STMicroelectronics' ST8500 PLC modem SoC is designed to fulfill the requirements associated with the intricacies of smart energy systems. The smart grid networks of the future must be multi-layered and multi-dimensional in order to cope with the complexity of smart energy systems with bidirectional communication and power exchange between suppliers and consumers, connecting largescale time-varying renewable sources to national power grids and markets. The ST8500 is a fully programmable PLC modem SoC able to run any PLC protocol in the frequency band up to 500 kHz. The device architecture has been designed to target CENELEC EN50065, FCC, and ARIB compliant applications supporting all major PLC protocol standards such as ITU G.9904 (PRIME), ITU G.9903 (G3-PLC®), and many other possible PLC protocol specifications and evolutions.