Smart Grids power up the agenda across Europe

Apr 3, 2008 - News Release - Smart Electric News

A host of initiatives across Europe have led to an explosion in interest into how - and where - smart grids will be implemented and deployed.

Jose Antonio Vanderhorst-Silverio, a leading voice in the Electricity industry stated "It is clear that dramatic change is coming in the future for the electric utility industry and the way energy is generated, delivered and consumed substantially changing the whole business model. This change is coming to a piece of the industry that hasn't been known for radical change over its 120 plus year history... Implementation of the Smart Grid will require a complete rethinking of the utility business model and business processes."

US leading the charge

But it’s in the US that the most impressive initiative is taking place. A new project has been announced to deliver the first ever Smart Grid City that will be the "…first step toward building the grid of the future," said Dick Kelly, Xcel Energy chairman, president and CEO. "In Boulder, we'll collaborate with others to integrate all aspects of our smart grid vision and evaluate the benefits. The work we're doing will benefit not only Boulder, but also customers throughout our eight-state service territory. We're pleased to partner with the city and our Boulder customers as we begin this journey."

In addition the GridWise Alliance [including the likes of CISCO, GE, IBM, SAP] aims to drive forwards an ‘electric system that integrates the infrastructure, processes, devices, information and market structure so that energy can be generated, distributed, and consumed more efficiently and cost effectively; thereby achieving a more resilient, secure and reliable energy system’ (GridWise Alliance).

European projects taking shape

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), more than $16 trillion will be spent worldwide between 2003 and 2030 in pursuit of the Smart Grid vision. With this in mind several projects have been announced including EDP and IBERDROLA and more recently an announcement from Ireland that they will invest $10.2bn of it’s $16bn budget for renewable energy and cleantech projects in Smart Meters and Smart Networks.

The EDP project led by Technical Co-ordinator Luis Vale de Cunha recently started the InovGrid Project, an initiative that aims to implement an "intelligent grid" during the next few years, through a new systems, communications and technological infrastructure that will integrate commercial and metering processes, network automation and management, and also control of distributed energy resources and micro-generation.

Whilst IBERDROLA has been working extensively in the definition and testing of a new open, public and non-proprietary telecom architecture to support not only smart metering functionality but also to progress towards the Electricity Networks of the Future.

Smart Meters grab the headlines

Over the last few weeks a spate of announcements from the likes of ZigBee, Pepco, Gazprom, Siemens and eMeter have hit the market relating to Smart Meter projects indicating the wealth of interest in the space over the last 6 months. As the market gathers pace expect to see a host of new projects announced.

Smart Electric thought leaders coming together

Smart Electric News, a new Business Intelligence Unit for the Smart Grid industry has announced the first Smart Electric Power Distribution summit [www.smartelectricnews.com]. The summit, focusing exclusively on critical success factors for delivering the smart grid of the future take place in Amsterdam (April 21 - 22) and brings together leading figures driving forwards the Smart Grid revolution.

The pan-European attendee list includes Ecoventures, Everis, Electrica Distribution, EU SmartGrids, RLtec, Energie de Portugal, Siemens, Sensortran, Nedap, Ma-Afrika Energise Consultants, ABB, Tractebel, Energie-Control, ECOFYS, Cisco Systems Everis, Day4 Energy, Nestland LLC, Enel, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, EU SmartGrids IBERDROLA, Texas Instruments, Koncar, Roto Power Engg, Wilson TurboPower, Areva T&D SINTEF, Energunet.dk, Areva T&D, Schneider Electric Industries, Pauwels, Actaris ...to name just a few!

A well thought out agenda includes must have smart grid knowledge that addresses the factors involved in deploying and implementing a Smart Grid network rather than theorising what could be done with such a project. Technology updates, case study results, reducing time to market and securing project wins early will all be addressed over 2 days of insightful discussion and networking.

For more information visit; www.smartelectricnews.com

Michael Setters Smart Electric News E. msetters@smartelectricnews.com T. +44 (0) 207 375 7558