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Kapsch concentrates expertise in smart energy management(ENP Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) ENP Newswire - 22 November 2012 Release date- 22112012 - Vienna -All expertise in integrated energy management is concentrated within Kapsch Smart Energy. Together with partners such as Echelon, the world's leading provider of energy control networks, this subsidiary of the Kapsch Group is realizing state-of-the-art, holistic solutions that meet the highest security requirements. For Stadtwerke Feldkirch, Kapsch is currently operating an integrated solution with 13,000 units for smart metering in private households and businesses. By 2016, this will be increased to 20,000 units. The core of the solution is the Kapsch meter data management system 'SEM', which evaluates the data of the networked meters, enables efficient use of the energy resources and handles the management of the entire technical meter network. 'Kapsch has many years of experience in networking devices and controlling complex systems, such as in road and rail transportation. We are now increasingly applying this know-how to electricity grids,' says Christian Schober, CEO of Kapsch Smart Energy. 'The concepts of smart metering and smart grids are still relatively young. From the beginning, Kapsch has focused not only on the technical aspects but also on the legal and organizational factors. With international partners like Echelon, we also bring experiences from other countries into smart energy projects. With its multi-application platform based on open standards, Echelon has the best-established solution in the world.' In the interests of effectively serving the emerging market of smart grids, the two companies have not limited their partnership to software. Kapsch Smart Energy recently became one of the few companies in the world to partner with Echelon as a value-added reseller. 'This top level of partnership further secures our lead in this market segment. The strengths of Kapsch Smart Energy and Echelon complement each other optimally,' says Schober. Stadtwerke Feldkirch as pioneer Feldkirch was the first city in Austria to employ smart metering on a large scale. Kapsch operates not only the meters but also the network infrastructure, the central control and analysis system and the end customer portal, where households and businesses can view their power consumption in order to individually optimize their power use. In addition to helping individual users lower their energy costs, these solutions also open up new possibilities for energy suppliers, for example in the area of pricing. The roll-out in Feldkirch went very smoothly from the start: 'I was pleasantly surprised that integrating the meters was practically plug-and-play from our perspective. Thanks to the mature solution, the system optimally fulfills our smart metering requirements,' says Karlheinz Kresser, project director at Stadtwerke Feldkirch. Naturally, the entire Kapsch smart metering solution satisfies all statutory and data privacy requirements of the Austrian smart meter ordinances. The highest security standards The meters use the existing electricity networks for transmitting data to the nearest network node. Every step of the communication is dynamically encrypted at 128 bits. This is the same level of security employed in online banking, for instance. Corresponding authentication mechanisms for the meters and in the end customer portal prevent unauthorized access. Echelon Corporation (NASDAQ: ELON) develops, markets and supports the world's most proven, open standard, multi-application energy control networking platform. Echelon's vision from its inception 20 years ago is one of low-cost embedded monitoring and control technology in every electrically controlled device in the world. Today Echelon's technology platform is embedded in more than 100 million devices, 35 million homes, and 300,000 buildings. Our platform powers energy-savings applications for smart grids, smart cities and smart buildings that help customers save 20% or more on their energy usage, reduce outage duration or prevent them from happening entirely, reduce carbon footprint and more. Today Echelon offers, directly and through its partners worldwide, a wide range of innovative solutions including smart metering, smart grid optimization, smart street lighting, and smart buildings. We are headquartered in Silicon Valley, have sales offices around the world and development centers in Fargo, North Dakota and in Bielefeld. Kapsch Smart Energy GmbH - a company of the Kapsch Group - partners with energy supply companies to offer solutions for smart energy management. Smart metering and smart grids are important factors in achieving the goals of the European directive on energy efficiency and energy services. The company combines the extensive know-how of the Kapsch Group in Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and Information and Communication Technology (IKT) with the competence of highly specialized providers of components such as smart meters. The core of the solutions, for which Kapsch Smart Energy can handle the entire planning, implementation and operation, is the internally developed, flexible and meter-independent system software 'Meter Data Management'. In addition to numerous analyses, reporting and alarm management functions, this software also offers expansion options for energy control, smart street lighting and building automation. For more information: www.kapschsmartenergy.at Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/kapschnet For more information: Christian Schober CEO Kapsch Smart Energy GmbH Wienerbergstrasse 53, 1120 Vienna, Austria Phone: +43 50811 5610 E-mail: [email protected] Press contact: Katharina Riedl Spokesperson Kapsch AG Am Europlatz 2, 1120 Vienna, Austria Phone: +43 50811 1705 E-mail: [email protected] [Editorial queries for this story should be sent to [email protected]] ((Comments on this story may be sent to [email protected])) (c) 2012 Electronic News Publishing - |