Digital product passport for T&D enabling IoT integration and LCA

The EU's Renewable Energy Directive (RED III) aims to expedite the approval process for renewable energy installations, thereby accelerating the green energy transition. To address these challenges, the digitalization of grid planning processes and the adoption of eco-design principles, as outlined in the Eco-design for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), are crucial. Higher utilization of existing grid assets accompanied with a better maintenance and diagnostic is required too. The paper emphasizes the importance of standardized product categories and attributes to facilitate data exchange and integration, proposing a centralized and standardized data dictionary as the single source of trusted data. The concept of a "Digital Product Passport" is introduced to drive the implementation of digital twins and enable circular economy practices. Additionally, the paper discusses the role of the Asset Administration Shell (AAS) in Industry 4.0, the implementation of life cycle assessments (LCA) using ECLASS standards, and the benefits of using Building Information Modeling (BIM) for the integration of new grid assets. The proposed standardization activities aim to define a common data structure to support various topics, including guidelines for 2D labels for electrical switchgear, link to CIM within the IEC 61850 framework, and the easier integration of IoT devices. A demonstrator presented by ZVEI with 14 T&D manufacturers showed already promising results.