Monday 9 June 2008

SmartSynch raises $20m from Credit Suisse and Southern Bureau Life Insurance

SmartSynch, raised $20 million in new funding led by new investors Credit Suisse and Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance. Previous investors also participated in the round of investment in the company that was founded in 2000. SmartSynch has now raised a total of $80 million from investors who include Battelle Ventures, Beacon Group, Endeavor Capital Management, GulfSouth Capital, Innovation Valley Partners, Kinetic Ventures, OPG Ventures and Siemens Venture Capital.

It will use this latest round to fund working capital growth and expand market presence, among other purposes.

Source; Various

Xcel Energy begins work on SmartGridCity in Boulder

The design phase is complete, equipment is ordered and construction has started on SmartGridCity, Xcel Energy announced.

In April, Xcel Energy and its Smart Grid Consortium partners completed their study of Boulder, Colo.'s electricity infrastructure, and developed a scope and design plan for implementing the changes. The company then placed equipment orders, including an order for 15,000 smart meters. In May, the company began implementation of the smart grid network and construction on the SmartGridCity Control and Operations Center.

SmartGridCity is a multi-phase project, which is expected to be complete in December 2009. The advanced, smart grid system – when fully implemented – will provide customers with a portfolio of smart grid technologies designed to provide environmental, financial and operational benefits.


"We’re on our way toward building the grid of the future and making SmartGridCity a reality," said Dick Kelly, Xcel Energy chairman, president and CEO. "This is a forward-thinking project that will transform the way we do business. In SmartGridCity, our customers will have more information, including the tools to communicate directly with us, and will choose when and how they use their energy based on price, generating resource or convenience."

Phase I, which runs from March 2008 to August 2008,

Demonstration phase, and initial installations will take place to test capabilities and gauge customer reaction. Phase II, which runs from September 2008 to December 2009, will be a full deployment phase to a broader customer base. Xcel Energy and its partners will dedicate up to 115 people to SmartGridCity, to install and monitor more distribution as well as in-home equipment, and work with customers to begin using the new technology.

Includes full-system automation, monitoring and smart meters for the first group of SmartGridCity customers. Involves upgrades to two substations, five feeders and nearly 15,000 meters (representing both residential, commercial and light industrial customers) in Boulder.
Web portal will provide consumers with insight into their energy use and information for better home energy management.

Some customers can choose to have in-home automation tools, allowing increased control over home energy use and costs.

By mid-August, initial capabilities should be demonstrated.

Phase II: September 2008 - December 2009

Complete the installation of a distribution and communication network for remaining areas within Boulder (an additional two substations, 20 feeders and smart meters for an additional 35,000 premises).

Expanded in-home automation installations.

Enable Web portal access to all SmartGridCity customers.

Begin initial integration of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, solar and wind co-generation sources onto the grid in Boulder.

Xcel Energy and its partners have started installing the high-speed communications network and smart grid sensing equipment necessary for deploying SmartGridCity, which will enable two-way communication between customers and the company.

The company has ordered approximately 15,000 Landis+Gyr smart meters, which will be installed by August 2008. In June, crews will begin installing them, at approximately 2,500 meters each week. The new smart meters provide detailed usage history and automated meter reading. The meter installation will be at no charge to the customer.

The potential benefits of SmartGridCity include operational savings, customer-choice energy management, better grid reliability, greater energy efficiency and conservation options, increased use of renewable energy sources and support for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and intelligent-home appliances.

Xcel Energy anticipates funding only a portion of the project, and plans to leverage other sources including government grants for the remainder of what could be up to a $100 million effort.
In December 2007, Xcel Energy established the Smart Grid Consortium, bringing together leading technologists, engineering firms, business leaders and IT experts. Consortium members include Accenture, Current Group, GridPoint, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories and Ventyx. The group will provide guidance, products and services needed to bring Xcel Energy's smart grid vision to life.

For the full design and scope plan, and additional information on SmartGridCity, visit www.xcelenergy.com/smartgrid.

Landis+Gyr Unveils Four-Year Smart Metering Project with Texas Utility Oncor

Landis+Gyr, offering utilities next generation "smart grid" solutions, announced a major four-year advanced metering contract with Texas utility Oncor.

Under the agreement, Oncor will deploy a next generation Landis+Gyr advanced meter system (AMS) to empower seven million Texas consumers, through 3 million points of delivery, to independently manage their energy consumption, cut their energy bills and protect the environment.

The $690 million Oncor project, which includes Landis+Gyr's AMS solution and other project costs, is the largest AMS rollout undertaken in Texas and one of the largest in the U.S. The national demand for electricity is growing three times faster than power resources are being added.

"This is a significant win and confirms yet again our presence as a global industry leader in smart metering," said Landis+Gyr CEO Cameron O'Reilly. "Energy conservation is the critical 'fifth fuel' -- after coal, gas, nuclear and alternative energy -- that must be harnessed to secure our energy future. Through this contract Texas will now be able to manage energy better."

With significant technological progress and encouragement from lawmakers and regulators, smart metering is expected to revolutionize energy management and grid reliability across the globe. Smart metering solutions provide utilities with a two-way flow of data required to manage energy use, efficiency and demand response and network protection. Consumers benefit from lower energy costs, and, crucially, a reduced carbon footprint.

"You cannot fix what you can't measure," said David Slump, CEO of Landis+Gyr Energy Management Solutions in the U.S. "Our technology will allow Oncor consumers to see real-time pricing in their bills, such as time of use, time of year, time of day. That gives consumers control, so that they can make more informed decisions to use power efficiently and effectively. We are committed to helping Oncor deliver this enabling technology to their consumers."

Oncor CEO Bob Shapard noted the company went through a vigorous review process that included technological capability, service quality and cost, before ultimately choosing Landis+Gyr.
"Our evaluation of possible vendors convinced us that Landis+Gyr's metering and communications technology is the best fit for our system," said Shapard.

U.S. demand for smart metering solutions is expected to grow rapidly in the months ahead, thanks in part to the Energy Policy Act of 2005 which mandates that all electric utilities consider implementing advanced metering systems to increase efficiency.

Analysts predict smart meters -- small, powerful communications tools -- will form the foundation for a national, energy-efficient smart grid distribution network needed to secure, protect and conserve power supply. A recent California study found smart metering cut energy consumption by upwards of 9%. In an Ontario study, researchers noted that a demand reduction of 6.5% was feasible from customers simply having access to the usage information from smart meters.
Just a five percent drop in peak demand nationally would eliminate the need for installing and running some 625 infrequently used peaking power plants, translating into annual savings of $3 billion, a recent Brattle Group study found.

Source; www.landisgyr.com

A Useful Thing Happened on the Way to the Smart Grid: the Agile Grid

Source; Energy Central

Stephen Hadden, Vice President, Plexus Research, Inc. and Shannon Messer, Senior Consultant, R. W. Beck write in Energy Central on the topic of how the emergence of Smart Grids has had other knock on benefits even if we haven’t seen the true Smart Grid just yet.

The concept of an intelligent electric utility infrastructure or "Smart Grid" is attracting wide interest among utilities, consultants, regulators, and other utility stakeholders. The widespread interest, however, is accompanied by widely differing expectations about when Smart Grid will emerge. Some consultants and vendors confidently proclaim that the Smart Grid is here or "just around the corner." Utility management and staff responsible for operating real electric systems are careful to distinguish Smart Grid fact from fiction. They understand that Smart Grid will not suddenly become available in a suite of closely bundled technologies and applications. Also, they are pragmatic about the technology needed today and in the next few years to improve distribution operations.

Source; http://www.energypulse.net/centers/article/article_display.cfm?a_id=1748

Smart Grids Require Truly Open Solutions

Grid Net is catalyzing an ecosystem of providers who believe that the optimal technology for implementing and managing the Smart Grid should be:

Built on open standards and protocols, so that utilities can choose the most innovative and cost effective solutions, and avoid “single vendor, proprietary product lock-in” seen in other solutions
High performing and scalable, in order to cost-effectively manage tens of millions of customer energy service delivery points, meters, and other distribution automation devices

Integrated, interoperable and optimized, to leverage innovations from all technology and product providers, the Smart Grid solution ecosystem of vendors, customers, and standards groups

Resilient and adaptive, so that the Smart Grid can self-heal points of failure, or provision new services rapidly and cost-effectively — self-healing, self-provisioning, and self-optimizing
Secure and reliable, so that Smart Grid devices and services are well protected, and meet both governmental and industry Smart Grid security specifications, guidelines, and recommendations
To learn more about Grid Net’s policy-based Smart Grid solutions, please visit www.grid-net.com

Grid Net Collaborates with GE Energy and Intel to Deliver Smart Grid Solutions for Utilities

Grid Net, a provider of policy-based network management system (NMS) software for the utility Smart Grid, today announced key collaborations with GE Energy and Intel Corporation, focused on providing innovative Smart Grid solutions. Grid Net has been working with the companies to architect and produce open, standards-based, industry-leading Smart Grid products and services for utilities.

The collaboration has been productive. The companies have already established the key technological underpinnings for Smart Grid solutions, which include:

An open, interoperable Smart Grid communications and networking platform based on WiMAX, a leading 4G wireless broadband standard which is supported across the globe by the WiMAX Forum, a consortium of 522 industry leaders in the communications ecosystem, including Intel and Grid Net.

Grid Net's PolicyNet Smart Grid NMS™ software, of which core components are based on the Common Open Policy Service (COPS) engine1 and Intel® WiMAX Connection software reference kit, enabling an open standards-based, reliable, scalable, extensible, secure, policy-based networking platform for the Smart Grid, and

GE Energy's next-generation WiMAX SmartMeter products, which integrate Grid Net's PolicyNet firmware, and the Intel® WiMAX Connection 2250 and Intel® WIMAX Connection 2400 chipsets (formerly codenamed Baxter Peak).

"Implementing the Smart Grid requires a truly open approach, using the best products and technology," states Ray Bell, founder and CEO of Grid Net. "Our focus is all about offering utilities a broader choice of better solutions, at lower costs. That's why we’re pleased to collaborate with Intel and with GE Energy, and to leverage the ongoing innovations of more than 500 leading WiMAX technology providers into a Smart Grid ecosystem of open standards-based communications, utility transmission and distribution automation, and advanced metering products and technologies."

"The deployment of Smart Grid solutions addresses the issues of a growing population and climate change by increasing the productivity, reliability, and efficiency of our current electrical power grid. In addition, these technologies will empower the consumer to manage their electricity spend and usage, which will enable all consumers to become a part of solving the energy challenge now facing our planet," says Bob Gilligan, general manager of Transmission & Distribution. "At GE Energy, we have made a choice to be actively engaged in developing these technologies to meet this challenge."

"WiMAX will enable innovative applications for a variety of industries," said Sriram Viswanathan, vice president, Intel Capital and general manager, Intel WiMAX Program Office. "Grid Net and GE's Smart Grid solution is a brilliant example of what we can expect from solutions built with WiMAX technology’s performance, cost-effectiveness and standards-based, open architecture."

Open Standards and Interoperability

Implementing and managing the Smart Grid requires an "ecosystem" approach, where technology vendors collaborate using open standards to deliver an open, secure, cost-effective and intelligent technology infrastructure comprised of:

Smart grid devices that are always on-line, via reliable, high-speed, high-bandwidth, secure telecommunications networking, so that distribution automation, demand management, and other energy services are provisioned, delivered, consumed and analyzed rapidly and efficiently, and centrally managed via policy networking (or business rules driven) software and protocols, to ensure consistent, cost-effective and adaptive energy service delivery

Source; Grid Net

Florida Power & Light Company Install Network of 'Smart Meters' From Silver Spring Networks

Having successfully tested an initial 50,000 new 'smart meters' earlier this year, Florida Power & Light Company recently began deploying a second 50,000 units to its customers in Broward County, Fla.

Powered by technology from Silver Spring Networks (SSN), a provider of real-time networking solutions for electrical grids, the new 'smart meters' will help customers monitor their electricity usage and increase FPL’s ability to identify and correct service issues once the system is fully activated this summer.

The Advanced Metering Initiative combines a number of elements – intelligent meters, a two-way communications network using an Internet protocol language, and sophisticated operating systems and databases – that will enable customers to go online and monitor how much energy they have used by the month, week, day or hour.

The new system will also allow FPL to monitor the performance of its electrical grid in real time, enabling the company to identify and correct service interruptions more quickly. Silver Spring Networks’ technology powers the system by allowing smart meters to talk to other meters and electronic devices to create a wireless "mesh" network that is more cost efficient than other solutions.

"We’re taking a disciplined and systematic approach to the evaluation and implementation process to ensure we achieve full value. This began with a careful review of all of the technology solutions available in the market. We felt that Silver Spring had the most to offer, and we have been very pleased through the first phase of the project," said FPL Vice President of Customer Service Marlene Santos.

"Our partnership with FPL has been very successful," said Scott Lang, president and CEO of Silver Spring Networks. "The team is pleased with how easy the network was to install and manage and we look forward to completing the next phase."

The first phase of the project, completed in January 2008, evaluated the reliability and functionality of 50,000 new meters and associated SSN network technology. The system was tested against extensive performance criteria, all of which were met or exceeded. The second phase will assess business and customer benefits, and include expanded system performance testing. Based on the results of this evaluation, FPL hopes to begin full-scale deployment to all residential and small business customers.

Source; Silver Spring Networks