THE CURRENT SITUATION

ENEL Grids is committed to provide the best quality of service in energy distribution to its final customers.  To do this, technicians perform periodic on field checks on the grid to verify the proper operation of the smart meters that measure the amount of energy consumed by residential or commercial customers. These activities are performed on the field and require real time connection to the smart meter to verify that the parameters measured by the smart meter are correct and correspond to the values verified with alternative and measuring equipment. Unfortunately, some smart meters are not physically accessible to the technicians. In Spain alone, it is estimated that about 2 million residential smart meters are installed inside the home, specifically in historical areas of the city. They can be read remotely for billing purposes but not for on field activities.  

THE SOLUTION’S REQUIRED FEATURES AND DETAILS

As follows you can read a summary of the solution requirements.

To better describe the technicalities of the sought solution, you can find all the requirements in the document attached [LINK TO THE DOC DOWNLOAD]: we kindly ask you to download it, read it carefully and take it into consideration to propose your solution.

ENEL Grids is looking for a portable device that will be carried by field technicians in order to connect and verify from a distance to the smart meter being verified. The connection is done by clamping to the physical electric wires that connect to the meter and then using a powerline protocol to interact and communicate with it, specifically the version used by ENEL in Spain called “Meters and More”.

The device will have a display for basic configuration, connection procedure, diagnostics, information display and basic feedback to the technician. At the same time, the device will have a Bluetooth connection to enable meter access from a smart phone and provide advanced functionality.

Applicants are being accepted globally. But the testing phase will be conducted within Europe.

SOLUTION MUST HAVE

1.      MAIN TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS summary: download the attached document for all the details.

1.1.  Real time clock compliant with the IEC 62054-21 [30] requirements.

1.2.  Reliability in terms of Expected lifetime and Failure rate that must consider all the conditions described in this document

1.3.  Environmental (temperature and humidity)

1.4.  Electrical measurements requirements regarding Voltage and Current.

1.5.  Terminals and interfaces.

·        USB Type-C for communication and charging.

·        Bluetooth 5.0 or higher, with a range of 20 meters without obstacles.

·        Signaling LEDs for power, current direction, and Bluetooth status.

·        Powered by a rechargeable battery for at least 12 hours of activity.

1.6.  Other physical requirements about Rubber protection, Rogowski coils and removable cables, specific dimensions, fastening system, IP54 (in accordance to EN 60529).

Find also in the attachment file the required specifications also about Conformity of materials, ⁠Serial Number, Two-dimensional code, Model, Other markings, Cyber security, Other physical requirements.

2.     FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS summary: download the attached document for all the details.

2.1.  Meter reading through PLC Communication.

The device must be able to communicate by PLC communication (Meters&More) to a specific meter by means of the OPA functionality.

The Bluetooth connection of the device will be restricted to the use of the smartphone application designed for reading instant parameters of the meter. The passwords for reading these smart meter data will eventually be obtained through the application that will access the DSO system. The design of the application to access the DSO system is outside of this project, a demo smartphone application that demonstrate this functionality will be sufficient.

2.2.  Electrical measurements

The device must be able to measure and store specific parameters as describe in the attachment.

Additionally, it must implement specific registers and functionalities as described in the attached document.

SOLUTION NICE TO HAVE

·        Equipped with single-phase disconnectors

·        Equipped with supercapacitors or batteries to absorb transient fluctuations of active power

·        Integrable in Enel’s street box ( https://www.e-distribuzione.it/archivio-news/2023/11/le-cassette-stradali-hanno-un-nuovo-look.html ): maximum dimensions 500 (Width)x500 (Height)x200 (Depth) mm

DELIVERABLES

Proposals shall be submitted to the platform openinnovability.com in a single stage including the following information in English:

·        Solution name/title and overview

• Solution detailed description (e.g., Technical, Functional, Cybersecurity and Operational  specifications, etc.)

·        Solution design (e.g. Hardware, Software, Interfaces and electronic scheme, etc.)

·        Development roadmap to market, indicating the estimated time for design, certification and prototypes

·        Budget estimation for proposal development (a prototype)

·        An estimation of the final price of the solution

·        Supporting documentation: any additional supporting materials, diagrams, simulations, or research that help in understanding and evaluating the proposed solution could be uploaded

The chosen proposal(s) will have the opportunity to develop a prototype to then be tested by Enel, in accordance with the terms and conditions better described in the REGULATION ATTACHED. Once these results have been reviewed, there may be an opportunity to launch the product onto the market.

FOR FULL REQUIREMENTS AND SPECIFICATION FOR THE SOLUTION, PLEASE READ THE SOLUTION REQUIREMENTS DOCUMENT ATTACHED.