At the 49th MIPRO 2026 convention in Opatija, we showed how visibility can be brought to parts of the distribution grid that, in most cases, are not monitored, without the cost and complexity of a major SCADA system overhaul. We also presented the operational benefits that visibility can deliver, from faster issue detection to more informed maintenance and network management.
Our experts, Marko Gojić (Senior Solution Architect) and Dora Šegović (Industry Product Expert), presented within Croatian national energy company HEP's tutorial "Information and Communication Technology in the Electric Power Sector." The talk centred on a platform for improving distribution grid observability and energy efficiency through near real-time measurement, a solution built in the same domain as Thaora Distribution Intelligence and tailored for HEP ODS (Croatian Distribution System Operator).
Much of the grid runs in a blind spot. Substations and low-voltage cabinets usually aren't continuously monitored because classic SCADA isn't economical across thousands of smaller sites. Faults get discovered only after a customer reports them — reactive instead of predictive — while the infrastructure ages and the network grows more complex.
We delivered centralised monitoring of operational and environmental parameters right where they were missing. Data arrives in near real-time via intervals (5–30 minutes), with spontaneous alarms the moment an event occurs in the field.
The approach stays economical by using the existing LoRaWAN network and modular hardware, while plug-and-play installation makes field deployment quick. The platform receives, decodes, visualises and analyses the data, calculating derived values, correlating environmental readings with weather data to trigger alarms, and forwarding key measurements to SCADA via API.
The talk drew on real results: validated data aggregation on the controller, confirmed LoRaWAN viability for near real-time use, and integrated electrical-and-environmental analysis enabling early detection of equipment degradation.
That foundation feeds project PANDORA, an EU-funded innovation project already under way, which extends the platform with AI/ML predictive analytics and synchro-phasor (dPMU) enabling earlier detection of emerging faults and supporting reductions in both outage frequency and duration, reflected in SAIFI and SAIDI performance.
The project is being developed in cooperation with the University of Zagreb Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing (FER) and will be tested and refined within the distribution network of HEP ODS, Croatia’s distribution system operator.
