Choosing the right kind of smart metering solution is a crucial strategic decision for utilities to take as an initial stage of their smart meter project planning. When drafting the tender for a smart metering rollout, a utility’s leadership team must be prepared to answer two basic, but very important questions: What can we do ourselves? What must we subcontract and have others do for us?
In October 2013, Landis+Gyr and Toshiba introduced the second generation Micro Energy Management System (μEMS), a smart grid solution enabling T&D utilities to optimize the operations of assets on both medium voltage (MV) and low voltage(LV) networks.
Recently, the Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER), whose members are the national energy regulatory authorities in Europe, published a “Status Review on Regulatory Approaches to Enabling Smart Grid Solutions”. The CEER compiled the report through a survey of the national regulatory authorities. It reviews the ways in which different European countries approach the development of smart grids and the regulatory challenges faced by each.
A major driver for a smart metering rollout is to enhance distribution grid operation efficiency, especially the optimization of internal processes. This, and the need for improved revenue protection, were the primary motivation of the Turkish utility SAKARYA ELEKTRİK DAĞITIM A.Ş. (SEDAS) to initiate their rollout, which ultimately led to the Landis+Gyr ICG Solutions Centre of Competence in Prague, Czech Republic, delivering to them the proven Gridstream® Converge solution for advanced industrial, commercial and grid metering.
