In order to act in a coordinated manner against possible climatic events that could affect the operation of the electricity system during the winter months, Enel Distribución implemented its “Winter 2020 Plan” which includes a series of actions, both from the technical point of view and the customer service channels in situations of contingency within the framework of the Panvid-19 pandemic affecting the country.
Through a streaming the general manager of Enel Distribución, Ramón Castañeda, shared the details of the actions taken by the company with four mayors of the concession area of the company; the mayor of Lo Prado, Maximiliano Ríos; the mayor of Peñalolén, Carolina Leitao, the mayor of Nuñoa, Andrés Zarhi, and the mayor of Independence Gonzalo Durán.
To address the winter months, the company has prepared itself by putting in context the current situation regarding the Covid-19, reinforcing the health and safety measures adopted for operational continuity, highlighting the key role that its workers play in the service of the citizenry.
When critical weather events are forecasted with the potential to affect the continuity of electricity supply, the company allocates all technical and customer service resources – which add up to approximately one thousand people – in the service of contingency management.
In case the weather conditions are adverse, the company has crews for both the city and arrival to hard-to-reach places such as the precordilleran areas to carry out supply replenishment work.
In turn, it has specialized crews for the exclusive care of households of electrodependant patients. Even in the face of severe weather forecasts, registered home generation equipment can be delivered to registered customers in advance.
“The Winter Plan was developed during the second half of 2019 and early 2020, implementing a series of measures aimed at timely action in periods of emergency, as any electrical system, especially air laying, is exposed to possible failures in the face of adverse weather conditions. This year we are also preparing to put in context the current situation regarding Covid-19, reinforcing the health and security measures adopted for operational continuity,” explained Ramón Castañeda, general manager of Enel Distribution.
The Winter 2020 Plan includes:
Remote
In order to reduce affected customers and limit replacement times when a service outage occurs, the company deployed a plan to increase remote control equipment, in order to favor the automation of the power grid, allowing it to be operated remotely. There are more than 400 additional remote control equipment for this winter compared to May 2019, -which implies a 20% increase compared to the previous year – with which the company’s electricity grid reaches more than 2,200 operating equipment by the end of March 2020, allowing it not only to reduce recovery times, but also to reduce considerably and in a matter of minutes, between 30% and 90% the number of customers affected by failures in the main medium voltage network.
Pruning
To minimize the risks of supply interruptions, during the annual Maintenance Planning and Execution process the company considers as a relevant activity the execution of clearing vegetation near electrical networks, with which from the close of Winter 2019 to date advanced in its Poda Plan in 70 medium voltage feeders, which are in areas with higher concentration, thus avoiding this type of incidents caused by falling trees or large branch hooks on the laying, for the period of winter 2020. In coordination with the different municipalities, the company cleared about 1,500 kilometers of high, medium and low voltage networks, equivalent to 64,361 pruning points.
Online information to customers
Currently the company for interruption of supply delivers to its customers, through the different information platforms, the Estimated Normalization Times (TEN) and has available access to maps where it presents georeferenced areas affected by untimely and scheduled disconnections, to keep constantly informed about areas of affectation and emergency care.
Air and pedester inspection plan
An area inspection plan was carried out that aimed to detect in advance sensitive points in the electrical system, to prevent potential service interruptions. This service consists of using state-of-the-art technology consisting of high resolution photo cameras, thermography and lidar 3D system, which is capable of performing digital survey of the entire route, in order to prepare the networks for this winter, a total of 1,700 kilometers of high and medium voltage network were inspected in most of the communes of the Concession area. With the use of the helicopter can be done in 6 weeks the work that on a pedestre form could take more than 6 months.
In addition to the helicopter and seeking to address those areas that cannot be flown, an inspection plan was carried out with technological systems in 280 kilometers of network in areas that had some incident due to post crashed due to third parties outside the company, consisting of a van and / or drones with assembly to transport high resolution photographic cameras, thermal imaging and 3D lifting systems of the entire route. The objective is to be able to identify anomalies of the medium voltage network, by means of technology that identifies 100% of the defects that can occur in the network, after the occurrence of such events and caused damage to our networks.
In addition, in the ongoing search for continuous improvement of the Quality of Service to its customers, ENEL Distribution continues to explore innovative ways to detect points of risk for electrical installations and is conducting tests to detect the status of networks through the use of satellite technology and artificial intelligence in order to avoid failures in the power line.
Advance in customer service and information platforms
Increase endowment of the call center up to 8 times the normal endowment.
Strengthening customer service and support tools, such as website, mobile app, text messaging, cut-off reference map, social media care, and other digital tools, to optimize the flow of information to users.
Implementation of automated callout in natural language, which together with improving the self-care experience, allows the customer to obtain information from their account and report electrical emergencies.
Protocol for electrodependients
The company has a register of electrodependients, which to date reaches 1,660 and has 550 home generator sets, 120 of them delivered to municipalities for their own management.
Priority platform for electrodependients was also implemented, which manages crews dedicated to the delivery of electrical backups. In addition to preventive delivery of electrical support in homes of registered electrodependent patients, at specific dates and sectors.
In addition, a new electrical backup technology, based on stationary lithium batteries, was incorporated for electrodependent patients residing in high-rise departments, which provides clean, quiet and safe service for 60 patients in this special condition.
It should be mentioned that, thanks to the work in conjunction with the municipalities of its concession area, the company managed to increase the cadastre of registered customers in 2019 and so far this year, automatically extending the validity of the records that are about to expire without having to approach the company as a measure to face complex situations by the Covid-19.
Electrodependient patients who have never registered can contact the company through their digital channels. These are: the website enel.cl, the twitter account @EnelClientesCL, the Fan Page of Facebook “Enel Chile” and the mobile phone application “Enel Clientes Chile”.
