New digital solutions to optimise the energy management process: this is the goal of TeleSmeg, a project conducted as part of the RESTART programme.
The energy transition cannot be separated from the digital transition: this is the idea behind TeleSmeg, the ambitious project conducted as part of the RESTART research and development programme, for which Open Fiber is a partner.
The goal is to develop new digital solutions to optimise the energy management process and, more generally, to implement smart electricity grids.
Open Fiber, a RESTART partner
RESTART (RESearch and innovation on future Telecommunications systems and networks, to make Italy more smART) is a three-year Research and Development programme funded by the European Union as part of the NRRP, created with the aim of contributing to the evolution of telecommunications in Italy.
Launched at the end of 2022, the programme will continue until the end of 2025 and involves 25 partners, including Open Fiber, which is contributing to the development of several project ideas using the FTTH fiber optic network.
What is the TeleSmeg Project?
Today’s power distribution and transmission networks require telecommunications infrastructure that can enable stable continuous services with minimum latency. The TeleSmeg project, developed as part of the RESTART programme, addresses these needs.
The project focuses on the use of fiber optic networks and 5G to improve the monitoring and control of energy flows on electricity grids, among other things: edge computing, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and new management models such as CERs (Renewable Energy Communities) are among the enablers to help reduce emissions.
In this scenario, grids become intelligent organisms and citizens can be active participants in energy generation and distribution, reducing CO2 emissions. This makes the Net Zero goal more attainable: a net-zero future through the implementation of corporate impact reduction actions, together with mitigation and offsetting strategies.
TeleSmeg project progress: the meeting at the Open Fiber headquarters
An important meeting on the progress of the TeleSmeg project was held at Open Fiber’s Rome headquarters on 13 October. The meeting was attended by representatives from academia, industry and research, such as Wind Tre, Athonet, ENEA, CERESS and the University of Florence. It was a real opportunity for discussion regarding the central role of data in achieving the shared objectives.
Several experts in the field spoke, including Prof. Tommaso Pecorella and Francesco Grasso from the University of Florence. In his speech, Prof. Grasso emphasised: “The new NIST framework and roadmap for interoperability standards for smart grids, version 4.0, describe the communication interactions between network elements for system interoperability requirements. Digital twins, cyber-physical systems and the high-DER environment with centralised, distributed (non-centralised) and edge functionalities require communication networks with high reliability, very low latency and high bit rates. The features included in TeleSmeg make it possible to meet the new regulatory requirements,” a viewpoint that we at Open Fiber fully share.
