Metering.com - Metering International Edition 4

Metering International Edition, 4

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 13:23:49 +0200

The magazine is published every quarter, in March, June, September and December, and is an ideal resource for up-to-date information on the trends and developments in these industry sectors.

Metering International Edition 4, 2010

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 11:59:13 +0200

View the digital version here

FEATURES

AMI & Smart Metering

Taking our first steps towards a modern grid
By Fiona Taylor

Are smart meters really smart?
By John Caskey

The smart meter debate: A few bumps in the road in Texas
By Todd Lester and Michael Rutkowski

Smart meters in use: Manage (metrological) quality during lifetime. Traditional statistical system improvement to reduce the rejection risk of large numbers of meters
By Bob van Dongen

PLC technology drives smart energy command and control

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:53:49 +0200

By Didier Boivin

Smart home energy command and control is one of three pillars required for creating a modern smart grid capable of streamlining power delivery and dramatically improving energy efficiency. Utilities around the world have settled on PLC technology as one of the two primary candidates for deploying home energy management systems that, along with advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and new energy distribution systems, will help maximise the world’s use of variable energy sources, establish automation and monitoring capabilities, and leverage real-time transmission to drive energy conservation.

TI’s broad portfolio drives smarter metering solutions

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:49:27 +0200

Texas Instruments (TI) is committed to providing smart metering solutions that will enable smart grid deployment around the world.

The first key step to smart grid success is the deployment of smart electrical meters. These meters are considered communication engines, or gateways, communicating from outside the home to utilities inside the home, such as gas and water meter devices as well as home appliances, including thermostats, in-home displays and demand response units. Don’t forget about tomorrow’s electrical vehicle and distributed renewable energies sources either.

What's happening in China's smart metering and smart grid industry? A quick look from an insider!

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:42:02 +0200

By Angela Lin

China has been undergoing the fastest recovery in economy globally since the beginning of the year and its GDP is expected to reach 8.2% growth in 2009. China is also expecting stable and even faster economic growth, and strong energy demand and consumption in the coming five years and beyond.

China’s power industry was dismantled into two power grid operators – the State Power Grid Corp of China and South China Power Grid Corp – and five power generation group companies in 2003. Since then a series of reforms have been introduced and tremendous changes and achievements have been made. In May 2009, China State Power Grid Corp announced it would build strong and smart grids by the year 2020 with an investment of 4 trillion RMB (approximately US$600 billion) in three steps. This initiative is expected to bring unlimited business opportunities to the top metering solution suppliers and other equipment manufacturers.

MCF51EM256 anti tamper features - a leap towards robust smart metering solutions

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:21:54 +0200

By Mohit Arora, Prashant Bhargava and Stephen Pickering

Energy theft and meter tampering are worldwide problems that contribute heavily to revenue losses. Consumers have been found manipulating their electric meters, causing them to stop or under-register, hacking the meter to alter or stop the internal real time clock, or even bypassing the meter, effectively using power without paying for it. Freescale’s latest offering in the metering market segment, the MCF51EM256 microcontroller, provides several anti-tamper features integrated on chip, reducing customer bill of materials (BoM) cost and providing effective protection against tampering.

Smart choices for smart meter design

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:20:53 +0200

By Tracey-Lee Zurcher

Smart grid, intelligent network, AMI – whichever catch phrase you would like to adopt, the swiftly advancing technology for utility metering and communication presents a digital cocktail of opportunity, flavoured with a dash of excitement and a squeeze of trepidation. Opportunity, you say? Or simply a twilight zone resonating with murmurings of what is to happen, an airport transit lounge at 03:00 where everyone waits but the Boeing never seems to arrive.

Focus on smart grid and smart energy

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:18:16 +0200

Smart Grid and smart energy are a key focus for the HomePlug Powerline Alliance, with many major developments taking place in the last six months. The demand for reduced energy consumption, combined with utility company initiatives, legislative mandates and government funding is expected to drive rapid growth in this sector, and HomePlug powerline technology will play an important role in achieving a standards-based smart grid infrastructure that is more efficient and reliable.

Zigbee during the year of the smart grid

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:13:18 +0200

The energy industry reached a turning point in 2009 as the US government allocated significant funds from the economic stimulus package to expedite key energy mandates and hasten creation of the smart grid. With that move, utilities and other smart grid stakeholders began researching technology standards that would accelerate the pace of progress. As one might expect, key technology players in the field hurried to promote their own solutions.

Stargrid: the new flexible PLC system-onchip platform for smart grids

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:09:13 +0200

By Alessandro Moscatelli and Domenico Arrigo

STarGRID™ is a unique flexible, scalable and future-proof power line communication systemon- chip platform ready now to effectively address demanding smart metering and smart grid application requirements.

SMART GRIDS AND PLC TECHNOLOGY EVOLUTION
Today power grids are evolving into smart grids, supported by many international “green” directives and local government initiatives.

Interoperability through cooperation

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:55:49 +0200

Interoperability is the unquestioned condition for building future smart metering systems and the smart grid.

Likewise, the availability of open standards is the unquestioned condition for achieving interoperability.

That’s why the European Commission in its Mandate M/441 requests the European Standardisation organisations CEN, CENELEC and ETSI to develop European standards within an interoperable framework specifying an open architecture, additional functionalities as well as data exchange formats and protocols.

Semiconductors: The 'smart' behind the 'smart grid'

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:47:59 +0200

By Daryl Hatano

Whenever one hears the word “smart,” as in “smart meters,” “smart grid,” “smart appliances,” or “smart motors,” think “semiconductors.” It is the chips that provide the computation, memory, wireless, sensor and other vital capabilities that make up the network.

Advocating for a smarter grid

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:40:50 +0200

The GridWise Alliance was formed in September 2003 by a group of seven companies, Alstom, IBM, PNNL, PJM, RockPort Capital, Sempra Energy, and Utility Automation Integrators. It is committed to increasing knowledge among industry stakeholders, promoting understanding of roles, benefits, and costs, and supporting research, development and deployment initiatives and public-private partnerships.

AMI and energy saving in South Africa

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:35:31 +0200

By Edison M Makwarela Pr Tech Eng, Senior Consultant, Industry Association Resource Centre

BACKGROUND
Recent generating capacity constraints in South Africa (SA) is undoubtedly fast ushering in a new way of energy metering in the country in an effort to save energy and manage consumer demand. Although the focus is presently more on saving electrical energy, the shortage of electrical energy could lead to either a shortage or increase in the price of other alternative energy sources available in the country. It is for this reason that utilities are now focusing on consumer energy-saving initiatives in addition to traditional metering. The focus is also on transparent metering, the reduction of non-technical losses and improved customer service. This has led to the advent of a new breed of advanced meters termed “Smart Meters” that give rise to advanced metering infrastructure (AMI).

Overview of Finland - aspects of smart metering and smart grids

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:30:26 +0200

By Petri Trygg

Finland is a Nordic country with a similar land area to Germany, but with less than 10% of its population (5,3 million). This comparison contextualises the challenges faced with regard to electricity distribution in Finland.

Most of the country’s distribution network was built during the 1960s and 1970s, which is why there is a need for investing in infrastructure and automation in the near future. Currently most of the Finnish utilities are working heavily on implementing AMR. In addition to having monthly billing, hourly data, remote switching, and support for network planning and operation are important issues.