Danish utility ELRO Net has awarded US-based Echelon Corporation's networked energy services value-added reseller Eltel Networks a $5 million contract to deploy an advanced metering system to 50,000 Danish homes. Initial deliveries are expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2007, with project completion by 2010.
Denmark has a long history of being at the forefront of responsible energy policy with a focus on reduced consumption, reduced emissions, and sustainability, said Svend Erik Pedersen, ELRO’s grid manager. With this project, ELRO is continuing its strategy of investing in innovative programs and technologies to provide the highest possible levels of service to our customers.
With the networked energy services (NES)-based system from Eltel, we will enable ourselves and our customers to understand not only how much energy is being consumed, but when it is being consumed, so that together we can take action to reduce peak load, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and increase the quality of service across our distribution grid, Mr Pedersen continued.
In the ELRO project, a combination of wide area networks will be used for the system’s backhaul data collection infrastructure: WiMax, an emerging standard for high-speed, low-cost metropolitan wireless data networking; and GPRS cellular. ELRO recently acquired a national license to spread WiMax countrywide.
The NES advanced metering infrastructure from Echelon consists of a family of highly-integrated, advanced electronic electricity meters, accessed via a web services-based network operating system, over an IP networking infrastructure. Multiple NES meters can share a single IP connection through the use of Echelon’s power line networking technology.