EDP Upgrid

The Opportunity

The UPGRID project started back in 2015 under the H2020 program, and was developed by a European consortium of 19 partners from 7 European countries: Spain, Portugal, Poland, Sweden, UK, France and Norway. In Portugal, edp Distribuição, our client, was responsible for installing smart meters and demonstrating how to use them in real-life environments.

How We Helped

The focus was on end-user engagement and the opportunity lay in having residential consumers access and see detailed information about their energy consumption. Our goal was therefore to build a digital platform where consumers could see their power usage peaks, or simulate their bills with new tariffs, and also receive advice on how to optimise their consumption.

Knowledge is power

Smart meters are great for helping energy users and providers have more reliable information about their energy consumption and power usage. With the UPGRID project, more than 10,000 consumers are now able to have even more detailed information about each KwH spent in their homes.

However, more information doesn’t necessarily mean more complexity. With the focus very much on the end customer experience, we designed a beautiful dashboard where consumers are able to view and analyse all their data. The dashboard is so easy to use that it’s even available through a mobile app, which we developed with react native.

Introducing Ingrid - your energy assistant

To help with customer adoption and make the whole world of data just a bit more personal, we also developed Ingrid, an intelligent and interactive virtual assistant. This chatbot guides the customer through different graphics and delivers personalised information on energy usage, additionally providing suggestions on how the customer can optimise their spend.

Combining artificial intelligence, natural language processing and an attractive and easy-to-use interface, Ingrid enables seamless communication and information retrieval in a more natural and interactive way.