Greentech Lead India: Echelon announced two micro grid
deployments in India and South Africa that integrate distributed generation to
compensate for disruptions in utility-supplied power.
Echelon said the deployments are built on Echelon’s
multi-application energy control networking platform powered by its Control
Operating System (COS) and incorporate application software and services from
its local partners Grene Robotics and Power Meter Technics (PMT).
The micro grid deployments involve dynamically managing
demand and energy supply mix for a residential community and a retail mall to
deliver reliable service cost-effectively.
The model micro grid deployments are at Palm Meadows in
Hyderabad, India, and Clearwater Mall in Johannesburg, South Africa. Palm
Meadows is an 86-acre integrated gated community with 335 homes and residential
services.
“Smart micro grids are an ideal way to integrate local
generation at the community level and allow for customer participation in the
electricity enterprise,” said Michael Anderson, senior vice president of
Worldwide Markets for Echelon.
The Palm Meadows community ties into the grid at a
dedicated substation and sources energy in bulk from the utility. The community
runs diesel generators and will incorporate solar generation in the future.
Residences are equipped with Echelon smart meters that connect into data
concentrators at distribution transformers and feed near real-time usage
information to Echelon’s Networked Energy Systems (NES) system software.
Echelon partner Grene Robotics’ Skynet management
application automatically turns on local generation if utility-delivered power
is inadequate. The Skynet software interfaces with the NES system software and
creates a bill for the customer that reflects the customers’ actual use of
lower cost grid power and more expensive locally generated power.
“Like a national power grid, the Palm Meadows micro grid
manages generation, distribution, and the regulation of the flow of electricity
to its households. We are pleased to have helped implement a proven, open and
multi-application energy control infrastructure that enables Palm Meadows to
become distributors of energy within their community,” said Kiran Penmatcha,
CEO of Grene Robotics.