Lessons learned from Milan electric power distribution networks data analysis during COVID-19 pandemic

TL;DR

This paper analyzes Milan's electric power distribution data during COVID-19 lockdowns, revealing how demand and power flows changed, providing insights for enhancing network resilience during disruptions.

Contribution

It offers a detailed case study of Milan's distribution network during COVID-19, highlighting impacts on power flows and faults, and proposes tools for resilience planning.

Findings

Significant decline in electricity demand during lockdowns

Altered active and reactive power flow patterns

Insights for improving urban distribution network resilience

Abstract

COVID-19 pandemic has been a disruptive event from health, social, and economic points of view. Besides that, changes in people's lifestyles, especially during the 2020 lockdowns, also affected energy networks. COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a significant decline in electricity demand. The lockdown measures applied to handle the health crisis have caused the most relevant energy impact of the last years. In this paper, the local experiences of the distribution network of Milano, a city in northern Italy, are reported. The analysis starts with a summary of the restrictions imposed during 2020 and focuses on both active and reactive power flows, and faults. To this end, a comparison with 2019 data has been performed, highlighting the main differences with 2020. The outcome of the analysis is a valuable tool to predict urban distribution networks behavior during times of disruption, helping distribution system operators to prepare feasible short-term and long-term resilience plans.