Nearly two dozen Smart Wires employees based in Medellin recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the opening of the office.

Medellin was chosen as the ideal location for Smart Wires, a global power technology company, to establish its Latin America base. The second largest city in Colombia, Medellin is a source of exceptional talent in the electricity and technology sectors. Renewable energy accounts for nearly 70 percent of Colombia’s electricity generation (Statista). Smart Wires enables the use of renewable energy, and helps affordable energy reach consumers, with technology that controls the flow of power on congested grids.

“We are excited to be setting up the Medellin office and planting roots in the region. Our skilled, dedicated team members are devoted to developing, learning and growing with our customers and applying this knowledge beyond Colombia,” said Smart Wires CEO Peter Wells. “Colombia’s leading utilities are embracing grid enhancing technologies to bring clean, renewable energy to consumers, and we are committed to working and growing alongside them.”

The office opening comes amidst a flurry of activity in Colombia. Smart Wires has two projects with ISA Transelca, with plans to install its SmartValve™ technology in the Guajira-Cesar-Magdalena region later this year. Another grid expansion project in the Atlantico region is expected to unlock an additional 300 MW of renewable energy in 2024. Smart Wires installed an initial pilot project with Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM) in 2021 to gain experience with the technology, and now EPM plans to install more SmartValve devices this year. A project delivered in early 2022 with Grupo Energía Bogotá (GEB) unlocked an additional 250 MW of network capacity on the existing grid.

Smart Wires’ presence in Colombia has grown alongside the country’s investment in renewable energy and technology to optimize the existing network. The new office space will allow Smart Wires employees to work together in a collaborative setting, while allowing the company to host events with clients and industry stakeholders.

“In 2020, we were just three remote employees based in Colombia. Now, there are 20 employees who work side by side at our new Medellin office, with disciplines ranging from commercial to customer solutions to analytics,” explained Smart Wires Customer Solution Manager Mario Patino, who leads the Medellin office. “Having a space for our team members to collaborate, welcome project partners and work productively further enhances our commitment to the region and will help us achieve our goals.”

Throughout the lively and candid discussion, panel members debated the emerging technologies which are set to be critical in reaching net zero, the need for a digital platform, and the importance of pursuing integrated solutions.

Mr Wells, who hails from England but is based in the United States, stated a mix of Grid-Enhancing Technologies (GETs) were emerging globally as central to enabling a successful energy transition.

“More and more GETs are being deployed across the world – DLR [dynamic line rating], topology optimization, modular power flow control. Why? because its fast, lower cost, and brings flexibility,” he said.

“We’re also see regulators in some markets flat out requiring it. It’s coming. It must be built into planning.

“We find with our customers across the globe that it is somewhat transactional at the moment – we’re solving a specific problem like grid congestion. We’re maybe five years away, but [in the future] you’ll have a distributed base of technology that now you can do different things with,” Peter said.

“Just listening to all the conversations today, including on this panel, the complexity of what we’re trying to deal with, how you even get there without power electronics – it’s going to be impossible.

“We need some form of digital platform that’s edge to edge, that can deal with electrification, that can deal with flexibility.

“As the saying in Australia goes, ’there’s no transition without transmission’, so maybe it’s no transition without digital transmission and distribution,” Peter said.

Peter praised the Australian energy industry on its “pragmatic and transparent approach” to energy policy and incentivized regulation.

In response to a question on whether the mentality (in Australia) is changing far enough and quickly enough in terms of the need to get a better picture of what is actually needed on the grid before building a long-term infrastructure asset, Peter said:

“Power electronics and other GETs are complementary to what is already there today. You do need all of it at the end of the day. It’s really important that when you invest in the grid, distribution of transmission, you’re thinking about that future flexibility.”

He mentioned Australia, the UK and Colombia as his picks for top global markets in terms of incentivized regulation.

“I can tell you now, Smart Wires’ most successful markets are in countries that have regulatory mechanisms to ensure the delivery of a reliable, low-cost network for consumers – approaches that naturally incentivize utilities to rapidly adopt GETs (grid-enhancing technologies). Australia is firmly in that mix, developing a market which is driving the energy transition on a cost basis,” he said.

“Notwithstanding the progress made, the pace of change is presenting significant challenges here in Australia just as it is elsewhere in the world. There needs to be far greater focus on the grid itself and transforming it into a digital platform,” Peter said.

“Ultimately, to successfully achieve a global energy transition will require genuine integration – interconnectedness of markets, policy and technology,” he said.

Smart Wires’ technology, SmartValve™, is now being deployed in Australia, with a major installation on the Victoria-NSW Interconnector (VNI) with Transgrid, an installation with AusNet Services in Victoria; and an installation with another Australian utility almost completed – combined these deployments will unlock an extra 200+ MW on Australia’s network.

Active across the UK, Europe, North and Latin America, and Australia, SmartValve is in use or being installed on live projects with 20+ grid operators worldwide: our largest installation being with National Grid UK, where our technology has unlocked 1.5 GW on the existing network.