A five-year investment plan at HEDNO, the Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator, locally acronymed DEDDIE, includes twelve strategic projects to be developed between 2016 and 2020, and is valued at over 1.5 billion euros.

Four of these projects concern a plan to develop smart grids by 2019. The plan here entails modernizing the operator’s networks in the wider Athens area, the islands, and other parts of Greece, all of which will be linked to respective regional control centers.

Also, the operator plans to develop remote data stations and automated systems for telecontrolled management of the grid by 2020.

Another HEDNO project concerns installing new customer service systems offering services over the telephone or through the internet by 2019.

The operator’s five-year investment plan also includes establishing an optimal electronic management system for the non-interconected islands, as well as facilitating further renewable energy source (RES) sector market penetration, up to a level of as much as 60 percent.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) will be installed by 2019 as part of the plan to modernize the system.

The investment plan includes the development of a low-voltage telemetry system for the installation of 170,000 digilal electricity meters for domestic use in various parts of Greece as a pilot program by 2018. This technology promises to improve electricity management and efficiency, offer instant customer service, reduce electricity theft, and generally upgrade the electricity market’s operation.