Echelon Corp., an energy control networking solution provider, says it has been selected for the Smart Grid Gotland project, a large-scale smart grid technology demonstration on the island of Gotland, Sweden. Partly financed by the Swedish Energy Agency, the project is a joint venture between Vattenfall, Gotland Energy, ABB, Swedish National Grid, Schneider Electric and the Royal Institute of Technology.
Echelon will provide its Edge Control Node, its control operating system (COS)-based application platform and 3,000 advanced grid sensors, which also provide smart metering functionality. According to the company, the Smart Grid Gotland project will demonstrate how new smart grid technologies can improve the electrical quality of rural grids by utilizing large quantities of distributed power generation and advanced load-management strategies.
As part of the project, Echelon smart meters will provide hourly meter reading; two-way communication for surveillance of the low-voltage grid for power quality and power outage data; substation monitoring; measurement of energy fed into the grid; interface to a distribution management system/supervisory control and data acquisition (DMS/SCADA) system; interface to a customer Web portal; and interface to a home area network (HAN).
"The Smart Grid Gotland project is the perfect way to showcase how a utility with a clear plan for the future can trial new grid applications and quickly reap meaningful benefits for its customers," comments Michael Anderson, senior vice president of worldwide markets at Echelon. "Echelon is excited to play an important role in this project to help modernize Sweden's grid and integrate new applications that will improve grid reliability, efficiency and performance."
The Smart Grid Gotland project began in fall 2012 and will run until 2015.
