On February 2, 2021, the Council of Ministers adopted a resolution on the strategy for the transformation of the Polish energy sector until 2040. It is based on three pillars: a just transition, building a parallel, zero-emission energy system and good air quality. The implementation of these three guidelines will require massive investments in renewable energy and nuclear power plants from the Polish government. The projected outlays amount to approximately PLN 1.6 trillion. But that’s not all. According to the strategy, as much as 80 percent by 2028. households will have modern remote reading meters at their disposal, the position of prosumers will be strengthened, and energy aggregation services will also be developed and disseminated. These demands also require changes in the infrastructure, primarily in the field of reading devices and advanced measurement systems.
PEP 2040 – main challenges
There are less than 20 years left to implement the assumptions of the new Polish Energy Policy. During this time, governments will be obliged to take intensive measures to ensure the country’s energy security while maintaining the competitiveness of the economy, as well as increasing energy efficiency while reducing the sector’s impact on the natural environment. According to PEP 2040, the energy transformation will require the involvement of many entities and incurring significant investment expenditures, the scale of which in the years 2021-2040 may reach as much as PLN 1.6 trillion. This is an unimaginably high amount for Polish conditions.
– Electricity for the economy and consumers is a good of strategic importance. Electricity consumption in Poland is increasing, and emission restrictions require immediate action. Therefore, finding funds for the implementation of PEP 2040 should be a priority – says Pawel Pisarczyk, president of the management board of Atende Industries from the Atende Group.
The basis of the energy system in the future will be distributed community power. A government bill amending the Energy Law and certain other acts is currently being processed in the Sejm. it will bring Polish law into line with the provisions in force in the EU as regards the efficient functioning of the smart metering system in the electricity sector, which is the key to the implementation of prosumer energy.
– The goals set out in the Polish Energy Policy 2040 are indeed very ambitious. In order for them to be fully implemented, we should start working on them already… yesterday. The first and not the least complicated stage of work must be the issue of regulations and legal regulations. This is the foundation on the basis of which the strategy implementation process can be continued – says Pawel Pisarczyk.
Smart meters are required to fulfill the postulates to strengthen the participation of prosumers. The estimated data of distribution network operators shows that currently smart meters are installed at approx. 1.9 million end users. The target total number of end users is estimated at approx. 16.3 million. Thus, approximately 14.4 million of these meters remain to be replaced.
– We welcomed the new accents in the climate policy of the Polish Government. We are pleased with the growing share of renewable energy sources in the national energy mix, the progressive digitization of the energy sector, new regulations related to smart metering and improvement of energy efficiency. Apator is ready in terms of products and operations for the rollout of smart meters in Poland – provides Artur Bratkowski, Director of Apparatus and Measurement Systems Apator S.A.
– However, it must be clearly stated that the replacement of devices on such a large scale will be a huge challenge and logistic undertaking for the DSO. Regulations to the Energy Law Act will be of key importance, which will define, inter alia, requirements for meters and reading systems. It is also necessary to specify important issues related to e.g. cybersecurity. Let us remember that smart meters will work in the power grid – sensitive to the security of the country. Suppliers of this type of equipment should be thoroughly verified and the safety of the devices and systems they supply should be confirmed by reliable audits. Procurers should also consider on-site support from the supplier’s engineering and service teams. I believe that these are solid arguments for energy companies to turn their attention to national and European entities.
We have created not only devices, but also measuring systems whose functionality resembles modern computers. Almost a million Polish households already have meters read by the redGrid system we offer – but this is still a drop in the ocean of needs. We also have besmart.energy software for managing local communities where prosumers generate energy – adds Pawel Pisarczyk.
Data as the basis for the transformation of the Polish energy sector
For effective management of power consumption by the so-called Energy clusters need data that is provided in real time. According to PEP 2040, the National Power System is obliged to ensure full energy security. This means the need to maintain the stability of energy supplies not only through the expansion and modernization of the TSO’s infrastructure (transmission systems) and DSO (distribution systems) further renewable energy sources. Above all, it is necessary to efficiently manage the power grid in real time in order to react quickly to failures or system disturbances.
PEP2040 assumes that DSOs will invest in RES and support active consumers and local balancing. However, it should be clearly emphasized that failure to provide consumers with real-time or near-real-time information on their energy consumption practically prevents them from actively participating in the electricity market and in the energy transformation process. Therefore, consumers must be equipped with smart metering systems and have access to contracts with dynamic electricity prices – only then will we be able to actually benefit from direct participation in this market – says Artur Bratkowski.
– If we want to really change, we must base our actions on reliable data – create energy based on very specific numbers regarding the current supply and demand. This is a difficult process that requires much more than just replacing the meters with more modern ones, because the power industry should draw data from all types of metering devices, not just meters. Devices should send data to the cloud, and these can be used in many ways. It will become possible, among others balancing energy, as well as developing predictions that will allow to predict infrastructure failures and failures. This will allow you to react and maintain the optimal condition of the power grid on an ongoing basis. Data is the most important element of this complicated puzzle – adds Pawel Pisarczyk.
Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things are the main pillars of changes and strengthening the competitiveness of Polish enterprises
The energy transformation is associated with the construction of new industries that participate in the transformation of the energy sector.
– We have enormous competences needed to build industry 4.0. Poles are considered to be one of the best programmers in the world. We have very talented young people who have no complexes and want to change the world. They win the IT Olympics. The role of IT in industry 4.0 is crucial. For many years, Atende has been developing platforms for collecting large data sets from devices clustered in the Internet of Things ecosystem, which are based on our proprietary NoSQL database called TStorage – says Pawel Pisarczyk.
Atende Industries is a company that actively participates in the digital transformation process of many industrial sectors, in particular modern energy. He creates software for Smart Grid (AMI) networks, platforms for distributed energy, systems for analyzing the environment of collaborative robots and platforms for processing data from Internet of Things devices. The products offered by Atende Industries are based on proprietary technology that has been developed for many years and on the experience related to the implementation of the largest smart metering system in Poland.
One of the main directions of the company’s activity is the development of specialized cloud platforms for Industry 4.0. The company’s main products are: redGrid (MDM and HES class system) for managing smart energy meters in modern Smart Grid energy networks, implemented, among others, in Energa-Operator, and besmart.energy – a cloud platform for distributed energy, allowing for the operation of energy cooperatives and microgrids. The company is also developing the besmart.vision platform for controlling collaborative robots (cobots) based on intelligent environmental analysis, and besmart.dev – a platform for collecting and processing data from Internet of Things devices.
Atende Industries in cooperation with Apator S.A. creates solutions for the power sector. Currently, the companies, together with Phoenix Systems from the Atende Group, are working on an innovative meter whose functions are very extensive. The device works similar to a conventional computer that can run applications that communicate with lighting or inverters and provide real-time information.
– Market leaders must follow the market transformation and even anticipate trends and exceed the expectations of utilities customers. Each year Apator implements innovative metering solutions on the market, eg new generations of meters with the use of modern communication technologies, which are the optimal solution for power grids with a growing share of distributed renewable energy sources. Our OTUS counter, used today, among others in prosumer installations, it provides wide measurement parameters and a variety of communication methods – says Artur Bratkowski. – It is worth mentioning that Apator develops solutions both within its own R&D offices, but also on the basis of technological partnerships, an example of which is cooperation with teams from the Atende Group. We are currently working together on new solutions that will bring a new quality in the field of measurement effectiveness, but also open the door to the development of completely new services based on measurement data.
– The market sees the benefits of using such a meter because it can install applications that will “talk” to devices without the operator’s participation. Cooperation with Apator is an example of classic synergy. Thanks to this alliance, we are able to make a really intelligent device. This is a revolution that can be compared with the entry into the smartphone market – summarizes Pawel Pisarczyk.