Abstract
In the last 20 years, an unprecedented number of extreme climate events have occurred due to climate change issues. These extreme events put the stability of distribution grids at risk, causing an interruption of service to our customers.
Enel Grids is looking for innovative solutions to face these climate occurrences while continuing to guarantee a valuable service sustaining the energy transition.
OVERVIEW
Climate change has been identified as one of today’s main challenges, and it will impact risks associated with natural hazards and extreme weather events in the future.
In addition, decarbonization and the electrification of the transportation will increase society’s dependence on electricity and introduce further complexity to electrical network operations.
Taking this new paradigm into account, ENEL must ensure the resilience of the electrical system to address these needs, mainly by:
- Identifying how events (storms, floods, thermal stress) could manifest on the grid and plan interventions to increase mitigation and adaptation;
- Enhancing the capacity to restore the network through a quick response and allocating the proper resources.
Description
BACKGROUND
The constant increase in global temperatures related to the rise in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has led to an unprecedented number of extreme climate events (intense snowfall even at low altitudes and with wet snow, intense and concentrated rainfall with flooding, storms with lightning, heat waves, wind of exceptional intensity, and so on).
Grids are getting old and were designed for a world that has changed. Due to the energy transition, energy flows have also changed, including heterogeneous energy players creating more stress on grids. Energy infrastructures will be exposed to the risks associated with the current climate crisis in the coming years and it is crucial to invest in resilience measures to improve provisional models for network planning, looking for correlation in terms of Hazard-Vulnerability Risk.
The impact of an extraordinary or critical event on the network can be measured by means of two KPI:
- Resilience Index KPI, which describes the overall impact of the event and highlights the vulnerability of the network;
- Restoration capacity KPI, by means of a specific threshold, measures the impact of the events in terms of customers not supplied:
Ir - Network Resilience Index KPI
First of all, for each analyzed typology of extraordinary event “i”, the degree of network vulnerability Vi is calculated according to the following formula:
Figure 1
Where:
Vi is the degree of network vulnerability to the adverse event “i”, as for a part of the year, that network is affected by the particular adverse event “i” Figure 2;
Fi is the annual occurrence frequency of the adverse event “i” (events/year) and is calculated by means of the Return Period as Figure 3;
Di is the average value of the indicator related to the event “i” expressed in hours. It's related to the quality indicators used in each company (SAIDI, TIEPI, other corresponding indicators, etc., depending on the country) (hours/event).
To calculate Di , for the adverse event “i”, we must consider long interruptions without notice with origin A, P, M, C and B, whose cause is classified as FDO (Documented Force Majeure), FST (Statistical Force Majeure) and OTH (Other Causes), according on the classifications set out in Policy 201 "Enel Grids Operation and Maintenance Quality Indicators Guidelines”.
Considering several adverse events, the Network Resilience Index is calculated as below
Figure 4
Where:
Ir is the Network Resilience Index of the considered geographical area;
Vi is the degree of network vulnerability for the adverse event “i”;
N is the number of the adverse events considered.
According to the formula above, a distribution network characterized by a low (next to zero) Resilience Index will show limited resilience in the face of the analyzed events. Conversely, a more resilient network will have an Ir index that tends to infinity.
The Resilience Indexes related to several geographical areas cannot be summed to obtain the Resilience Index of a wider geographical area. In this case, knowing the degree of network vulnerability “V” of each considered sub-area “j” to each particular event “”", the total Resilience Index Ir is calculated according to the formula:
Figure 5
Where:
Ir is the Network Resilience Index of the considered geographical area;
Vi,j is the degree of network vulnerability of the geographical area “j” to the adverse event “i”;
N is the number of the adverse events considered;
M is the number of the geographical subareas.
THE CHALLENGE
ENEL is looking for an estimation of the Resilience Index for the electrical networks over the next 10 years, taking into account these three parameters: an increase in electricity flows and consequent network overload according to international scenarios (IEA, BNEF,...), aging of the grids, and intensification of local extreme weather events. The outcome of this study will be used as new input to the formula described above for the calculation of the Resilience Index.
SOLUTION REQUIREMENTS
The outcome will be a paper describing the estimation methodology, with related material and bibliography.
SDGs
This challenge contributes to the following sustainable development goals (SDGs) to transform our world:
- SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure;
- SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities;
- SDG 13: Climate Action.
Challenge rules
All Applicants are invited to read carefully the Challenge and the Regulations of this challenge, attached below in the Attachments section, before submitting a solution.
By submitting a solution, the Applicant automatically accepts the attached Regulations in addition to the Terms of Use of this platform.
Explain your proposal clearly in English, attach documents (Max 5 files, 35MB for each one. PDF, JPEG, ZIP formats supported) if needed.
ELIGIBILITY
Universities, research centers, researchers, PHDs.
CHALLENGE, AWARD, IP RIGHTS, DEADLINES
The winning proposal will be awarded €10,000.
The Applicant will need to submit a written proposal to be evaluated by the Seeker. If the proposal is evaluated as the winning proposal, the Applicant undertakes to irrevocably assign to the Seeker – upon payment of the Award – ownership and any and all intellectual property rights related to the Proposal. If the transference of all or some intellectual property rights from the Proposal is not possible, the Applicant undertakes to irrevocably grant exclusive, irrevocable and worldwide licenses to the Seeker.
Submissions to this Challenge must be received by 11:59 PM (Central European Time) on November 27, 2022.
Late submissions will not be considered.
Specific regulations attached at the bottom of this page.
Regulation
What happens next?
After the Challenge deadline, Enel Grids will complete the review process and make a decision with regards to the Winning Solution(s). All Applicants that submit a proposal will be notified on the status of their submissions.
Enel Grids will evaluate the proposal using the following criteria:
- Overall scientific and technical feasibility of the proposed solution;
- Economic potential of concept (e.g. Total Cost of Ownership);
- Business potential for the Seeker;
- Novelty and non-obviousness;
- Potential for proprietary position (i.e., is the technology novel or protectable);
- User’s capabilities and related experience;
- Realism of the proposed solution;
- Maturity level of the proposal.
If the reward includes the opportunity to collaborate with Enel, once one or more suitable solutions have been identified, Enel will reserve the opportunity to start a collaboration, by way of example, on all or part of the following activities:
- Test execution;
- Supply of prototypes (if the solution includes equipment);
- Installation and site tests;
- Follow up and monitoring of the proposed idea behavior.
At the end of the assessment, you will receive feedback.
In case of success, an Enel contact person will get in touch with you to discuss the next steps.
ABOUT THE SEEKER
Enel Grids is the global business line in charge of steering and coordinating the electricity transmission and distribution activities of Enel Group in 8 countries (Europe and South America). For 20 years, we’ve been committed to creating a knowledge ecosystem for developing network digitalization and now we’re the benchmark in terms of smart metering, thanks to the nearly 45 million smart meters installed on our electricity grids throughout the world, designing new automation systems for distribution networks in order to meet the growing demand for energy. By 2024 we aim to reach 81 million grid customers, 63% of whom will be digitalized, thanks to the world’s most advanced smart meter technology, developed by Gridspertise, in order to reach our goal of more than 48 million installations on our networks around the world. At the same time, we're working on the implementation of an innovative, integrated platform operating model in order to comprehensively manage our networks, leveraging the opportunities offered by digitalization and emerging technologies.