Cedrus Energy RSS Feed

Universities Driving Smart Energy Innovation

2014-01-07 01:38:25

Engineering students at the Government College University (GCU) at Lahore, Pakistan, have built a smart meter that sends text messages via GSM to consumers about electricity bills. The meters were part of the annual project exhibition organized by the GCU Electrical Engineering Department with the support of Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC), Google Pakistan, Institution of Engineering and Technology, and British Science Association.

Other mobile-based smart devices displayed included a robotic surgical arm, a smart energy saving system for houses, and anti-collision device for trains.

Vice chancellor Prof Dr Khaleeq-ur-Rahman said the GCU was providing extensive research grants, equipment facilities, and training to its students so that they could translate their knowledge into technology.

For example, the smart energy saving system for houses is a completely automatic system that is installed at the entrance point of a house or a room. The system switches off the lights and other electronics items when a person goes out of the room or house.

The SCADA- and GSM-based automatic power distribution system is a mobile-controlled system that can be used to control the electric system of a town or city just through mobile devices.

In Norwich, England, the University of East Anglia’s Low Carbon Innovation fund has provided a solar farm developer, a smart meter technology firm, and an energy monitoring company £1.7 million in backing. The funding included £750,000 to Push Energy as part of an initiative to develop large-scale ground mounted solar farms.

The Low Carbon Innovation fund invests in small and medium sized businesses. Desmond Astley-Cooper, director at Turquoise International, notes, “Turquoise and the Low Carbon Innovation Fund are committed to supporting innovative clean technologies and business models which will deliver genuine commercial value. Push Energy, AMiHo and GEO have all produced strong business plans which offer real benefits to UK and global customers. We are delighted to be able to assist such companies in achieving further commercial success.”

RenaSolar Lands PV Project in Japan

2014-01-07 02:12:22

ReneSola has signed a contract to supply 420MW of solar panels to a leading Japanese-based solar project developer. Specifically, ReneSola’s Virtus II 300W 72-cell high-efficiency polycrystalline PV panels will be installed in more than 10 ground-mounted power plants in the mountain regions of Japan. The PV panels will provide power to the surrounding residential homes.

Xianshou Li, ReneSola chief executive officer reports, “We have worked with a number of solar panel providers, and are particularly impressed by ReneSola’s product quality and value, and excellent customer service. The ReneSola team provided us with in-depth technical knowledge on the durability and reliability of their solar panels. We look forward to developing our relationship with ReneSola and partnering with them on future projects in Japan.”

ReneSola uses in-house virgin polysilicon and according to the California Energy Commission (CEC), the company’s modules have scored top PVUSA test conditions (PTC) ratings with high annual kilowatt-hour output.

Li adds: “We are pleased that this project enables us to grow our presence in Japan, one of our target markets. Our local sales office is supporting our growth amidst the increasing demand for solar products in Japan. ReneSola is committed to producing high-quality cost-competitive products, and we will continue to expand our presence in new markets in the coming years.”

ReneSola will begin delivery of shipments for the project in January 2014, and expects to complete delivery by December 2015.

In addition to the project in Japan, ReneSola solar PV modules have been used in solar projects in the United States, Germany, Italy, Belgium, China,Greece, Spain, and Australia.

Technology: Key to enable energy Saving and Reaching the 2020 Target

2014-01-07 02:22:41

Consumer engagement is imperative to optimize energy savings and reach the stipulated 20% energy savings by 2020 at EU level. ESMIG believes energy consumption feedback and control technologies are essential to achieve energy consumption savings far above those typically experienced in pilots to date, on the premise that the consumer is educated, encouraged and assisted in the process.

The EU mandated rollout of smart meters accounts for 250 million smart electricity meters to be put in place by 2020. Up to now, only 12 member states have decided to go ahead with their rollout. Investments in smart meters are still limited on a European scale. This noticeable delay in the rollout of smart meters has several dimensions, but a fragment of the opposition against smart meters is based on misconception of what a smart meter actually is and can do for us.

Smart meters ensure accurate measurement and transmission of electricity, gas, water or heat consumption data or load profiles. They facilitate dynamic pricing based on its advanced time-based pricing mechanism. The smart meter will be connected to digital technology, communications and control devices. This creates an advanced metering infrastructure1. In other words, the smart meter is not a solution in itself, but a central part of an infrastructure that offers various smart grid-related functionalities to various stakeholders to gain insight in energy data and usage.

With this insight, consumers will be able to better manage their consumption and, as a result, to potentially lower their bill. Accurate and more detailed billing information will improve their knowledge about how much electricity they consume. Smart meters will also help make consumer processes more efficient and reliable, leading to faster supplier switching and higher consumer satisfaction.2 In other words, to give the consumer as well as the utility the most accurate data on energy consumption, having a smart meter seems an obvious choice.

In most cases, the consumer will not read consumption data straight from the smart meter. Real data that are appropriate for consumers need to be presented in consumer friendly ways. There are several devices that can translate the data coming from the smart meter into understandable feedback on current consumption level, current bill and historical consumption. The functionalities of these technologies such as in-home displays (IHDs) should not be confused with those of a smart meter.

Research performed by VaasaETT, Empower Demand 1, is based on extensive analysis of more than 100 pilots. The study suggests an average energy efficiency saving from in-home display based feedback of around 9%.3 The follow-up research, Empower Demand 2, confirms that to realize such energy savings, the use of communication and feedback devices are key.4 Many consumers have been confronted with smart meter infrastructure technologies and related costs without sufficient understanding of how that technology might assist to manage their energy consumption.

ESMIG members produce all the technologies to realize consumer empowerment: smart meters with the correct functionality, IHDs, smart phone apps, web applications and more. All these are available on the market today.

Echelon Helps Light Post-Earthquake Recovery in New Zealand

2014-01-07 02:29:14

Two years after the massive Christchurch earthquake killed 185 people and devastated the city, the major metropolitan hub of the South Island of New Zealand is steadily rebuilding. As Christchurch re-emerges from the rubble, an ambitious new project is setting an optimistic tone for the whole area. And Echelon is playing a role in the revitalization efforts.

Christchurch’s $100 million Avon River precinct is an anchor project for the central city area, which was one of the hardest hit by the quake. Work has begun on the first stage of the project, called Watermark, which will feature boardwalks, more green space, and new places for residents to live, work, and play.

An energy-efficient Echelon SmartServer-based system, with Echelon CPD 3000 and Philips Outdoor Lighting Controllers (OLCs), using reliable power line communications (PLC) technology and management software from StreetLight.Vision (SLV), is controlling both pathway LED lamps and new LED-based handrail lighting along the Watermark project’s public walkways. The lighting will enhance the appearance of the walkways while making it safer for pedestrians and cyclists to navigate it at night. In addition, the system will save energy by dimming lighting during low-traffic times.

Echelon is working with its partner ECOsystems from Wellington to install the new lighting system.

Navy Yard Opens Energy Center

2014-01-07 02:55:04

The Navy Yard in Philadelphia has opened a new facility designed to explore smart energy solutions. The GridSTAR Smart Grid Experience Center, one of several energy initiatives launched by Penn State at the Yard, features examples of energy technologies that can be implemented for building homes, commercial buildings, and campuses that are more power efficient.

The project site in the Navy Yard also includes a smart grid modular home, a flexible indoor-outdoor training facility, electric vehicle charging stations, a battery that helps improve the operation of the electrical grid, and a sustainable storm-water management and native plant landscaping.

David Riley, a Penn State Department of Architectural Engineering faculty member who leads the GridSTAR project says, “The Navy Yard is an extraordinary setting to explore new energy solutions. Having all of these new technologies and partners in one place is a great asset for our region and will help us learn about smart grid solutions together. Having all of these new technologies and partners in one place is a great asset for our region, and will help us learn about smart grid solutions together.”

The GridSTAR Smart Grid Experience Center was launched through grants from the United States Department of Energy (DOE) and the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Finance Authority, as well as contributions of materials, equipment, and volunteer expertise from industry partners.

Will Agate, the senior vice president of Navy Yard Development for the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp. notes “This is a project built around collaboration.”

Riley adds: “We are particularly proud of the number of Pennsylvania-based businesses that have contributed to the project.”

The GridSTAR center will serve as the headquarters for a series of education programs and workshops on energy technologies and the smart grid.

Talk First, switch later... to fully benefit from smarter power systems.

2014-01-07 03:04:52

Smart meter enabled demand response and consumption feedback has great potential to achieve cost and energy savings – but only when consumers are carefully guided through the correct set-up and management procedures.

In October 2011, a major research report published by ESMIG, the Brussels-based European Smart Metering Industry Group, confirmed that significant results could be achieved throughout Europe if best use is made of demand-response and power consumption feedback information.

The report, entitled Empower Demand, which was based on research conducted by the VaasaETT Global Energy Think-Tank, Finland, also highlights the overwhelming importance of understanding consumer needs, how best to communicate with them, and how to ensure their optimal adoption of smart enabling technologies. These issues were found to be key in deciding which of the different demand-response and feedback approaches would be better to apply.

Follow-up research being conducted by VaasaETT for ESMIG in 2012 is now shining more light on the characteristics of communications and feedback in the best Smart Metering introduction models from around the world.

ESMIG says that the new report’s preliminary findings suggest that there are six key stages through which consumers must progress in order to optimise their responsiveness to and involvement with smart meters. A key early conclusion is that promoting new smart solutions should start primarily with public communications delivered by independent, official sources such as government authorities, NGOs, consumer associations or other trusted sources, but with minimal (or no) involvement from the commercially-involved utilities. ESMIG also warns that if utilities act as the primary communicator in the early stages, their messages are likely to be taken less seriously by suspicious consumers.

Over time, the latest report goes on to say, public education and awareness should be supplemented by real customer experiences and experimentation information, with references to smart technology being introduced only at a relatively developed stage. Technology and smart meters should not be presented as the solution in themselves, but rather as tools to achieve or facilitate an already established beneficial new situation.

When smart technology is presented more directly to consumers, it should initially only be offered to selected customers for a limited period, supported by a clear explanation confirming insurance against escalating net costs or other negative consequences during the pilot phase. Only after the principles of technology and the services afforded by it have been experienced and accepted by sufficient numbers of customers, should paid services or, for instance, dynamic pricing, be offered to the mass market of customers.

No less significant than the other dynamics though, is the importance of word of mouth communications and making any feedback and experimentation processes fun for customers, as a means of encouraging them to pass through the stages of experience.

Above all, what is obvious is that customers cannot and should not be forced into adopting new behaviour, technologies and solutions. Instead they must be taken on a journey of their choosing and at their own pace if the desirable twin outcomes of lower consumer costs and more efficient management of power generation are to be achieved.

Massachusetts Makes Smart Meters Mandatory

2014-01-07 03:16:45

The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) has issued an order that will require the state’s major utilities to submit a 10-year grid modernization plan (GMP) by summer 2014 that includes smart metering with advanced functionality such as outage detection and restoration, smart appliance communication and control, and power quality support, and voltage reduction.

The goal is to achieve four grid modernization objectives: reducing the effects of outages; optimizing demand, including reducing system and customer costs; integrating distributed resources; and improving workforce and asset management.

Massachusetts has approximately three and a half million electricity customers, the vast majority of which are served by an investor-owned utility. NStar, which serves most of the greater Boston area and National Grid (NGG) are the state’s largest utilities.

Worcester, located in National Grid’s service area, has participated in a multi-year smart grid pilot project that included smart metering, distribution automation, home energy management, electric vehicle charging, and demand response. The data from that program has played an integral role in guiding smart grid modernization plans.

Part of the pilot was a working group comprised of consumer groups, environmental advocates, utilities, state agencies, and other energy stakeholders that exchanged views on what features they thought would maximize the potential of a smart grid. These included reduced meter-related operations and maintenance expenses; theft prevention; reduced billing inquiries and customer service; improved outage management; lowering energy consumption from inactive meters; increased energy efficiency; and increased use of electric vehicles (EV).

While establishing an EV infrastructure is also part of the Massachusetts’ long-term plans, it was not included in the mandate. Instead, the DPU has initiated a new proceeding to determine the most effective way to promote electric vehicle charging and devise pricing policies to encourage EV adoption.

Pay-TV Industry Announces Energy Saving Set-Top Box Standards

2014-01-07 03:31:55

In a precedent-setting collaboration between the pay-TV industry, the consumer electronics industry, and energy efficiency advocates have developed non-regulatory energy efficiency standards for pay-TV set-top boxes.

Participants include the United States Department of Energy (DOE), the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), the Appliance Standards Awareness Project (ASAP), the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA).

According to the DOE, the standards improve set-top box efficiency by 10 to 45 percent, depending on device model. By 2017 than 90 million American households will see significant energy savings thanks to the new standards , saving consumers more than $1 billion cumulatively on energy bills each year.

The set-top box efficiency standards announced today will ultimately save enough electricity each year to power 700,000 homes. The standards will also avoid more than five million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year. As consumer demand for digital video recorders and high-definition set-top boxes grows, actual consumer savings are likely to be even greater. The introduction of whole-home devices will also further reduce the overall energy footprint.

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz notes, “These energy efficiency standards reflect a collaborative approach among the Energy Department, the pay-TV industry and energy efficiency groups – building on more than three decades of common-sense efficiency standards that are saving American families and businesses hundreds of billions of dollars. The set-top box efficiency standards will save families money by saving energy, while delivering high quality appliances for consumers that keep pace with technological innovation.”

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) adds: “In 2011, I urged the CEOs of every major television service provider to work together to introduce more energy efficient set-top boxes. At the time, set-top boxes were costing Americans $3 billion in electricity charges each year—with $2 billion wasted when televisions were not being used.”

Feinstein says the amount of energy saved by the new standards new standards “will eliminate the need for three power plants and prevent five million tons of C02 emissions per year. This agreement lasts until 2017, and I intend to monitor the situation carefully to ensure the industry remains committed to building on today’s substantial progress in future years.”

Gary Shapiro, CEA president and CEO says, “The expanded voluntary set-top box energy conservation agreement accommodates both rapid evolution and energy efficiency for this product category and demonstrates our industry’s commitment in leading the way to provide consumers with products that reduce energy consumption and save money.”

The new standards complements the Obama Administration’s energy policy. Since 2008, the DOE has finalized new efficiency standards for more than 30 household and commercial products, which it’s estimated will save consumers more than $400 billion through 2030.

If met, the efficiency standards set for appliances and federal buildings during Obama’s first and second terms will reduce carbon pollution by three billion metric tons cumulatively by 2030, which nearly equals one-half of the carbon pollution from the entire United States energy sector for one year.

IUSA, EnVert Partner on AMI

2014-01-07 03:49:58

IUSA is collaborating with EnVerv on various projects for advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), revenue protection, prepaid metering, and solar applications. The applications will employ EnVerv’s EV8000 power-line communications (PLC) modem system on chip (SoC) as the communication engine.

EnVerv’s solutions enable high performance communications via low-voltage (LV) and medium-voltage (MV) power lines to provide Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) as well as other power line-based smart control and monitoring applications.

IUSA’s director of engineering Eduardo Neri explains, “We have chosen EnVerv’s technology due to its superior performance under difficult network conditions and the fact that all necessary modem components including line driver, physical layer (PHY), media access control (MAC) layer and 6LoWPAN network layer are all integrated in the EV8000 single-chip SoC. Combined, these two distinguishing factors, in turn, allow us to offer superior products to our customers.”

Reza Mirkhani, EnVerv’s chief marketing officer says, “We are very excited to have IUSA as our partner. IUSA is the largest meter manufacturer in Mexico and offers one of the most advanced Smart Meter and Prepaid Metering solutions in the world. We believe this announcement heralds an even deeper relationship in the years to come.”

EnVerv reports that its EV8000 “is a fully integrated single-chip PLC SoC and includes full modem features from line drivers all the way to the network layer and covers CENELEC-A, FCC and ARIB frequency bands without any changes to the chip or module hardware. Furthermore, the EV8000 soft-modem can be programmed to operate in ITU-T G.9903 G3-PLC or ITU-T G.9904 PRIME modes simply by downloading their respective firmware code to the chip.”

Iot Buzz at ARM TechCon 2013 Reinforces Echelon's Expertise

2014-01-07 04:05:12

By attending the ARM TechCon 2013 conference and expo this week in Silicon Valley, California, Echelon got confirmation that its extensive expertise in connecting and controlling networked devices puts the company in an ideal position to address the burgeoning Internet of Things (IoT) market.

ARM TechCon, held this year at the Santa Clara Convention Center October 29 – 31, focused on issues surrounding the embedded industry in general, and the ARM architecture in particular. On Day 1 of ARM TechCon, Echelon:

Announced plans to bring its 25 years of experience in networking and controlling more than 100 million industrial devices to the emerging Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) market
Introduced its IzoT™ platform for creating highly reliable communities of devices
Released beta version of its IzoT multi-protocol stack for the ARM architecture, including example reference implementations for the popular Raspberry Pi development platform

Announced that the IzoT software stack will be available in January 2014 as part of Marvell’s Easy Connect software development kit (SDK) for the Marvell Wi-Fi Microcontroller platform

At the same time, Patrick Moorhead, president and principal analyst of Moor Insights & Strategy, released a new research paper titled, “Connecting with the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)” that segments the new market and reinforces the importance of the kind of robust connectivity at which Echelon excels. And many of the sessions and other talk at ARM TechCon revolved around the promise and requirements for the IoT.

As Varun Nagaraj, Echelon SVP and General Manager, Internet of Things, tweeted from ARM TechCon: “Cloud connectivity for the IoT is more than just ‘smart products’–it’s about connecting smarts to one another.” That includes just the kind of smart connections that Echelon has been providing for its entire history.

Green Wave, E ON Expand Partnership

2014-01-07 07:23:50

GreenWave Reality has extended its partnership with E.ON to provide smart home services across Europe, licensing hardware, software, hosting, and cloud services. GreenWave’s goal is to “establish a smart home infrastructure to drive development of a wide range of consumer-facing energy management applications including solar, home automation, and connected lighting.”

The platform’s advanced management capabilities such as self-healing reduce the costs to deploy and manage the new services, improve customer adoption, and increases profitability.

Urban Keussen, E.ON’s senior vice president for technology and innovation says the partnership “underscores our deep commitment to lead the charge in finding new ways to help our customers live better and more efficiently. The GreenWave team and their product offerings will help us deliver innovation to our customers through an industry-leading platform.”

GreenWave reports it will collaborate with E.ON’s regional units across Europe to develop and test commercial off-the-shelf products, which will be deployed and managed in the home through the E.ON branded Smart Home platform. “The partnership provides E.ON’s regional units with an opportunity to expand their portfolio of products and services personalized to their customer base, resulting in new revenue streams and expanded opportunities to serve their customers.”

GreenWave Reality chief executive officer Greg Memo adds: “E.ON is a category leader thinking big around the issue of energy management. We are excited to help E.ON accelerate innovation that will make a big difference in helping households across Europe manage not only their energy consumption, but provide a portfolio of unique value-added services through smart home technology that is simple and easy to use.”

The program is scheduled to start rolling out in the first half of 2014 and the companies will provide more details with each regional launch.

Cedrus Enterprises Holding expands its smart energy portfolio with a new acquisition in partnership with S&T AG

2014-11-06 01:59:56

Deal sees Cedrus Enterprises Holding acquire equity stake in the newly established (NES)

Wednesday, November 5th, 2014 9:00 am CET

Dateline: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Cedrus Enterprises Holding, a dynamic multi-faceted Lebanese Holding company, announced today that it has acquired an equity stake in ‘Network Energy Services’ (NES) – a newly established company spearheaded by S&T AG, a leading provider of IT systems in Austria and Eastern Europe.

The new company was created following the purchase made by S&T AG of the Grid Modernization division (smart metering and smart grid) of the California-based Echelon Corporation. This newly established company ‘Network Energy Services Corporation’ (NES) brings Cedrus Enterprises Holding in partnership with S&T AG and Austro Holding. The closing took place in September 30, 2014.

Cedrus Enterprises Holding has developed a business model and plan with the object of spearheading an investment program targeting the MENA and Indian sub-continent regions. The underlying strategy seeks to identify, and subsequently capitalize upon and expand, regional business opportunities available for smart metering and smart grid. The approach Cedrus intends to adopt calls for joint collaboration and effort with local, regional and international players acting through joint venture partnerships. As an added incentive, Cedrus will explore with local partner and international partners prospects that may be available for establishing NES smart meter manufacturing facilities aimed at benefiting the region it intends to serve.

The transaction represents a strategic threshold for Cedrus Enterprises Holding as it continues to move forward in its pursuit of opportunities in the regions it serves. Given Cedrus Enterprises Holding historic relationship with Echelon Corporation and ubitronix System Solutions GmbH, this new venture that brings S&T and Cedrus Enterprises Holding within the NES organization is intended to further enhance and strengthen the capabilities and effectiveness of both partners. Cedrus Enterprises Holding had previously invested considerable time, effort and resources in evaluating and testing almost all advanced Metering Infrastructure Vendors and had concluded that Echelon technology provides the best performing technology available in this field. It is in this context that Cedrus Enterprises Holding chose to join S&T AG in NES post acquisition of Echelon smart modernization division.

NES scope of work covers a large scale of business including the development, manufacture and sales of products for delivery, measurement, monitoring and control of electric power through the electric grid, the transport of data, and load management devices used to control the electric grid. The transaction includes the transfer of research and development facilities in Silicon Valley (California) and Fargo (North Dakota) and the team of experienced professionals and engineers formerly belonging to the grid modernization division of Echelon Corporation. Furthermore, the NES will have the right, under license, to utilize Echelon’s advanced power line communication (PLC) technology. It is worthwhile noting that over 34 million smart meters worldwide are currently running on Echelon-based technology.

Cedrus Enterprises Holding believes that this strategic investment will substantially enhance its ability to remain highly competitive and to offer its target clients feasible, innovative and commercially viable solutions that meet their current and future needs and expectations. The company intends to capitalize on the existing demand for such smart solutions in the MENA region, especially in the Levant region, the Arab Gulf Countries and India.

Cedrus Enterprises Holding investment is consistent with its strategy of positioning itself as the premier provider of fully-integrated, innovative technology solutions serving the energy utility sector within the MENA region. This had lead to the establishment of a long-term working relationship with one of the largest and best managed utility company on the Indian sub-continent – Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited, a joint venture between Tata Power & the Government of Delhi. It had also formed the basis of the relationship with Echelon Corporation, a decade-old company at the cutting edge of smart grid and network communications technology. ubitronix system solutions GmbH, a leading provider of integrated energy management and smart grid solutions, served to further enhance our capabilities and provided the last link in the chain. This powerful combination of resources, expertise and capability was the cornerstone of the company’s drive to enter into the bid for the Kurdistan Regional Government AMI tender, meeting and surpassing all expectations with the result of having scored highest on technical grounds against all bidders. The awarding has since been delayed due to developments and disturbances within the region in question.

About Cedrus Enterprises Holding

Cedrus Enterprises Holding (www.cedrus.net) is a privately held dynamic multi-faceted Lebanese Holding company. Through its diverse portfolio of businesses, the group covers a wide and variable spectrum of business and technical consulting services, with particular emphasis on the energy sector as an area of strategic importance. Cedrus’s long-range investment strategy includes greater focus on areas related to the power generation, distribution and management and operation of utilities sector, the provision of smart grid solutions and AMI, and high technology (ICT, ISP, Smart Housing Solutions, Software and Telecommunications). Cedrus is also currently involved in arranging contracting services (Infrastructure, Commercial & Residential), Electromechanical Products & Solutions, Facility Maintenance and Cleaning Services, Defense and Security (specialized training and equipment), Transportation (airport ground-handling and management), and hospitality (hotels, restaurants, franchising and catering).

About S&T AG

S&T AG (www.snt.at, ISIN AT0000A0E9W5, WKN A0X9EJ, SANT) is listed on the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The company has some 2,200 employees. It operates in 20 countries. S&T is one of the three largest suppliers of IT systems in Austria and in Eastern Europe. S&T's prime assets include the breadth of the products – many proprietorially developed - comprising its portfolio. These products are used in the smart energy, cloud, security and mobile IT sectors. The portfolio is distributed throughout Central and Eastern Europe. S&T launched its “smart energy” business area in 2014. This area now comprises NES (www.networkedenergy.com), the Austria-based Ubitronix GmbH (www.ubitronix.com) and the Group subsidiary RTSoft (www.rtsoft.ru/en). These companies provide S&T with an unsurpassed portfolio of smart energy technologies. This portfolio enables S&T to offer comprehensive, end-to-end solutions in this area.

About Echelon Corporation

Echelon Corporation (ELON), a pioneer in developing open-standard control networking platforms, delivers all the elements necessary to design, install, monitor and control industrial-strength ‘communities of devices’ within the lighting, building automation, grid, Internet of Things, ‘maker’ and other markets worldwide. Echelon develops and sells complete systems and subsystems for target applications, plus system-on-chips (SoCs), embedded software, and commissioning and management tools for OEMs. With more than 100 million Echelon-powered devices installed worldwide, the company helps its customers easily and safely migrate existing control systems to the most modern platforms, while bringing new devices and applications into an ever-growing global Industrial Internet. Echelon helps its customers reduce operational costs, enhance satisfaction and safety, grow revenues and perform better in both established and emerging markets. More information about Echelon can be found at www.echelon.com.

Networked Energy Services Corporation Launches Patagonia: The Next Generation Platform for the Smart Grid

2014-11-06 02:57:32

State of the art 3 Tier solution introduces a new benchmark for security, advanced grid applications and is high speed ready

Wednesday, November 5th, 20149:00 am CET

Dateline: Amsterdam, Netherlands

(San Jose, California& Amsterdam, Netherlands) - Networked Energy Services Corporation (NES), a global smart grid market leader, today announced, at the annual European Utility Week event in Amsterdam, the launch of Patagonia, its next generation solution platform for the smart grid. The 3 tier platform includes ruggedized Grid Appliances (which include smart meters and sensors), Linux-based Control Nodes and a robust grid analytics and applications portfolio encompassed in its Utility Data Center solutions.

Patagonia has been designed from the ground up to support end-to-end, state of the art security to help its customers and partners meet the security challenges they face with a comprehensive solution. Patagonia ispurpose built to adapt with ever-changing security threats while providing the ability to enable grid applications and pre-process data for improved responsiveness and lower operating cost. The security offer includes a comprehensive end-to-end system covering all 3 layers of the architecture and all interfaces between the layers and the system at all levels. Each level uses state of the art algorithms (such as AES-GCM and AES-CCM) and combines it with an automated PKI system spanning all layers and integrated with the utilities IT security system. Patagonia also includes a comprehensive grid analytics and applications portfolio which offers its customers and partners a multi-faceted value proposition and perpetual return on investment as its customers deploy more applications. Patagonia is also designed to support multiple communications mediums and protocols, including OFDM PLC and various wireless options. Current plans are to launch the availability of OFDM PLC option on Patagonia's Grid Appliances within the next year.

Patagonia also includes a brand new series of secure Grid Appliances, designed to operate in the field for 20 years with 10 times the processing power and memory of previous generations, providing the head-room to support current and future applications. A dual-core MCU for independent metrology and application processing allow for expansion and accurate measurements. Patagonia's Grid Appliances support applications like smart metering, load control, multi-utility networking and much more. These appliances can also integrate with home and enterprise control application platforms through up to 2 Multiple Expansion Ports. Patagonia includes the DCN 3000 Distributed Control Node, placed in the center of the architecture,based on a ruggedized Linux platform. The DCN 3000is not only the communication gateway from any IP based WAN to field buses, it also provides a flexible distributed application platform, building unprecedented visibility into the physical grid layout and the health of the distribution grid. The DCN provides integrated OFDM ready PLC and expansion to additional field buses and grid communications via standard USB buses ensuring upgradability as technologies change and new use cases are explored.

When fully deployed, Patagonia will enable utilities to deploy multiple applications on a single platform. Customers who select Patagonia for AMI applications will be able to seamlessly add valuable applications like grid health monitoring, transformer monitoring, demand response with active load control, integration of distributed energy resources (DER) enabling the vision of renewable energy sources and efficient management of tomorrow's grid. A start anywhere approach allows the utility to identify specific use cases with defined ROls as a starting point and incrementally expand solutions and investments as the return materializes, and over time providing an ROI much better than might have been anticipated in the original project.

"We see this is a groundbreaking platform for the industry and it is one of the reasons why we selected NES as our Smart Grid Platform", said Piotr Kolodzie, CEO of Tauron Distribution, the largest distribution utility in Poland. "While our initial focus is on deploying the smart metering application, it is very compelling and comforting to know we can operate securely and deploy additional applications to help improve the safety, reliability and efficiency of our grid without significant incremental investment. We support Patagonia and the value it can bring to the industry."

"Patagonia is a natural progression of our vision and strategy to deliver a proven, open, multi-application platform to our partners and customers," said Michael Anderson, President and CEO of NES. "Patagonia offers industry leading security with headroom for expansion given the inevitability of new requirements which must be addressed in order for our partners and customers to remain confident in end-to-end grid security. Further, Patagonia supports multiple applications across the grid appliances, control nodes and utility data center software comprised in this 3-tier solution. As a result, our partners can be assured of flexibility and a return on investment that grows each time a new application is deployed."

The modernization of the electrical grid is a global imperative in order to meet rising demands, ensure reliability and safety and ensure long term efficiencies to realize global resource and environmental responsibility. Networked Energy Services Corporation's vision is help usher in this new era of grid safety, reliability and efficiency with its 3 tier, proven, open, multi-application platform.

About Networked Energy Services Corporation (NES)

Networked Energy Services Corporation (www.networkedenergy.com) is a global smart energy leader in the worldwide transformation of the electricity grid into an energy control network, enabling utilities to connect to their customers, offer new services and help them compete more effectively, through solutions which can help reduce operating costs, provide expanded services and help energy end users to become active participants in energy conservation. The company was formed as a result of the spinoff of Echelon Corporation's Grid Modernization Division in October 2014. NES has its headquarters in the US, with design and R&D Centers located in Silicon Valley, CA, and Fargo, ND, and sales offices throughout the world.Networked Energy Services' solution, based on Open Smart Grid Protocol (OSGP), is used in more than 4 million smart end points by utilities around the world. You can find out more information about NES and its products, including smart meters, data concentrator nodes, and head-end software, at www.networkedenergy.com.

About S&T AG

S&T AG (www.snt.at, ISIN AT0000A0E9W5, WKN AOX9EJ, SANT) is listed on the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The company has some 2,100 employees. It operates in 20 countries. S&T is one of the three largest suppliers of IT systems in Austria and in Eastern Europe. S&T's prime assets include the breadth of the products - many proprietorially developed - comprising its portfolio. These products are used in the smart energy, cloud, security and mobile IT sectors. The portfolio is distributed throughout Central and Eastern Europe. S&T launched its "smart energy" business area in 2014. This area now comprises NES (www.networkedenergy.com), the Austria-based Ubitronix GmbH (www.ubitronix.com) and the Group subsidiary RTSoft (www.rtsoft.ru/en). These companies provide S&T with an unsurpassed portfolio of smart energy technologies. This portfolio enables S&T to offer comprehensive, end-to-end solutions in this area.

About Cedrus Enterprises Holding

Cedrus Enterprises Holding (www.cedrus.net) is a privately held dynamic multi-faceted Lebanese Holding company. Through its diverse portfolio of businesses, the group covers a wide and variable spectrum of business and technical consulting services, with particular emphasis on the energy sector as an area of strategic importance. Cedrus's long-range investment strategy includes greater focus on areas related to the power generation, distribution and management and operation of utilities sector, the provision of smart grid solutions and AMI, and high technology (ICT, ISP, Smart Housing Solutions, Software and Telecommunications). Cedrus is also currently involved in arranging contracting services (Infrastructure, Commercial & Residential), Electromechanical Products & Solutions, Facility Maintenance and Cleaning Services, Defense and Security (specialized training and equipment), Transportation (airport ground-handling and management), and hospitality (hotels, restaurants, franchising and catering).

About The Open Smart Grid Protocol

The Open Smart Grid Protocol (OSGP) is a family of specifications published by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) used in conjunction with the ISO/IEC 14908 control networking standard for smart grid applications. OSGP is optimized to provide reliable and efficient delivery of command and control information for smart meters, direct load control modules, solar panels, gateways, and other smart grid devices. With over 4 million OSGP based smart meters and devices deployed worldwide it is one of the most widely used smart meter and smart grid device networking standards.

About The OSGP Alliance

The OSGP Alliance, founded in 2006 as the Energy Services Network Association (ESNA), is an independent global, not-for-profit association that promotes the adoption of the Open Smart Grid Protocol (OSGP) and related services and infrastructure for smart grid applications. Members include utilities, software, hardware and service providers, and solution integrators that share a common goal and vision for promoting open standards for energy demand side management, smart grid and smart metering systems. More information about the OSGP Alliance can be found at www.osgp.org.