i-DE connects more than 44,000 self-consumption installations in the Valencian Community

• The distribution company of the Iberdrola group recently organised a training day on the process of processing the grid connection of these installations.
• The director of i-DE in the Eastern Region, Ana Lafuente, has highlighted the important role played by the electricity grid as a facilitator of the energy transition.

i-DE, the distributor of the Iberdrola group, has surpassed 44,000 self-consumption installations connected to its electricity grid in the Valencia region, which contribute approximately 500 megawatts (MW) of green generation fully integrated into the low and medium voltage grids.

The company recently organised an online training session aimed at professionals in the sector, which was attended by more than 350 people, with the collaboration of the professional associations of Technical and Higher Engineers of the Valencia region, and the installers' associations ASELEC, SEME, APEME, FEMEVAL and AIECS. 

The opening was attended by Silvia Cerdá, Director General of Industry, Energy and Mines of the Generalitat Valenciana, who stressed the importance of installers "knowing what steps they have to take to complete the process of getting installations connected to the grid in the best and quickest way possible. From the DG we have facilitated this course so that installers are aware of the steps they have to take, being aware of the great demand we currently have for this type of installation, and the doubts that existed in the sector".

For her part, the director of i-DE in the Eastern Region, Ana Lafuente, wanted to highlight the important role played by the electricity distribution grid as a facilitator of the energy transition and the volume of self-consumption applications that are being managed in the Valencia region, where at the start of 2023 "more than 10,000 new installations have been connected, which accentuates the trend already seen in 2022 with the connection of more than 23,000 self-consumption installations during the year". In addition, the grid has also been able to handle a steady increase of approximately 30% in the number of charging points for electric vehicles over the last few years.

Lafuente stressed that being a facilitator of connection "is the starting point, and at i-DE we have been working for years to provide the electricity grid with tools and equipment to manage new usage models, which is allowing us to have an increasingly robust, flexible and intelligent electricity grid. And we must continue to promote it, as it is the real backbone for decarbonisation and thus continue to improve the quality of supply, service to citizens and make them more involved so that they can be more efficient".

Clean energy for a healthy planet

i-DE is immersed in a process of digitalisation of the electricity distribution grid that will allow more information to implement additional energy efficiency and sustainability measures, in a way that is committed to ambitious and urgent climate action. The deployment of the smart grid makes it possible to respond to new models of grid use and offer a better service to citizens.

In the Valencia Region, i-DE manages more than 68,000 kilometres of low and medium voltage lines and more than 3,400 km of high and very high voltage lines. It also has 25,000 transformation centres in service and 177 primary and secondary substations. In recent years, the company has undertaken an ambitious plan to digitalise its electricity grids, converting its more than 3.5 million meters and the infrastructure that supports them into smart meters, incorporating remote management, supervision and automation capabilities.