Q&A with Robert Denda, CEO of Gridspertise – Accelerating the digital transformation of electric utilities with Gridspertise

At Qualcomm Technologies, we’re taking connectivity to the next level and enabling a world where everyone and everything is intelligently connected — the Intelligent Connected Edge. We’re experiencing vast digital transformation across the Internet of Things (IoT) spanning many sectors.

The electric utilities sector plays a fundamental role in our day-to-day lives and not only powers our homes, but most industries. 5G fulfills real-time, high availability, and low latency requirements needed for grid monitoring and control, integration of renewables and smart loads, and asset health and performance monitoring. With smart meters now installed in more homes and buildings than ever, companies can detect and predict energy surges and make appropriate adjustments in its grid. With 5G, companies can connect grid components and create a digital twin of infrastructure; and with advanced AI, they can predict when it can potentially fail and perform predictive and remote maintenance.

At Qualcomm Technologies, we utilize our expertise in mobile, wireless connectivity, and computing platforms to provide foundational technology and collaborate with others to help create end-to-end digitization of the value chain across the utilities industry. We combine edge computing with on-device AI for real-time, secure, intelligent processing of massive amounts of data that helps our customers improve operational efficiencies. We’re collaborating with the utility sector to make possible these new innovations that are driving more efficient production, distribution, and energy consumption.

Gridspertise, fully owned by Enel, focuses on innovation, development, industrialization, and operations of grid solutions to accelerate the electric future and the transformation of distribution grids worldwide, by building sustainable and reliable smart grids together, providing benefits for the entire electric ecosystem: utilities, Grid players, and final customers. Gridspertise portfolio presents leading platform, IoT and edge computing solutions for the transformation of electricity distribution networks in three main areas: metering and grid edge digitalization, networks infrastructure digitalization, field operations digitalization.

At Enlit Europe, December 2021, Gridspertise presented the Quantum Edge device - QEd, its revolutionary all-in-one solution that virtualizes key grid functionalities through customizable applications. Thanks to a multi-purpose platform and edge computing, the required components in the secondary substation as well as the number of field interventions can be reduced, making networks more efficient, sustainable, and reliable. The solution leverages Qualcomm Technologies’ industrial-grade IoT solution — featuring the latest 5G, compute, security, and AI capabilities.

The QEd is designed to progressively enable new functionalities way beyond grid automation.  It has in fact been developed to meet the evolving needs of distribution grids, which require higher levels of flexibility, also at the secondary sub-stations level, to keep pace with energy and grid transition. Thanks to its distributed computing power, QEd processes data with lower latency directly in the secondary substation, performs on the edge network automation functions that extend the central IT platform enabling new use cases.

At MWC 2022, we announced our collaboration with Gridspertise to digitally transform electric utilities and make the grid more reliable, flexible, resilient, and easier to maintain. The collaboration will provide a framework to explore opportunities for the creation of innovative smart grid solutions and services, also beyond the QEd - Quantum Edge device — the revolutionary device for digital sub-stations.

We’re proud that our technology is a part of the QEd and to be working with Gridspertise and the utilities sector on their digital transformation. We spoke to Robert Denda, CEO of Gridspertise to find out how the QEd will help transform the sector.

OnQ:  Tell us about the industry trends and the collaboration between Gridspertise and Qualcomm Technologies?

Robert Denda: The energy transition is defined by two major trends: decarbonization and electrification. Moreover, climate change is posing serious challenges in terms of severe climate events and resilience of the electric infrastructure. In order to tackle these challenges, the power distribution grids need to go through a great technological transformation to increase its flexibility, grid resilience and quality of service. The only efficient way to tackle this scenario is to introduce more digitalization and make the grids smarter. The QEd represents a leap forward in network infrastructure digitalization, combining the most advanced technologies designed by Gridspertise with those developed by its ecosystem of partners. We are proud to bring together our expertise with Qualcomm Technologies’ leadership in wireless technology, to integrate QEd with the most up to date, secure, scalable industrial grade IoT solutions.

We recently announced our expanded collaboration at MWC 2022 to explore opportunities for the development of new solutions to help electric utilities manage the increasing complexity of the grid. The agreement provides a framework that could lead to the creation of new solutions for energy asset monitoring and advanced applications for grid management based on QEd. The aim is to foster technological innovation, improve quality of service, health and safety compliance, and enable the transition to a low-carbon economy through reliable electrification.

OnQ: What is the QEd — or Quantum Edge device — and how will it help the energy sector transform?

Robert Denda: Thanks to its decentralized computational capability, the QEd runs key grid functionalities on the edge, increasing reliability of the network and improving service quality for end users. In particular, the QEd allows applications to be run for all the most important network automation functions: asset health and performance monitoring, loss minimization, fault location identification and service restoration, real-time control, power quality monitoring, metering data management, and much more. The QEd is powered by Qualcomm Technologies’ next-generation industrial-grade System-On-Chip (SoC) with an octa-core ARM 64-bit processor and various DSPs. Additionally, the device contains Qualcomm Technologies’ built-in AI engine to support edge applications, including AI-powered predictive maintenance, security, operation surveillance, and safety. The Qualcomm AI Engine leverages both edge and cloud computing so that data from various sources can be monitored and analyzed in near real time to efficiently run operations. The device also supports the most advanced connectivity standards, including 5G as well as fiber optic, and is retrofit compatible with existing assets.

The solution can improve the safety and security of grid operations, and with real-time fault detection, utilities can identify issues quickly and perform maintenance remotely, reducing operational, training, and maintenance costs. With predictive maintenance, utilities can detect when their infrastructure may potentially fail and reduce overall downtime, therefore, improving their operations and quality of service. Utilities can analyze power flow and predict surges for more efficient energy delivery. By reducing field interventions and secondary substation components, the QEd will make networks more efficient, sustainable, and reliable. The QEd architecture enables Gridspertise to deploy new innovative applications over time, offering customers value-added services and enabling the ecosystem to generate new revenue streams.

OnQ: Can you share the technical challenges overcame in the development of the QEd?

Robert Denda: The QEd was developed based on stringent industrial requirements, including strongest cyber-security requirements, an extended temperature range (-25 ^oC to +75^oC), enabling the device to be deployed globally and a long-life cycle (>10 years), future-proofing the solution for utilities. The solution needs to have a range of communication features including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Ethernet, and 5G and to balance powerful processing with power-efficiency for maximum sustainability.

OnQ: Tell us about the roll-out plan for this new technology?

Robert Denda: Enel manages more than 1.2 million secondary sub-stations around the world, out of which roughly half a million are remote controlled. In the current U.S. market context, and at global level, where grid modernization investments are at the center of any utilities’ business plans, an innovative technology such as QEd that enhances legacy infrastructure with an all-in-one solution, designed by the largest distribution grid player in the world, is strategic for any utility undergoing investments.

Gridspertise is launching a co-creation program to collaborate with pioneering local utility companies, test the solution and leverage on market insights to develop new applications and enrich its functionalities.

OnQ: Can you tell us about the importance of the collaboration between utilities and technology companies?

Robert Denda: With ambitious Net-Zero targets set for 2050 and many complex challenges to address, innovative companies like Gridspertise recognize the demands on customers and the need to digitally transform. To deliver these powerful cutting-edge solutions, the sector is adopting an open innovation approach, combining utilities expertise in the digitalization of grids with technology partners to leverage their innovation and leadership in emerging technologies. The QEd - Quantum Edge device represents a leap forward in network infrastructure digitalization, combining the most advanced technologies designed by Gridspertise with those developed by its ecosystem of partners. We are proud to bring together our expertise with Qualcomm Technologies’ leadership in wireless and edge compute technology, to integrate QEd with the most up to date, secure, and scalable industrial grade IoT solutions.

Qualcomm AI Engine is a product of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries. Quantum Edge is a registered trademark and product of Gridspertise.