the consumer/producer and making room for an active network management.

About Energias de Portugal (EDP) Distribution

EDP is a holding company for utilities that generate, transmit, and distribute electricity. They rank among Europe’s major electricity operators and serve nearly 12 million customers in Portugal, Spain and Brazil.

The challenge

EDP saw the need to increase intelligence, supervision and control of the network. They wanted greater efficiency and quality of supply, and to allow for distributed generation and electrical vehicles. They branded this effort InovGrid and sought to introduce AMI improvements to their network management capability.

EDP strongly believes that InovGrid will bring significant benefits to customers, with increased control over energy consumed, lower costs, increased flexibility of tariffs and value added services.

The InovGrid project will respond to the challenges and opportunities, bringing benefits to all users and stakeholders. These benefits will help them perform efficiently, and effectively bring them to a new stage towards Active Network Management.

Our answer

Project ambition

Ultimately, InovGrid project will support six million customers located across Portugal. Starting with a Smart City initiative in Évora (35.000 clients), there will be a rollout across the country.

The project targets a Smart Grid since the early stage and encompasses smart metering, distribution management and integration of micro generation (photovoltaic and wind) and electric vehicles.

InovGrid has been selected by the European Union Commission and Eurelectric as a leading smart grids reference project in Europe.

Solution overview

In consortium with two other technology providers, we provided a three-level infrastructure for EDP Distribution:

  • New AMI platform with Supervision/Control Room component using CGI Sm@rtering solution.
  • Ditribution Transformer Controller at secondary substation
  • Energy Boxes (metering devices) on clients premises

Sm@rtering

CGI was responsible for the delivery of the new AMI platform - Sm@rtering

  • Collect and storage of all meter readings
  • Services Platform, integrated with EDP technical and commercial systems
  • Event and Incident Management for the new infrastructure monitoring
  • Support for network management functionalities

We were also responsible for:

  • Defining the functional and technical specifications for the overall InovGrid Solution
  • Working together with EDP to define new ’end-to-end’ business processes empowered by new functionalities provided by AMI implemented on distribution network
  • Adapting the existing corporate systems (GIS, Outage Management, Asset Management, Work Force Management, Billing System, Customer Information and others) to the new processes integrated with Sm@rtering, supported by service oriented architecture.
  • Creating value added functionalities in commercial and technical systems to support the business case evaluation
  • Supporting EDP in the definition, implementation and control the rollout process
  • Implementing a SmartGrid Control Room and supporting daily operations

 

Key benefits

Consumer/producer

  • Improved access to micro generation
  • Reduced energy costs
  • Innovative tariffs and price plans

Supplier

  • Ability to offer new services
  • Improved customer relationship
  • Reduced entry barriers

DSO

  • Reduced network losses and operational and maintenance costs
  • Optimized network management and control
  • Optimized investment
  • Improved quality and reliability

Regulator & National Economy

  • Increased market efficiency, competition and reliability
  • Modern economy, sustainability
  • Support for penetration of renewable energy
  • Boost to R&D and economy

 

We played a main role in:

  • AMI implementation
  • Sm@rtering platform
  • New interfaces to support 30 ‘end-to-end’ business processes
  • Impact and changes in existing systems
  • Outage Management
  • Meter Asset Management
  • SAP IS-U
  • GIS
  • Work Force Management
  • Legacy Meter Readings System
  • Call Centre
  • Portal EDP