We need a strategy that aims at how the transmission and distribution infrastructure must behave and the objectives to which it must respond in the next 10-15 years, said Corneliu Bodea, at EnergynomicsTalks. Starting from this horizon, a strategy must be developed that includes at least two components. The first refers to the technical indicators and investment directions that the authorities impose on operators in the regulated area. Another direction should be that of affordability in the tariff.
“The two levels must be combined so that the phasing of investments and, consequently, the phasing for the achievement of the indicators by operators are aligned with the ability to be supported in tariffs,” pleaded Corneliu Bodea. The president of the Romanian Energy Center – CRE explained that the regulator directs operators’ investments and influences their behavior starting from the set of indicators imposed to be respected. A performance indicator (KPI) that refers to the number of minutes of interruption of the electricity supply, directs the operator to make more investments for the development of the rural area. An indicator that refers to the number of customers who have suffered interruptions will encourage the operator to develop the urban area instead.
We have not properly encouraged smart metering
Corneliu Bodea gave the example of increasing the capacity to take over renewable energy in the distribution and transmission networks. “It is not enough to impose the obligation to take over energy, because there are some technical constraints that cannot be overcome. It is necessary to register on a certain strategic direction, based on which investments can be made considering what we propose or anticipate will happen in the next 10-20 years,” the CRE president also said.
Another example is smart metering. “We have not encouraged distributors properly to invest in this direction and when we come across this problem we solve it by proposing something that is impossible to apply.” It is impossible for a household consumer to buy and install his meter himself, says Corneliu Bodea. Metering equipment is a metrological means, it must have metrological verification in a laboratory, it must have seals, etc.
If ANRE wants to solve this problem in a coherent way, it should pave the way for the emergence of independent metering operators, Corneliu Bodea believes. “The possibility of having a metering operator different from the distribution operator is included in European legislation and including in Law 123. However, there are obstacles at the regulatory level and even at the legislative level that should be removed in order to allow a third party to intervene and install its own metering system.”
The refrigerator against the smart grid
According to Corneliu Bodea, currently, in Romania there are currently around 1-1.2 million smart meters installed, i.e. a little more than 10% of the 8-9 million consumers. Romania has set itself the goal of 80% of meters being smart by 2028. “It is almost impossible considering that by then we only have 5 years left and we should install about one million meters per year,” says the CRE president.
In addition, it was found that there are problems in the operation of some smart metering systems. In some of them, “there is a high rate of failure in data transmission, there are situations where although the smart meter has been installed, it does not transmit data correctly at a distance,” Bodea said. There are mainly two technical problems, and ANRE makes controls and forces the distributor to remove the equipment from the regulated asset base. The first problem is related to the chosen form of communication – Power Line Carrier. This is the cheapest option and allows the information to be transmitted through the power line. “It is not an ideal communication medium. You can have faulty contacts or there may be too much ‘noise’ on the network, introduced by other equipment, ‘noise’ that disrupts signal transmission,” explained Corneliu Bodea. “The second category of problems is related to software, data transmission and interpretation, meter data management systems that “until they are viable can present errors.” I’ll give you an even more absurd example!”, the expert told us. “It’s neither the problem of the line, nor the problem of the meter, but it’s the problem of a refrigerator at the neighbor on the 7th floor! When the compressor starts and stops, it introduces a ‘noise’ on the network that destroys the transmission of the signal from the entire staircase of the block.” Being in such an early phase with the installation of smart meters, it is inevitable that such problems will appear, considers Corneliu Bodea – “they are childhood diseases”.
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