MULTI-SERVICE REMOTE CONTROL ACROSS WATER AND PUBLIC LIGHTING
The digital transformation of infrastructure increasingly depends on the ability to integrate different networks and services into a single management framework.
With this objective, the A2A Group launched a development path for its remote-control system, adopting a shared platform to manage the Brescia water network and Milan public lighting.
over
lighting alone
operator workstations
FROM SILOED MANAGEMENT TO MULTI-SERVICE CONVERGENCE
THE A2A & AQUANEXA PROJECT
THE CLIENT
The A2A Group is Italy’s leading multiutility and operates in the energy, environment, integrated water service, district heating and public lighting sectors.
The project involved several companies within the Group:
• A2A Ciclo Idrico, operator of the Integrated Water Service in Brescia and its province;
• A2A Illuminazione Pubblica, responsible for managing public lighting in the city of Milan
Two different operating entities, united by the need to evolve their remote-control systems toward a single platform capable of ensuring operational continuity, cybersecurity and greater management efficiency.
The project also involved Unareti, the local electricity and gas distributor for Milan, which also oversees the remote control of the city’s public lighting managed by A2A Illuminazione Pubblica.
THE CHALLENGE
Over the years, the remote-control systems for the water and public lighting networks had evolved along independent paths, creating an ecosystem made up of different platforms, technologies and architectures.
This fragmentation made system operation and evolution more complex, especially in a context characterised by increasingly stringent cybersecurity requirements and the need to manage thousands of devices distributed across the territory.
The main critical issues included:
• heterogeneous remote-control systems across different services;
• complexity in platform management and maintenance;
• the need to comply with new cybersecurity requirements;
• the need to scale control across thousands of distributed remote devices.
THE RISK
Without a structured path toward technological convergence, the A2A Group would have had to continue managing separate remote-control systems, with a growing impact on operational complexity and on the ability of its infrastructure to evolve:
• increased management and maintenance costs for heterogeneous platforms;
• greater complexity in complying with cybersecurity requirements;
• less flexibility in the evolution of the different services;
• greater difficulty in ensuring consistent infrastructure management;
• impacts on the operational continuity of essential services for citizens and the local area.
THE NEED
The A2A Group needed a single remote-control platform capable of overcoming system fragmentation and supporting the integrated management of networks with different characteristics and operational requirements.
In particular, the solution had to:
• manage the water and public lighting networks through a single architecture;
• ensure 24/7 operational continuity through a fully renewed infrastructure;
• ensure scalability and flexibility to support the future evolution of services;
• meet the highest cybersecurity requirements;
• create a common technological foundation for the development of new services and Disaster Recovery capabilities.
AQUANEXA’S INTERVENTION
FROM THE BRESCIA WATER CONTROL CENTRE TO MILAN’S NETWORKS:
A PATH OF TECHNOLOGICAL CONVERGENCE ON A METROPOLITAN SCALE.
“Extending the same remote-control platform from Brescia’s water network to Milan’s public lighting demonstrates that technological convergence is not a slogan: it is a concrete choice that simplifies management, strengthens security and paves the way for the evolution of networks.”
Giorgio Fujani
CEO of IDEA – Director of AQUANEXA Data Measuring & IoT BU
“The complexity of a network such as public lighting requires tools that make it possible to act promptly and with a complete view of the system. Being able to operate within an advanced control environment means simplifying daily work and making monitoring and management activities more effective.”
Alessio Dedè
Head of Remote Control and Automation at Unareti
PROJECT EXPERTISE
AND GOVERNANCE
The complexity of the project lay in the need to integrate, within a single platform, remote-control systems dedicated to networks with different characteristics, operating methods and requirements, while ensuring service continuity, scalability and cybersecurity.
In this context, Aquanexa – through its Data Measuring & IoT Business Unit – acted as system integrator, coordinating the development of the SCADA platform and ensuring integration between software, field infrastructure and communication systems.
The team’s contribution covered the entire technology ecosystem:
• design and development of the multi-service SCADA platform;
• integration of the water and public lighting networks;
• configuration of the distributed, fully redundant architecture;
• integration of field systems through standard protocols;
• start-up support, operator training and ongoing enhancement support.
One of the project’s distinctive elements was the ability to support the technological convergence process while ensuring uninterrupted service operation.
THE PROJECT
The journey began with the evolution of the multi-service remote control system at the Brescia control centre, which became the Group’s most powerful technology platform for network monitoring.
Based on the results achieved, the same solution was also selected to control public lighting in the city of Milan (Unareti): 1,558 RTUs and over 85,000 I/Os.
The architecture is based on a fully virtualised infrastructure with complete redundancy in every component (server, storage, network, firewall), hot-standby operation, hot-swappable components and native Disaster Recovery readiness.
Field systems are integrated through standard protocols (OPC UA, Modbus TCP/IP), while commissioning is managed through pilot phases, trial operation and structured three-level staff training. Today, the platform manages over 3,000 RTUs distributed across the different services, operating efficiently and consistently in compliance with the most stringent cybersecurity regulations.
A distinctive element of the project was the ability to extend a platform originally developed for remote control of the water network to the management of profoundly different infrastructure, while maintaining a single technological architecture and a shared operating model.
THE RESULTS
A scalable technology foundation ready to extend to new services and support the future evolution of the networks
A single technology platform for two profoundly different network services
A single shared application where the same operator terminals can access information from all systems thanks to the distributed architecture
Over 3,000 remote devices controlled continuously and reliably, with up to 120 concurrent operator workstations
Compliance with the most stringent cybersecurity requirements for critical infrastructure
Simplified system management, maintenance and evolution
24/7 support, 7 days a week, with remote support initiated within 1 hour
WHAT MADE
THE DIFFERENCE
Tra gli elementi distintivi:
A proven system integration approach – from SCADA software to field hardware
A scalable, open SCADA platform – distributed architecture, unlimited I/O licences, over 3,000 multi-service RTUs
Specialist industry expertise, built on thirty years of exclusive specialisation in public utility remote control and a long-term partnership with Italy’s largest multiutility group
An architecture designed to ensure operational continuity and security – by-design reliability with full hot-standby redundancy and 24/7 service continuity, together with a security-by-design approach compliant with critical infrastructure regulations
A forward-looking approach to infrastructure evolution, enabled by a model that can be replicated for any multiutility.
Questo approccio ha permesso di trasformare complessità e criticità infrastrutturali in una base conoscitiva più solida, abilitando una gestione più proattiva delle perdite, una maggiore resilienza della rete e decisioni operative più efficaci.
SERVICES AND SOLUTIONS
ENABLING SERVICES
DATA MEASURING
& IOT
DIGITAL
PLATFORMS
FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT
The value chain can evolve through a series of action-oriented services, as a natural extension of the enabling activities. The aim is to turn the data collected into concrete interventions in the field and decision-making tools for proactive network management:
DATA MEASURING
& IOT
NETWORKPARTNERS INVOLVED IN THE SERVICES LISTED
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
DO YOU HAVE A NETWORK TO ANALYSE, MANAGE OR IMPROVE?
This project is just one example. Every network is different, but the method can be replicated.
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