Consulting services smart grids
What you need
Smartness has been built into electricity grids since their inception: supervision, control and protection are already key activities for a distribution system operator.
Why then "Smart Grid"?
The difference between traditional grids and smart grids is mainly the capability to handle increasing complexity efficiently and effectively. This increasing complexity is due to various factors such as the widespread introduction of distributed generation, changes in customer behaviour, and the boosting of efficiency of each link in the energy chain in a bid to reduce consumption. Advanced metering, which allows the characterization of customer information - such as consumption data and its communication to the local utility, thus allowing immediate operating savings - is a key enabling infrastructure for the development of advanced customer-oriented applications, including in-home devices and demand-response programs.
Even when based upon consolidated and proven technologies, switching to smart grids generally require the development of innovative applications and breakthrough solutions.
What we do
CESI can cover all the value chain of a Smart Distribution Network answering to the Smart Grid necessity:
- Advanced Metering Infrastructure that is in our vision the key enabling infrastructure for all further smart developments. For all our Consulting Services related to Smart Metering
- Distribution Network Automation to enhance the capability of the network to react autonomously to unexpected external events, allowing immediate operative savings for the distribution system operator. In this field our Consulting Services are aimed to support the operators implementing innovative solutions oriented to automatically identification and network restoration after faults, voltage regulation, in particular in presence of distributed resources, implementation of neutral hearting through the installation of mobile Petersen coils, optimization of the distribution protection system and environmental assessment.
- Integration of Distributed Generation is one of the most important reason for which the development of Smart Grids is a crucial step: the growing penetration of distributed Resources, such as Renewable Generators, storage systems and, in a near future, Electric Vehicles, requires a drastic change in the distribution network planning and operation. CESI can help you studying the regulatory framework, providing components assessment and components verification, designing the best communication infrastructure between the grid supervision and control system and distributed resources, in the power system planning and modeling with the best solutions for power system security and stability, in realizing the optimal Distribution Management System (DMS) and, finally, with the Environmental assessment.
- Home Area Network and Energy Management System that allow a deeper interaction between customers and the Power System, boosting their consumption awareness and increase the capability to drive load profiles and raise the demand forecast reliability, thus simplifying the service management and supporting the purchase strategy, while offering the user an additional element of customer satisfaction.
Why CESI
In more than fifteen years CESI has acquired experiences and know-how playing significant roles within the major Smart Grid projects where the Italian and European Distribution System Operators have been involved. CESI experience has been matured acting both as lead consultant and testing provider for private distribution network operators and as scientific developer within international R&D projects, from the Italian Smart Metering Project (the most advanced worldwide, with more than 35 million meters), the Spanish one and those in the Balkans (Serbia and Montenegro), the Italian Distribution Network Automation (to improve the continuity and quality of service), Smart Grids pilots in Italy and Malta and all the European R&D projects, such as DISPOWER.
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