Landis+Gyr: First interoperable smart meters for Tauron Distribution

The announcement comes after the successful deployment of nearly 12,000 meters as part of the Landis+Gyr Gridstream solution offering for the Tauron pilot in 2011. This is one of the first smart metering projects in Poland where interoperability is playing a key role in the choice of meter technology and supplier.

“We are very happy with Landis+Gyr’s comprehensive Gridstream solution. Due to their broad experience in smart metering, we know that they can provide us with functionality that delivers a lot more than just billing values – their advanced network monitoring tools are bringing us one step closer to a smart grid”, says Tauron Distribution GZE CEO Piotr Ko_odziej.

“Tauron expects to reap significant benefits from this smart metering investment., While still only in the pilot phase, the system has already shown its capability potential in terms of identifying technical losses within the network as well as losses caused by tampering. Customer service can now be further improved as the system provides near real time consumption information and enables on-demand reading requests as well as remote load control. Tauron’s end-customers will also get access to their personal consumption data via a web-portal. This will enable them to optimize their energy consumption”, continues Piotr Ko_odziej.

Landis+Gyr Poland CEO, Andrzej Szymanski, says, “Achieving interoperability is the target of this project. We have been working with technology familiar to us from previous projects and at the same time integrating devices from other vendors – without experiencing a drop in system functionality. The availability of thoroughly tested interoperable products based on open standards is central to building a truly interoperable environment. The smart meters for Tauron are IDIS-ready and comply with IDIS specifications; these specifications are based completely on International Electrotechnical Commission standards.”

This latest announcement comes as Tauron Distribution GZE is preparing for a full rollout of smart metering to its entire 1.1 million customer base by 2020, in accordance with regulation set out in Poland and the EU. In order to prepare for the rollout, Tauron Distribution GZE is conducting the pilot project to test the smart metering solution Gridstream and the deployment process. The project was completed by the end of 2011. Based on the results, the distribution system operator will be able to identify and establish best practices across the business, from logistics to IT infrastructure and internal administrative resources; it will also gain a solid understanding as to how it, and its customer base, can maximize the benefits that smart metering technology offers.

Press contact
John Harris, Vice President and Head Communications
Landis+Gyr (Europe) AG
Tel. +41 41 935 64 39
Mobile. +41 76 315 36 10
Email: pressrelations.emea@landisgyr.com
Follow us on Twitter: Landis+Gyr EMEA

 

About Landis+Gyr
Landis+Gyr is the leading global provider of integrated energy management products tailored to energy company needs and unique in its ability to deliver true end-to-end advanced metering solutions. Today, the Company offers the broadest portfolio of products and services in the electricity metering industry, and is paving the way for the next generation of smart grid. With annualized sales of more than US$1.6 billion, Landis+Gyr, an independent growth platform of the Toshiba Corporation (TKY:6502) and 40% owned by the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, operates in 30 countries across five continents, and employs 5,000 people with the sole mission of helping the world manage energy better. More information is available at landisgyr.com

About TAURON Dystrybucja GZE
After 10 years of operation in the Polish market, the Vattenfall Group sold Vattenfall Distribution Poland to the TAURON group in December 2011. The total value of the transaction was Zloty 4.62 million (approximately Euros 1.11 million). Today, Tauron Dystrybucja GZE operates as a Distribution System Operator (DSO) in an area of southern Poland with a population of 4.6 million people and 440,000 companies. The DSO delivers 11 percent of the country’s electricity and has a customer base of 1.1 milllion. In total, the Tauron group has a customer base of 4.1 million customers in Poland and is the market leader in terms of customer volume. In 2011, Tauron Distribution GZE distributed 11 TWh and sold 6 TWh of electric energy.

About IDIS
The Interoperable Device Interface Specifications (IDIS) Association is a non-profit association established to maintain and promote publicly available technical interoperability specifications based on open standards and supports their implementation in interoperable products. IDIS supports smart metering companies which are committed to providing interoperable products based on open standards. www.idis-association.com