Whether due to environmental concerns, government incentives and regulations or rising gas prices; the electrification of transportation is gaining momentum around the world. According to Arthur D. Little’sreport, by 2030 there will be more than 40 million passenger electric vehicles on European roads. As exciting as this news sounds from the environmental perspective, it is alarming for grid operators. Due to the sudden demand for electricity, local distribution systems might suffer from temporary overloads, leading to power outages and other grid stability issues, such as voltage spikes and frequency fluctuations that can affect the performance of other equipment connected to the grid.
When France’s biggest electricity distributor, Enedis, launched the “Linky Project” in 2017 to replace 35 million residential meters with smart meters, they were going beyond EU requirements to set the foundation for the country's future smart grid.
As homes, offices and cities get smarter, the demand for energy, automation and bandwidth is exploding across the grid. Yet far too many citizens lack access to affordable and reliable broadband in areas for example where traditional Telecommunication companies (Telcos) cannot justify implementations. At a time when so many people are working and learning from home due to the pandemic, this can be particularly problematic.
Compared to previous PLC technologies, G3-PLC provides more capabilities to collect meter data faster, with fewer errors, and in a more secure way. But that is not the only reason to rely on G3 in powerline communications. It enables handling of extended data volumes in urban areas, improves the performance of use cases and adds supply reliability.
An increasing number of energy customers in Burgenland will be able to save on energy costs in the future. Following the installation of 20,000 smart meters, Netz Burgenland is taking consistent positive stock and is set to deploy smart meters throughout its entire operating area. By the end of 2019, 180,000 additional devices will follow to satisfy the regulatory requirements in due time.
In late 2017, more than a quarter of a million homes in the Austrian state of Styria will receive some of the most advanced smart electricity meters in the world, after Landis+Gyr won a tender to supply a consortium of Austrian utility providers with 330,000 E450 G3 power line communication (PLC) smart meters.
