UNEP: Brazil, Colombia, India and Morocco get started on efforts to accelerate power system modernisation

At the Clean Energy Ministerial, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) announced grant support to four pilot projects in Brazil, Colombia, India, and Morocco through the “Demand-Driven Electricity Networks Initiative (3DEN)”, a project financed the Italian Ministry of Ecological Transition (MITE).

In line with 3DEN’s objectives, the project will support these four countries in accelerating progress on power system modernisation and effective utilization of distributed energy resources through policy, regulation, technology and investment guidance.

The selected projects will provide an opportunity to gain on-the-ground insights, test new approaches and disseminate learnings that will feed into the 3DEN Initiative.

Information gained from 3DEN will help scale up implementation of efficient, reliable and sustainable energy systems, impacting the lives of people across continents.

The selected projects are:

In India, Panitek Power with BSES Rajdhani Power Limited, Venios and the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) for Digital Twin for Enhanced Electric Distribution Grid Operation and Management. This project will be the first demonstration in India applying cloud-based digital twin technology to an electrical distribution grid for 800,000 individuals. The aim is to improve the reliability and cost-effectiveness of an emerging economy distribution network and provide the evidence-base to support roll-out across India. The demonstration will take place in the Indian capital city of Delhi.
In Colombia, Enel Global Infrastructure and Networks with Enel Gridspertise, Condensa and Politecnico di Milano for a Demand Response mechanism. The project aims to implement a voluntary disconnectable demand mechanism to deal with congestion and supply interruptions in the Sabana Norte region, which faces electricity interruptions annually due to congestion. The project associates grid digitalisation with the use of renewable distributed generation to manage and disconnect 32 users in Sabana Norte, benefiting 322,000 users.
In Brazil, Planet Smart City with EoT for Digital Districts for Flexible Energy Services. The project aims to implement a flexible energy services pilot to empower residents to achieve optimized energy consumption and effective use of resources through digital energy management tools downstream of the electricity meter. The project proposes a shared benefits arrangement, reducing final users’ bills and offering ancillary services.
In Morocco, Les Eaux Minerales d’Oulmes with Global Quality Consulting, Elexpert, SACMI Beverage and l’Association Marocaine des Boissons for the transformation of global energy systems in food and drink processing companies. The project seeks to upgrade existing electricity measurement equipment in bottling plants with Energy Monitoring Systems. This will allow the bottling process to be tightly controlled and optimized, reducing the total energy consumption in both plants by 36% by 2030. The project will not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions but also changing the way individuals and businesses interact with the grid.