In the context of the funding framework of the Spanish Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR), and with specific reference to investments in the digitalisation of electricity distribution networks (C8.I2), the Basque Energy Cluster, in collaboration with Deloitte, organised a meeting between the companies of the Smart Grids Sector Forum and those responsible for developing these investments at UFD (the electricity distributor of the Naturgy Group).

The event, which was attended by 18 entities from the sectoral forum, began with a contextualisation segment in which José Ignacio Hormaeche, Managing Director of the Basque Energy Cluster, presented the Basque value chain relating to smart grids (“Smart Grids Basque Country” and Alberto Díaz and Alberto González-Salas, from the Deloitte team, outlined the main regulatory developments in electricity distribution within the framework of the Spanish Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR), with a special mention of the publication in July of Royal Decree 568/22 on sandboxes in the electricity sector.

The UFD team made up of Jose Julio Pérez (Distribution Systems Manager), José Luis Vallejo (Head of Innovation), Antonio Romero (Head of the Asset Management Unit) and Francisco Fernández-Peiteado (Head of the System Planning Unit) then went on to describe the challenges and technological priorities in the field of digital transformation on which UFD plans to focus its investment activity in the distribution business in the coming years.

On behalf of the companies in the Sector Forum, representatives from Lumiker, Barbara IoT, MESA-Schneider Electric, Arteche, Ibermática, Ariadna grid/Pronutec/Merytronic, Ingeteam and Tecnalia presented their activities and the products and solutions they are developing for the electricity distribution sector, with a strong emphasis on digitalisation and technological innovation, focusing their presentations on the priority issues identified by UFD.

This meeting contributed significantly to enhancing the mutual knowledge between UFD (Naturgy Group) and the companies in the Smart Grids Sector Forum, and will help to identify collaboration opportunities within the framework of the investments that the distribution operator plans to make in the coming years.