WSNBuzz
Fresh updates on wireless standards, smart grid, and green technologies
January 27, 2012 at 11:41 am · Filed under Uncategorized
The Microsoft/OSIsoft Worldwide Utility Industry Survey 2012, released today at the DistribuTECH Conference & Exhibition, shows a 25 percent increase over last year in the number of utilities companies that have implemented smart-grid technology. The survey also shows that 28 percent of companies surveyed are in the planning phase, but 24 percent still have not started adopting any smart-grid technology. However, 63 percent of participants expect their budgets for these technologies to increase over the next two or three years.
The survey, which was a collaboration between Microsoft Corp. and OSIsoft LLC, polled 216 professionals within electric, gas and water utility industries around the world and highlights the challenges utilities face as they move from planning to actual smart-grid implementation. Nearly 20 percent of those surveyed said technical issues kept them from moving forward, which was a larger group than in last year’s survey.
“This year’s survey shows that more and more utilities companies are adding new devices to the grid and incorporating new data sets into their operational capabilities,” said Jon C. Arnold, managing director for the Worldwide Power and Utilities Industry at Microsoft and a member of the Smart Grid Advisory Committee to the National Institute of Standards and Technology. “However, many of these same organizations are encountering significant interoperability and integration challenges. Leveraging technology and architectures that are adaptable removes many of the technology risks. Fortunately, the Microsoft Smart Energy Reference Architecture (SERA) provides an infrastructure that protects current technology investments while enabling the implementation of forward-thinking smart-grid solutions.”
The survey indicated that 72 percent of respondents do not have an enterprisewide scalable architecture in place to support current and future smart-grid deployments. SERA provides a detailed framework for existing technologies that will enable bidirectional power and information flows around the grid, with particular attention to standards, interoperability and reduced costs. SERA also provides the first conceptual framework for adding cloud services to the development of the smart-energy ecosystem.
More here.
January 23, 2012 at 11:12 am · Filed under Uncategorized
The need for global efficiency within buildings – one of the largest generators of greenhouse gases in the world – has been recognized for quite some time.
Over the last several years, our industry has been actively greening both commercial and residential buildings, in order to mitigate the environmental impact of building and managing these structures.
These actions include a wide variety of voluntary programs and evolution of building codes and standards, enabled by technology and interoperability standards and protocols. In addition to programs aimed at improving building design and construction, there is also a proliferation of building metrics, building labeling, and benchmarking programs, aimed at validating the actual performance of “better buildings.”
All of these combined actions are synergistic, with new ideas, standards and programs emerging every year, as our industry uncovers new strategies and overcomes complex obstacles to whole building performance and lifecycle optimization.
Though there have been multiple approaches to helping buildings implement practical and measurable solutions, one of the most effective and widely sought-after approaches has been gaining certification through industry standards for energy efficient buildings.
It is essential for companies to be proactive in shaping and implementing voluntary initiatives, code development and standard evolution in order to accelerate the pace and pave the path for high performance green buildings of tomorrow. This is both a business decision and a principled one, but only by practicing what we preach are we able to gain valuable insight into our overall energy management, which when added up, makes a difference in how the whole system works.
More here.
January 19, 2012 at 2:50 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Cisco today announced additional solutions and services to its Connected Grid portfolio that will help utilities modernize the electric grid with built-in flexibility, security and interoperability enabled by the power of the network. Cisco’s new technology architecture, solutions and related services address key utility concerns around cost, reliability and scalability in their communications infrastructures.
As the electric grid becomes more intelligent and complex, utilities around the world want technology that can grow to address multiple operational needs over time, supports their unique market and organizational structures, and is designed so that different vendor systems can work together. They also need solutions that provide a high degree of security and allow them to utilize their existing installed base of technology as they modernize their electric grids.
Given these requirements, Cisco offers utilities and partners a comprehensive blueprint for smart grid deployments known as the Cisco GridBlocks(TM) Architecture. This provides a forward-looking view of integrating digital communications and the electrical grid, as well as specific deployment guidance for the various grid communications networks that exist today. It also provides a framework for utilities to design and deploy comprehensive management and security solutions across the entire grid.
More here.
January 17, 2012 at 12:07 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Government and industry have been warned “it’s time to get moving” on the roll-out of smart grids and smart meters ahead of a “big year” for the technology.
The UK is aiming to install 53 million smart meters by the end of 2019, a process set to get underway next year. But Eric Dresselhuys, executive vice president at US smart grid technology firm Silver Spring Networks, told BusinessGreen delays were not an option if the country wants to ensure the huge amounts of renewable energy generation scheduled to be built during this decade are able to connect to the grid.
“We’re probably not going to see huge deployment in 2012, but it’s really important to prepare for 2013,” he said in a phone interview. “2017 sounds a long way away, but five years is nothing in the context of these projects.
“The projects being talked about now are part of a broader smart grid vision. It’s a big investment, so people want to get it right and build a platform for years to come. [But] now it’s time to get moving.”
More here.
January 13, 2012 at 2:33 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Saving energy around the home is a pretty lonely task, so why not make a game of it? That’s the idea behind Simple Energy’s software that combines home energy technology and “game mechanics” in a way that’s gotten some San Diego Gas & Electric customers to cut their power bills in half — at least, when a laptop or a Chevy Volt were among the potential prizes for doing so.
On Wednesday, Simple Energy announced Texas as its second target market. Utilities CenterPoint Energy and Oncor are launching a new energy saving contest via the Smart Meter Texas portal, the country’s largest single interface for sharing smart meter data. Simple Energy is running the platform that allows customers in the Houston and Dallas areas to sign up and participate, complete with a “Howdy, Texas!” splash page.
Of course, Simple Energy isn’t the first startup or IT giant to try to use Facebook-like features to get utility customers to engage in their energy use — or to turn to Facebook to drum up participants, for that matter. But CEO and founder Yoav Lurie says the Boulder, Colo.-based startup’s method could yield unprecedented results.
More here.
January 13, 2012 at 2:25 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
The new year is a good time to look ahead and back. I’ve been doing a lot of deep thinking about how the smart grid is developing. Here’s what I expect we’ll see happen in 2012…
1). Emerging markets will see significant smart meter growth. I expect that this will happen in South America, Eastern Europe and elsewhere. The leading countries include Brazil, Poland, and Singapore. There will be a $50 billion smart meter and smart grid opportunity by 2020.
2). Prepaid electricity service will be a major topic of discussion. Smart meters make it possible to implement prepayment at no extra cost. This could solve a national scandal: each year we cut off power to over 6 million poor U.S. households. This is over 1,000 times as many disconnections as the U.K. — which, at one-fifth the U.S. population, sees fewer than 5,000 disconnections per year.
3. Smart Grid 2.0 will become a reality. This will happen in places where smart meters have been fully deployed, such as Ontario, Texas, California, Scandinavia, and Italy. Consumers will see pricing options, new and interesting data applications (such as the Green Button) and more automation — especially smart thermostats such as those offered by Nest Labs, Tendril, EnergyHub, Control4, and other companies. They’ll be able to buy these from utilities and retailers (such as Best Buy).
More here.
January 13, 2012 at 2:24 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Cinterion, the global leader in cellular machine-to-machine (M2M) communication and a Gemalto company (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), today announced that its EU3 M2M module won a 2011 Smart Grid Excellence Award from SmartGrid.TMCnet.com. The award honors innovative technologies that enable smart grid deployments for global utility companies.
Cinterion’s EU3 delivers always on, high-speed cellular communications and was designed specifically to meet the unique challenges and long-life requirements of global smart grid and automatic meter reading (AMR) applications. By enabling UMTS capabilities on the 900 MHz band, the module offers increased coverage area for high-speed communications even in very remote locations, which is essential for geographically diverse smart metering applications. In addition, EU3 delivers reliable communications on both 2G and 3G networks to ensure solution longevity as wireless networks evolve and protect M2M technology investments now and in the future.
“EU3 was specifically designed for industrial AMR and smart grid applications and other long term deployments that require integration simplicity and secure communications,” said Norbert Muhrer, CEO Cinterion. “We are honored to be distinguished by TMC, in recognition of our 15 years of innovative leadership in the utilities, smart meter and smart grid M2M space.”
More here.
January 10, 2012 at 10:31 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
The Indian government is looking to back around eight smart grid pilot projects in the country worth close to $100 million, according to an article in The Economic Times of India (hat tip Panchabuta). India’s Power Ministry will reportedly solicit proposals from at least a dozen state utilities, then choose around eight of those plans that could cost between $9 million to $11 million each.
The Ministry is reportedly supposed to provide half of the cost of the projects, while the utilities will pay for the other half. The projects will focus on helping the utilities add in clean power — the Indian government has a plan to add 20 GW of solar by 202o — as well as reduce power outages.
For a rapidly developing nation, India has a one of the world’s most constrained grids. For cities that have grid power, there are routine rolling blackouts across the country. There’s just not enough power generation sources for the 1.2 billion population — which is one of the reasons for the country’s interest in solar.
More here.
January 10, 2012 at 10:26 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
12th & 13th March 2012, Regents Park Marriott Hotel, London, UK
Sponsored by: SAIC, Symantec, KEMA
Workshop Sponsor: IOActive
Exhibitor: Source Fire
Partnered by: ESNA and Pike Research
Visit http://www.smi-online.co.uk/2012cybergrids45.asp
We are delighted to invite you to join us for the 2nd Annual European Smart Grid Cyber Security Forum, March 12th and 13th 2012 in London. Last March this event sold out with over 166 attendees and over 55 utilities, gathering for an in depth discussion on the current and future landscape for Smart Grid Cyber Security.
An industry estimated worth in excess of $3.7 Billion by 2015 (Pike Research), the 2012 program has already exceeded expectation with representation from the UK, Europe, The Middle East and the USA. Recently we announced the addition of the Keynote Presentation from the Deputy Director of the Office of Cyber Security and Information Assurance, Mike St John Green, and are confident this year’s forum will deliver another unique opportunity for Utilities, Government, Academics and the world’s most authoritative solution providers to come together and further define the roadmap to a secure energy infrastructure.
Furthermore, we will be providing two interactive post conference workshops; IOActive’s sponsored “Smart Meter Penetration Testing,” which sold out in 2011, and is free to attend for registered Utilities*, as well as Hacking Techniques for Embedded Technologies in Association with Riscure.
Presentations include:
• Office of Cyber Security and Information Assurance, Deputy Director, Mike St John Green
• European Commission, Policy Officer, DG Information Society and Media, Alejandro Pinto
• National Information Security Authority, Israel , Director, Erez Kreiner
• Enisa, Program Manager Resilience and CIIP Program, Dr. Vangelis Ouzounis
• Queen’s University Belfast, Director of Research, Professor Sakir Sezer
• NIST, Chief Cyber Security Advisor, William Barker
• Con Edison New York, Smart Grid Project Manager, Patricia Robison
• Swissgrid ag, TSO Security Cooperation, Senior Advisor Operations, Rudolf Baumann
• EDP Energie SA, Information and Cyber Security Officer, Nuno Emanuel Pereira
• Sirrix AG security technologies, Project Manager, Michael Gröne
• GDF Suez, Information Security & Business Continuity, Phillip Jones
• IOActive, Vice President, Services, David Baker
• Institute for Information Security, Executive Director, University of Tulsa, David Greer
• Alliander, Senior Consultant Intelligent Netbeheer, Frans Campfens
• Saudi Aramco, Information Protection Specialist, Saad Alhowaymel
• Zigbee Alliance, Security Working Group Chair, Robert Cragie
• Alliander, Privacy & Security Officer, Johan Rambi
• Energy Networks Association, Head of Strategic Telecommunications, Mark Simpson
• Riscure, Director Embedded Technology, Job de Haas
• SAIC, Chief Cyber Technologist, Gilbert Sorebo
• Symantec, Security Strategist, Sian John
• Symantec, Device Authentication Specialist, Michelle Lewis
• EON, Stephen Gerhager, Information Security Officer
Secure your position at the Forum while places remain and I look forward to meeting you in March,
Yours,
Jamison Nesbitt
Business Development Director
Booking Information
Visit http://www.smi-online.co.uk/2012cybergrids45.asp
Complete the enclosed registration form and fax to +44 (0) 870 9090 712
Alternatively contact Andrew Gibbons on+44 (0)20 7827 6156 email: agibbons@smi-online.co.uk
January 8, 2012 at 12:14 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
The ZigBee® Alliance, a global ecosystem of companies creating wireless solutions for use in energy management, commercial and consumer applications, today announced it is developing a new open standard designed for LED lighting control – ZigBee Light Link™. This forthcoming standard will help manufacturers develop a variety of lighting and control products, giving resellers and consumers a wide selection of interoperable wirelessly controlled lighting products for the home.
The Alliance is creating a standard that will be as easy to use as a common dimmer switch. Light bulbs, LED fixtures, sensors, timers, remotes and switches built using ZigBee Light Link will not require special devices to coordinate in a home’s network. Consumers will be able to easily install and add extra devices to their home lighting network. Like all devices in the ZigBee portfolio, ZigBee Light Link devices can be controlled over the Internet through connected computers, tablets and smart phones. Development of this standard is being steered by industry-leading lighting experts such as GE, Greenwave Reality, OSRAM Sylvania and Philips.
“ZigBee Light Link will be the industry-wide solution for the home market,” said Jos Bruins, ZigBee Light Link working group chair from Philips. “ZigBee Light Link is being vigorously tested and will provide the simplicity consumers need and the helpful features they’ve been hoping the industry would develop.”
More here.
Next entries »
