E-Distribuție Muntenia invested about 18 million lei (4.6 million Euro) in 2017 for the modernization of the power supply points and secondary stations in Bucharest and for integrating them in the Telecontrol system, thus achieving important steps towards creating a smart grid.
Within the investment project carried throughout 2017, approximately 38 power supply points and 40 secondary stations have been modernised in Bucharest, with the aim to improve the quality of the electricity distribution service and to digitise the power grid. Thus, the modernisation works consisted of consolidating the buildings and the replacement of the equipment with new gear, while also integrating them in the E-Distribuţie Telecontrol system.
The completed works are an important part of the grid modernisation project in Bucharest, contributing to improving of the electricity distribution service for about 50,000 consumers. Moreover, the modernisation of the power supply points and secondary stations facilitates the automation process necessary to significantly reduce the duration of identifying eventual faults, and to restore electricity supply faster to E-Distributie Muntenia customers.
Following the modernisation, the equipment has been included in the Telecontrol system, an important part of a smart grid.
The project is part of an extensive modernization programme carried out by the Enel companies in Romania which aims at securing a proper service to end users, enhancing the quality and security of the grid as well as complying with Enel’s environmental standards.
As a result of grid modernisation, the three E-Distribuție companies in Muntenia, Banat and Dobrogea are the top performing electricity distribution operators in Romania in terms of quality of service in the past years. According to National Regulatory Authority for Energy (ANRE) data, in 2016, the System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI) for E-Distribuţie Muntenia was 172 minutes, the best in the country, while the national average was 290 minutes. E-Distributie Dobrogea and E-Distributie Banat also improved their performance and remained at the top of the best-performing operators in Romania, with SAIDI times of 217 minutes and 245 minutes, respectively.