Commercial and Industrial meters for energy transition

Traditional electricity network management has been based on one single direction of the energy coming from large production units to the end-users. With the energy sector shifting from fossil-based to zero-carbon energy sources connected to medium- and low-voltage, grid operators come across completely new challenges. Moreover, with the electrification of transportation and heating sectors as well as the latest socioeconomic developments, energy demand and energy prices increase dramatically. In this new energy era commercial and industrial meters are called to serve a wider range of applications than energy billing.

 SHAPING THE FUTURE OF THE GRID

1. Digitalization enables modern grid infrastructure. Dynamics in low voltage grid operation are becoming more complex - not only due to bi-directional power flows, but also due to the unpredictability between energy demand and supply. This calls for more flexible solutions with the ability to adjust quickly to operating conditions.. The installed meter base combined with new digital solutions, both at the edge and in the cloud, can help grid operators identify and prevent failures, maintain grid components efficiently, and avoid congestion or unbalancing that lead to high costs.
2. Moving towards real-time flexibility. With efficient asset management, the ability to keep the grid energized and stable alongside the energy demand and the energy availability will increase. This will help grid operators to plan their investments, while moving towards decarbonization and continuing to support grid resiliency.
3.  Leverage integration between grid operability and Distributed Energy Resources (DER). Commercial and industrial meters have programmable logic to optimize the usage of renewable energy, as well as to facilitate the interface between photovoltaic plants, or wind power stations with the upper-level energy management systems.
4.  Ensure quality of the service via remote cloud applications. Commercial and industrial meters which encapsulate advanced grid-edge features enhance network monitoring & control, power quality and grid analytics.

Commercial and industrial meters as enablers for the energy transition

 Commercial and industrial meters such as the Landis+Gyr E660 are helping network operators and energy providers to secure their investments against the costs of energy where “every Wh counts”. At the same time they act as grid sensors for network operators enabling more efficient grid operations including power outage management, integration of renewable energy resources, adaptability in case of communication technology upgrades and detection of network faults. The E660 Industrial meter is the most advanced Landis+Gyr's portfolio, provides a series of new use case scenarios and a wider range of communication interfaces, facilitating energy transition across the globe.

Open for new business models

Commercial and industrial meters from Landis+Gyr open opportunities for new business models. Dynamic tariff schemes can be easily implemented via software suites. Time-based business models will create the conditions to further explore flexibility in order to avoid capacity limitation due to volatility and intermittency of renewable sources of energy. Consequently, utilities and grid operators will benefit from synergies between IT and OT to optimize demand response and power quality. For example, advanced automation and sophisticated analysis will promote having the right balance from a variety of energy sources, while predicting the demand of the energy required. Moving towards the next years, new business model opportunities are represented by decentralized distribution and generation of energy, that could empower energy as money by leveraging an ecosystem of digital platforms.

In a recent webinar on Industrial Metering for the IoT era we discussed some of the key challenges in Industrial Metering and how to solve them. Check it out to learn more on the impacts and mitigations of power quality issues.