The Energy Collective's been on-site at
GridWeek in Washington, DC this week, and it’s been a very exciting few days, with over 1,200 business and government leaders all in one place and focused on Smart Grid.
The week’s been packed with presentations, panels and in-depth conversations about how to make smart grid a near-term reality in the US, accelerate the shift to “utilities of the future,” and revolutionize how we use and manage electricity.
Four themes stood out to me over the course of the week, which I describe below.
In addition, immediately following the close of GridWeek today, I sat down with Wes Sylvester, Director for Smart Grid at Siemens Energy, and got his thoughts about the key conference takeaways. Wes had great insights to share.
Four Grid Week themes:
1. Standards – there was a major focus on interoperability and ensuring that there is a common platform for vendors and utilities, with the government and private sector hard at work through the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), IEEE standards, and a host of other collaborative efforts.
2. Consumers – expect an explosion in the development of end-user applications for energy management as companies work to play “catch up” on serving consumers, who have been somewhat left behind so far (the industry has been focused on smart grid infrastructure investments and vendors have mainly focused on utility customers so far).
3. Investment – all week long, the smart grid/clean energy revolution was compared to the internet/telecom transformation in the 1980s and 1990s, both in terms of private sector activity and government investment and regulation. Reed Hundt, former Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, projects that the scale of investment needed is approximately $1.1 trillion over 15-20 years, mirroring the scale and timing of investment in the internet. The government has made a down payment through the >$4B in ARRA stimulus funds and funding for demonstration projects and progress on standards in the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act, but Representative Markey stressed this morning that the critical next step is passing comprehensive energy and climate legislation.
4. Collaboration – rolling out the smart grid quickly and effectively will require unprecedented and continued collaboration between key government agencies and standard setting bodies, Congress, utilities, data systems providers, and a host of other industry players. Expect a proliferation of partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, and conferences and other venues for collaboration.
I also wrote about Representative Ed Markey's comments at GridWeek - Impact of SG on electricity use > impact of internet on how we communicate.
Wes Sylvester’s key takeaways from Grid Week:
- Utilities – we saw a clear dedication to smart grid roll-out from utilities
- Government – smart grid is a priority for the Obama Administration and the Department of Energy, and we saw strong government buy-in and engagement throughout the conference
- Business stakeholders – companies are focused on making sure that everything we do adds value, including to consumers
- Security – there was a strong focus on making sure everything we do is the right thing from a security standpoint – both physical and cyber-security – and we can have confidence that what we’re rolling out will be secure
Wes also spoke to me about Siemens Energy’s smart grid plans going forward. Siemens was one of the first to implement interoperability standards and continues to be focused on standards, and more broadly on developing vendor systems and communications networks to bring value to utilities and end- users.
During the conference, Siemens and Silver Spring Networks issued a press release about successful testing of interoperability technology, which I’ve copied below.
Rebecca Lutzy is the Content and Community Manager at The Energy Collective and a Ph.D. candidate at Princeton University in their Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy program.
Siemens and Silver Spring Networks Announce
Distribution Automation Interoperability for the Smart Grid
ORLANDO, Fla. and Redwood City, CA., Sept. 23 -- Siemens Energy and Silver Spring Networks announce the successful testing of the Siemens SICAM substation automation unit, including SICAM 1703 pole-top RTU, Siprotec line of relays and 7SR recloser control, over Silver Spring Network's Smart Energy Network. As the premier products in Siemens' line of automated controls for the utility grid, this testing solidifies the interoperable design of Siemens and Silver Spring Networks products. As energy control and operation data become more valuable for daily analysis and real-time automation, leveraging this data for consumer and utility benefit is a strong focus for both Siemens and Silver Spring Networks.
Silver Spring's Smart Energy Network meets the critical requirements of a network supporting SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition). Silver Spring's secure, IP-based transport is compatible with industry-standard protocols, such as DNP3 and IEC 61850. This high-density mesh network delivers ample bandwidth, low latency and ubiquitous coverage for distribution automation, advanced metering infrastructure and other Smart Grid applications. Leveraging a common network infrastructure significantly lowers both the capital and operational costs of implementing wide-scale distribution automation. The Smart Energy Network also provides distribution automation traffic prioritization, easy deployment and maintenance and centralized network management.
"Siemens products continue to be the market leader in interoperability across various network topologies, and this work with Silver Spring is another great example. It brings continued confidence for Siemens customers that our products are designed to integrate seamlessly into their systems, for the long haul," said Mike Edmonds, Vice President, Energy Automation, Siemens Energy, Inc.
John O'Farrell, Executive Vice President of Business Development for Silver Spring Networks adds, "We are excited to be collaborating with Siemens, whose global reach and broad development activities are central to realizing the vision of the Smart Grid. We feel that the combination of both companies' focus on open, interoperable systems brings world-class solutions to the utilities we serve."
Silver Spring Network's solution allows Siemens substation controllers and distribution automation devices to communicate across the network using industry standard protocols specified by NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology), ensuring a robust, upgradable path to the Smart Grid.
"Siemens' unique ability to create solutions that fit into an existing grid, and grow with new developments and changes in the grid, make the automation solutions we're delivering a strong strategic move. Enabling seamless communications is a key component, and we continue to deliver," said Dave Pacyna, Senior Vice President of Siemens Energy's North American Transmission and Distribution Divisions.
Siemens understands the complete energy conversion chain and is able to transform today's grid into a living infrastructure that is smart enough to respond quickly, flexibly and comprehensively to society's energy needs. Siemens also incorporates solutions for commercial and industrial applications as well as smart homes, including building automation, IT systems integration, advanced lighting technology and energy efficient appliances for a comprehensive Smart Grid solution.
The Siemens Energy Sector is the world's leading supplier of a complete spectrum of products, services and solutions for the generation, transmission and distribution of power and for the extraction, conversion and transport of oil and gas. In fiscal 2008 (ended September 30), the Energy Sector had revenues of approximately EUR22.6 billion and received new orders totaling approximately EUR33.4 billion and posted a profit of EUR1.4 billion. On September 30, 2008, the Energy Sector had a work force of approximately 83,500. Further information is available at: www.siemens.com/energy.
Silver Spring Networks is a leading Smart Grid solutions provider that enables utilities to achieve operational efficiencies, reduce carbon emissions and empower their customers with new ways to monitor and manage their energy consumption. Silver Spring Networks provides the hardware, software and services that allow utilities to deploy and run unlimited advanced applications, including Smart Metering, Demand Response, Distribution Automation and Distributed Generation, over a single, unified network. SSN's Smart Energy Network is based on open, Internet Protocol (IP) standards, allowing continuous, two-way communication between the utility and every device on the grid. The company has successful deployments with leading utilities in the US and abroad, including Florida Power & Light, Pacific Gas & Electric, Pepco Holdings, Inc., Jemena Electricity Networks Limited and United Energy Distribution, among others. In 2008, the World Economic Forum honored Silver Spring Networks as a Technology Pioneer. For additional information, please visit
www.silverspringnetworks.com.