Azienda Elettrica di Massagno (AEM) is a small, but innovative utility located in the southern part of Switzerland, supplying power to the communities in Massagno, Capriasca and Isone. The digitalization of the power network and its optimization through intelligent algorithms are key investment areas for AEM, together with the development of new energy management systems for smart buildings and the establishment of local energy communities.
Challenges
In 2017 AEM started to develop a Smart Grid to connect smart meters, monitor energy-consuming field devices, and enable remote control. The goal was to collect data and process it by an AI-based algorithm for advanced analysis over power consumption, load profiles, and energy demand forecasts.
Moreover, AEM wanted to deploy a Smart Lighting application along the Tesserete‐Canobbio bike trail. About 3 Km. long, this cycle path goes through a wood, so environmental and wildlife footprint, as well as people safety, were carefully considered before upgrading the existing lighting infrastructure.
Our solution
Our Smart CMS currently connects and monitors about 2,000 Smart Lighting nodes, including about 60 smart luminaires along the Tesserete‐Canobbio bike trail. Every lamp is interfaced with a motion sensor, so lights are automatically switched on and dimmed at 100% only when cyclists or pedestrians pass by.
Results
The Smart Grid is fully operative and allows the accurate monitoring and management of overall power consumption. As reported by AEM, despite the integration of energy-consuming devices such as heat pumps and charging stations for e-vehicles, electricity consumption over the network is decreasing (-9% from 2021 to 2023). This is mainly due to climate change (average Winter temperatures are milder) and the growing contribution of installed photovoltaic plants, and results in cost savings for end users and a significant cut of emissions: over 1,400 tons of CO2 were saved in 2023.
About the Tesserete‐Canobbio bike trail, thanks to the Smart Dynamic Lighting application AEM succeeded in reducing annual operating hours from 4,300 to 600, with 86% savings. Overall power consumption dropped from 68.8 kWh to 9.6 kWh per year, and average costs decreased from 11.19 CHF to 1.56 CHF per light point. The solution had very little impact on animals.
