Smart Grid Companies Give WiMAX Smart Meters a Boost

 

General Electric (GE) and Grid Net will deploy the world's first smart meter that runs over a 4G broadband network (WiMAX) for SP AusNet, one of Australia's largest publicly-held electricity and gas providers. GE and Grid Net will deploy 700,000 of the meters for the utility, which is its first customer for the Smart Grid technology.

 

 

The GE WiMAX Smart Grid Solution was in development for three years. GE will provide the meter communications technology for the SP AusNet network and half of the new meters. Landis+Gyr will provide the balance of the meters. Grid Net will contribute its Policy Net network management software which will oversee the meters, switches and other elements of SP AusNet's Smart Grid. The software was developed to be compatible with the GE WiMAX meters and related equipment. Motorola will provide communications infrastructure.

 

The WiMAX meters incorporate government-grade security architecture that includes data encryption and other features that are said to provide "unprecedented risk mitigation for Smart Grid applications."

 

For consumers, the new system will offer variable pricing throughout the day, which will allow customers to manage their energy consumption to reduce costs. It also gives utilities the capability to monitor the Smart Grid components in real-time, which is a plus for ensuring supply reliability. GE's standards-based scalable technology also will make it possible for the SP AusNet Smart Grid to handle a variety of grid applications such as plug-in vehicles, advanced grid control and alternative energy sources like rooftop solar power generation.

 

GE and Grid Net had previously run WiMAX Smart Grid pilot projects with SP AusNet and Energy Australia, another of the country's largest energy providers.

    Quick Take: If WiMax makes the grade as a new communications pipeline it will shake up the sector and make it necessary for other meter, communications and networking vendors to add support for it. It is also significant that GE, long one of the proprietary vendors, has not only decided to go the open standards route, but to become a leader in that regard. By contrast, many other meter vendors are giving lip service to open standards but only doing the minimum.That said, there is still controversy. Advocates say it has longer range. Detractors say it doesn't reach into buildings as well and is thus not suited to individual meters, which can often be sheltered or even inside.

   Smart Grid company profile: Grid Net

   Smart Grid company profile: GE    

   GE news release