Energiforsk 2022-895 DigiGrid (2022)

Full citation: Kalhori, E., Werneskog, J., Barr, J. & Wolf, A. (Power Circle AB). DigiGrid — Digitaliserade och resurseffektiva elnät. Energiforsk Report 2022:895. Stockholm: Energiforsk AB, November 2022. Program: Elnätens digitalisering och IT-säkerhet. ISBN 978-91-7673-895-5.

Open access: Published by Energiforsk. Produced by Power Circle AB; reference group included Jämtkraft, Karlstads El- och Stadsnät, and Kraftringen among other DSOs.

Summary

A Power Circle study for Energiforsk combining a 34-respondent survey (sent to 120 DSOs, summer 2022) of Swedish DSOs’ digitalization practice with three concrete use-case value-chain studies. The report’s headline conclusion is that there is no shared definition of “digitalized grid,” and that many DSOs know they need to digitalize but are unsure what that means in practice or which areas to prioritize. Its survey data is the strongest primary evidence found for the specific claim that Swedish DSOs already hold unused metering data.

Key claims

Survey findings (34 respondents, summer 2022)

• 85% of respondents said yes when asked whether their company collects data it does not currently use; 15% said no.
• When asked what needs to be in place to actually use that already-collected data, most answers focused on system support for visualization and analysis — not new data collection. One response specifically noted that the volume of metering data points requires automated data handling and analysis capability; another that the company first needs to establish its actual analysis need before building new analyses and tools.
• 56% said yes when asked whether there is data they would like to collect but currently cannot; 44% said no. Named examples of desired-but-missing data: more comprehensive current and voltage measurement (and in some cases power) beyond what is captured today, and more extensive collection from the new smart meters.
• Barriers to collecting that additional data, as stated by respondents: lack of systems and communication pathways able to handle the data, old equipment, IT security, and lack of knowledge and time. Several answers also raised a cost/value calculation directly: one respondent stated verbatim (translated) that “there’s an opportunity to collect more data from the new meters, but currently there’s no value in collecting all of that data, relative to the cost of validating and storing it.”
• Among the resources respondents named as critical for realizing long-term digitalization benefits (competence, personnel, system support, time and money), the competence emphasis was above all combined electrical-power + IT competence rather than either alone. One respondent’s framing (translated): traditional power-system competence with some programming ability is preferable to deep digitalization/programming competence without enough power-system knowledge. Named roles: elingenjörer, driftingenjörer, planeringsingenjörer, systemutvecklare. Also named: the ability to structure and analyze streamed data, and installers familiar with new meters and communication equipment (with DSOs facing a challenge attracting these competences).
• Largest identified barriers to digitalization overall (multiple-choice): lack of time (76.4%), personnel (61.7%) and knowledge/competence (50%), followed by security aspects (44%).
• Prioritized digitalization measures, per respondents: those minimizing outage duration, easing things for customers, and easing operations/maintenance work. Other drivers mentioned: better grid awareness, operational optimization, long-term network planning, and predictive maintenance.

Ellevio case study — SCADA-fed forecasting integrated via API to SWITCH and NODES

Documented as a concrete value-chain example for flexibility procurement digitalization. Ellevio — which has both operated the sthlmflex market and purchased flexibility on it — built its own forecasting tool using SCADA data on power draw from the transmission grid (stamnätet), combined with forecasts from producers and large consumers in the network plus weather and day-of-week information, to produce regional-grid power-need forecasts. This forecasting tool was integrated with SWITCH via an API; Ellevio has also built APIs against NODES to handle, deliver, and retrieve metering data. Digitalization work to enable local-flexibility-market purchasing also included data-classification work to ensure individual consumer information is not exposed; the sthlmflex project separately produced a CIM-based standard for concepts arising in flexibility-service offer, activation, and follow-up.

Barriers to DSO flexibility use, more broadly

Upplands Energi’s case (60 MW subscription from Vattenfall Eldistribution, KlokEl/VäxEl projects) illustrates a weak-incentive case: no binding technical capacity constraint yet, few occasions where the subscription is at risk of being exceeded, and a fee for exceeding it judged not high enough — together reducing the incentive to invest in more advanced activation systems. The report also notes there is no standardized communication protocol for heat pumps or BMSs (a standards gap for aggregator-to-heat-pump/BMS communication) (unlike EV charging, where OCPP functions as a de facto standard); OpenADR was used in the VäxEl project; the report notes it is an open standard with the advantage of covering different resource types (heat pumps, charge boxes, solar).

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