Europe’s distribution grids face electrification of transport and heating, more distributed generation, an ageing asset base and a retiring workforce. Annual distribution investment across the EU is set to double, from about €33 billion to €67 billion per year through 2050. Under revenue-cap and regulated asset base regulation, every euro of CAPEX is reviewed by the regulator. Underinvest and the grid becomes the bottleneck for electrification. Overinvest and capital is wasted.

Our new white paper, Reducing CAPEX at DSOs, shows how Forecast & Investment helps grid planners find the balance. It walks through eight cases built on an anonymised dataset of selected DSOs, comparing planning decisions before and after the solution was introduced. Together, the levers cut a ten-year investment need by 35%.

The eight cases:

• Sizing with foresight: replace each asset once, at the right size and time, saving 21% of the LV/MV reinforcement programme.
• Optimal switch states: rebalance meshed MV grids with an executable switching plan, cutting reinforcement costs by 2.4% on average.
• Reinvestment based on condition and loading rather than age: defer 25% to 38% of calendar-based replacements, by 16 years on average.
• Optimal tap changer settings: correct 91% of today’s low voltage issues and save 8% of the investment plan.
• Coordinating reinvestments with capacity upgrades: cut costs by about 4% to 2050 while reducing expected interruptions from 2.5 to 0.9 minutes per customer per year.
• Non-firm connections: get customers online today and add about €230k a year in revenue on a 3 MW connection with 1.5 MW firm.
• Dynamic asset and line ratings: run cables and transformers more than 50% above nominal capacity in cooler climates and defer 8% of CAPEX.
• Phase rebalancing: free about 8% of line capacity and defer around 40% of the LV cable reinforcements planned for the next two years.

Each case explains the method, the data behind it and the result, with figures taken straight from the Utiligize platform.

Download the white paper (PDF)

Want to see what these levers are worth in your own grid? Get in touch and we will run the numbers with you.