Landis+Gyr has announced the release of version 3.6 of Power Centerits operating software for demand response and load management applications. Version 3.6 provides support for Gridstream RF network technology used in Landis+Gyr's L530 and L570 load control switches, as well as the L430 programmable communicating thermostat.
In five years time the world's smart city market will value approxitmately US$1.565 trillion and By 2025, it is expected that around 58% of the world's population or 4.6 billion people will live in urban areas, according to Frost & Sullivan. Within the next ten years, North America and Europe will be host to over 50% of the expected 26 global smart cities. The researchers also pointed out trends in people movement that they think will pose challenges for city Planners.
A report by NanoMarkets is predicting world wide smart grid sensor market to almost double by 2021. NanoMarkets expects advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) applications to account for the vast majority of the market throughout the forecasting period to 2021. They are expecting the market value of the different sensors to fluctuate over the same period.
More than half of global energy consumers would consider installing connected-home solutions or solar panels in the next five years, or purchasing an electric vehicle in the next 10 years, according to a new survey by Accenture ACN +0.01% . Interest in connected-home products and services such as energy management and other monitoring and control solutions is projected to rise from seven percent to 57 percent in the next five years, due to the expectation that they will help reduce energy bills, increase comfort and convenience, and enable remote control of home devices.
Inline with current trends to reduce C02 emissions and other harmful greenhouse gases the UK is pulling out all the stops to modernise its power grid infrastructure. Up and down the country, there are smart grid projects and pilot schemes to change the way they use, manage, supply and create electricity with the intention to use less, reduce its effect on the environment and reduce its cost. In partnership with the private sector and government UK universities are playing an important role to make these goals achievable.
NEC Energy Solutions, a subsidiary of NEC Corporation has completed the installation of 5.7MWh energy storage solution for the UK’s Northern Powergrid. The installations were across six sites including urban and rural locations as part of the Customer-Led Network Revolution (CLNR), an initiative pilot, test and develop a smart grid infrastructure across the UK.
Sweden is on the verge of developing the world’s smartest power grid systems, to serve the island of Gotland. With the help of Ventyx and some of the world’s leading technology solutions providers the island wants to harness its large quantities of wind and other renewable and distributed energy sources to serve its residents. Ventyx will deploy a comprehensive Distribution System Optimization solution encompassing network control, demand response management, demand forecasting and business analytics to support the project.
Of the over 30 energy suppliers in the UK, for some time, only British Gas was offering a smart energy management platform as part of their energy services. Customer needing an energy management solution would have to do it independently or use British Gas Hive. Through a joint partnership with Nest, the smart thermostat company, nPower is offering their own smart energy management service to compete with British Gas.
Last week EDF officially opened two of their new UK energy plants; West Burton Combined Cycle Gas Turbine Power Station and the Teesside Offshore Wind Farm. Both plants are part of a £3.5bn investment in the UK energy sector over the last three years. Part of this planned investment is to extend the lives of 15 nuclear reactors, build a new gas storage facility and a new nuclear power station.
Last year saw Microsoft sending a clear signal about their energy use, the company signed a 20-year power purchase agreement for wind energy in Texas. They have gone as far as defining their commitment to smarter energy use in their Global Public Policy Agenda. Going forward every business division within Microsoft will have to account for their energy use and their impact on the environment, even their use of air transport will be measured.