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CURRENT Group Demonstrates Industry's First Comprehensive Smart Grid Smart Transformer Station (STS) Solution for European and Asia Pacific Utilities
BUDAPEST, Hungary, Nov 04, 2009 (PR Newswire Europe via COMTEX) --
-- CURRENT has released and is demonstrating the industry's first
comprehensive Smart Grid solution for primary and secondary transformer
stations with utility partner ELMU at EUTC in Budapest, Hungary.
-- Smart Transformer Station (STS) consists of a complete portfolio of
Smart Grid infrastructure hardware and software products providing flexible
solutions for communications, sensing and analytics, advanced metering,
device, data, and event management.
-- CURRENT(R) Smart Transformer Station is focused on solving real-world
utility distribution Smart Grid issues by reducing the cost of backhaul
communications to transformer stations, providing unprecedented asset
connectivity and visibility to devices within the station, allowing full
remote management and visibility into transformer operating parameters and
conditions through cutting edge IP-based sensing and analytics technologies,
and providing for fully open, interoperable meter collection for utilities
advanced meter deployments.
CURRENT Group, LLC, a leading global Smart Grid company, announced and is
demonstrating at the European Utility Telecom Council Annual Meeting taking
place in Budapest, Hungary this week the industry's first comprehensive Smart
Grid portfolio specifically designed to solve distribution and metering
challenges in European, Australian, and Asia Pacific utility grid
architectures. CURRENT's solution, the CURRENT Smart Transformer Station,
provides a flexible, open, and cost effective suite of products to solve
real-world "smart grid" problems facing utilities worldwide.
Solutions for Wide Scale Smart Grid Deployments
The CURRENT Smart Transformer Station product portfolio focuses on
addressing four main ingredients of comprehensive Smart Grid deployments:
- Communications - Enabling low-cost robust communications to and within
primary and secondary transformer stations through a modular, secure,
upgradeable communications gateway solution.
- Sensing and Analytics - Providing transparency to grid asset conditions
through cost effective, easy to deploy, remotely managed sensing
solutions.
- Metering - Addressing meter communications and collection capabilities
through fully open and interoperable meter concentrator solutions.
- Device, Data, and Event Management - Providing user-based remote
visibility into all aspects of Smart Grid operations through software
systems tailored specifically to utility networking / telecom,
distribution engineering, and customer related personnel.
"Utilities around the world have recognized that there are serious
challenges in operating a distribution network in an environment of aging
infrastructure, retiring workforces, centralized and distributed renewable
energy sources, and increased desire from customers to have visibility into
their energy consumption," said Tom Willie, Senior Vice President of Products
and Technology for CURRENT. "These challenges will require them to invest in
solutions that provide for greater connectivity and control over grid
devices, greater transparency into grid conditions, and greater
responsiveness in communicating and providing information to their end users
of electricity. The CURRENT STS solution is tailored to specifically provide
utilities with a solution to these expanding challenges."
Smart Transformer Station
The CURRENT Smart Transformer Station solution consists of hardware
infrastructure and supporting software systems targeted at solving these
connectivity, transparency, and metering challenges:
Communications and Connectivity - The communications and connectivity
component of the Smart Transformer Station is accomplished through the
CURRENT Communication and Connectivity Engine (CCE) that provides an
IP-based, remotely managed, modular, card-based infrastructure platform for
large primary or secondary transformation stations.
Sensing and Analytics - The CURRENT Smart Transformer Station portfolio
provides for industry leading cost-performance sensing capabilities for the
direct measurement, edge analysis, and event alarming of primary and
secondary feeder operating parameters.
Metering and Meter Collection - The CURRENT Smart Transformer Station
portfolio is rounded out with the CURRENT Station Data Concentrator (SDC)
portfolio that provides for fully interoperable, open PLC-based
meter-to-collector communications and integrated DLMS/COSEM [IEC 62056] meter
collection capabilities while maintaining easy remote management and upgrade
capabilities inherent in all of the CURRENT Smart Transformer Station
solutions. The CURRENT SDC release also marks the milestone of being the
first meter collection platform entirely based on non-proprietary
communications protocols. This milestone was clearly demonstrated through the
PRIME Alliance interoperability demonstration held at the Metering Barcelona
conference in early October.
CURRENT Delivers Proven Solutions in the World's Most Advanced
Demonstration Environments
In the United States, Xcel Energy deployed CURRENT's technology in its
SmartGridCity(TM) project (www.xcelenergy.com/smartgridcity) in Boulder,
Colorado, the world's first fully integrated Smart Grid community. The system
is actively providing Xcel Energy with a portfolio of smart grid technologies
designed to provide environmental, financial and operational benefits.
CURRENT provided the hardware, software and support to transform the local
power distribution grid into a robust electric system communications network,
providing high-speed, two-way communications, sensing and Smart Grid
analytics.
Along with the market announcement of the CURRENT Smart Transformer
Station, CURRENT is demonstrating the solution during the EUTC conference and
within a live network of the local utility ELMU in transformer stations close
to the conference venue. "We are excited to be the first European utility to
install the Smart Transformer Station solution for demonstration at EUTC
Budapest. We believe communications, transformer supervision, and metering
will play a critical role in creating the Smart Grid. Hungary and ELMU as
well are preparing the implementation of smart metering and Smart Grid. In
this process this opportunity with CURRENT is a great help for us and we are
thankful for that," said Mr. Orlay Imre, of ELMU's Network Optimization
Division.
CURRENT will expand the live demonstration to a full trial installation
during the coming weeks and will work closely with ELMU in customizing the
system to best suit ELMU's Smart Grid needs.
About CURRENT
CURRENT Group, LLC delivers innovative and industry-leading intelligent
solutions that optimize the distribution system and offer utilities new ways
to monitor and manage the health of the grid. Through CURRENT's distributed
sensing, monitoring, communications and analytical technologies, utilities
are better able to understand, predict and respond to system disturbances and
faults, identify where inefficiencies are, and enable the smartest possible
sourcing and distribution of power by the utility to their customers.
CURRENT's state-of-the-art technologies are being implemented by
utilities around the globe. CURRENT is a member of the Xcel Energy
SmartGridCity(TM) consortium that also includes Xcel Energy, Accenture,
Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Ventyx, GridPoint, OSIsoft and
SmartSynch. Xcel Energy's SmartGridCity(TM) is utilizing the fully integrated
CURRENT Smart Grid(TM) solution that combines advanced sensing technology
with two-way real-time communications, 24/7 monitoring and enterprise
analysis software and related services to provide Xcel Energy with
location-specific, actionable intelligence on its electric distribution grid.
CURRENT is also engaged in European Union-sponsored projects in partnership
with Iberdrola, the world's 4th largest electric utility, among others, to
expand the use of smart grid technology in the European Union. This year,
CURRENT was honored by the World Economic Forum as a 2009 Technology Pioneer
and selected by Dow Jones as one of the Top 10 most Innovative Clean
Technology companies in Europe.
CURRENT is a private company that is backed by leading investors
including Liberty Associated Partners, EnerTech Capital, Google, Inc., and
Goldman Sachs & Co.
CURRENT is headquartered outside of Washington, DC, with offices
throughout the United States and in Zurich, Switzerland and has
representation in Australia, Brazil and Singapore. Additional information can
be found at http://www.currentgroup.com/.
Bruno Zaugg of CURRENT Group, LLC, Current Technologies International GmbH,
+41-62-544-19-01
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