SMART GRID GROUPS

 

The GridWise Architecture Council (GWAC)  is formed by  the U.S Department of Energy to promote and enable interoperability among the entities that interact the nation's (USA) electric grid. The team members are respected leaders of the industry and belongs from diverse constituency of electric utility supply chain. Ron Ambrosio (May 2004 - Dec 2011) Global Research Leader, IBM Energy and Utilities Industry, IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center is the current chairman of the organization.

Global Intelligent Utility Network: IBM established global coalition of Innovative utility companies in 2007. The coalition wants to add digital intelligence to the network, reduce outages and faults, and integrated renewable energy resources like wind and solar. The objective is to share the best practices and ideas through in-person meeting, virtual conferences, benchmarks their efforts, share knowledge on critical issues, and undertake collaborative initiatives. The coalition developed Smart Grid Maturity Model that is being used by 60 utility companies worldwide. NDPL is the only Indian utility company that is part of this network.

Zigbee Alliance is an association of group of companies to develop open global standards for wireless network and for various consumer, commercial, and industrial products The primary focus is to define the network, security, and application layer.

SmartGrid Consumer Coalition :       It is a non-profit consumer advocacy organization. The objective is to bring together utilities, suppliers, vendors, consumer advocacy groups, and associations to better understand consumer needs in the Smart Grid Universe. The group will carryout consumer centric research, educate them about Smart Grid, and will share the best practices with the members.

 GridWise Alliance was founded in year 2003. GridWise Alliance represents broad group of stakeholders like large tech companies, academia, venture capitalists, transmission companies, and utilities. The objective of the organization is to facilitate effective collaboration among all the stakeholders and to educate and advocate adoption of innovative Smart Grid solution for the benefit of the stakeholders, communities, customers, and shareholders.

Center for Study of Science, Technology, and Policy  (CSTEP) is a private, non-profit organization with an objective to carry out research in science, engineering, and technology that can be beneficial to country's economic and human development. CSTEP will serve as knowledge partner and adviser to Smart Grid India Forum established by Government of India. CSTEP published Smart Grid India white paper detailing the Smart Grid in Indian environment.

Demand Response and Smart Grid Coalition is the trade association for companies that are dealing in Demand Response, Smart Meter, and Smart Grid technologies. DRSG plays supportive role to educate policymakers, financial institution, utilities, media, and other stakeholders that how the smart grid technologies like demand response and smart meters are going to benefit the consumers, the companies, and the society as a whole. More than 50 companies and associations like Zigbee Alliance and Universal Powerline Association are the member of this organization.


Global Smart Grid Federation : The organization is the association of "associations" of the Smart Grid stakeholders at global level.  The network will facilitate cooperation in Smart Grid policy, Smart Grid standards, regulations, finance, technology, research development, demonstration, workforce skills and knowledge development, and consumer participation at all levels.

India Smart Grid Forum: It is a non-profit, voluntary consortium of public and private stakeholders set up by Government of India. The prime objective of the forum is to accelerate development of Smart Grid technology in India. India Smart Grid Forum is also a member organization of Global Smart Grid federation. Ministry of Power, India is going to be the patron and Power finance Corporation(PFC) and Rural Electric Corporation (REC) are permanent invitee of the forum. Initially, the members will be selected through invitation which will include selected state power utilities, private power utilities, empaneled System Integrators, SCADA Consultants and Implementing Agencies of R-APDRP, power sector PSUs (public sector undertakings), selected educational and research institutes, NGOs, Central Electricity Authority (CEA), Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), Central Power Research Institute (CPRI), Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) ,and NASSCOM. CSTEP will be knowledge partner and adviser to the forum.


Peak Load Management Alliance (PLMA) : The PLMA is an association of leading diverse energy professionals and organizations. The organization is dedicated to promoting and developing consumer participation in electricity markets around the world. The current members includes companies like EnerNOC, Itron, Duke Energy, Comverge Inc., Brattel Group, Tendril Inc., OPower, EnergryConnect,Utilimetrices, Oracle, and others. PLMA is open to any organization interested in Demand Response.


India Smart Grid Task Force
The Smart Grid Task Force (ISGTF) was constituted under the Chairmanship of Shri Sam Pitroda, Adviser to Prime Minister, Government of India on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovation. The Smart Grid Task Force is an inter ministerial group and serves as Government’s focal point for activities related to “Smart Grid”.  The main functions of the Smart Grid Task Force to ensure awareness, coordination and integration of the diverse activities related to smart Grid technologies, practices and services for Smart Grid Research and Development; Co-ordinate and integrate other relevant inter governmental activities; Collaborate on interoperability frame work; Review and validate the recommendations from India Smart Grid Forum etc.

Companies working for SMART GRID's

CapGemini is one of the top 10 largest consulting services company in the world. With revenue of $11.6 billion the company is present in almost all geography and employs more than 90,000 people worldwide. The company provides consulting services that contribute to the business transformation and economic performance of organizations, based on in-depth knowledge of client industries and processes. It has strong presences in energy and utility segment. The company is actively collaborating with utilities in US and Europe for their Smart Grid projects to gain valuable knowledge and experience. It has recently launched Smart Energy Services, a new global service line that will provide full spectrum of smart metering, smart grid, smart home solutions, and smart analytics to utilities across the globe.

HCL InfoSystems Ltd is one of the Top 5 IT company in India providing hardware, software, and system integration services. It offers wide range of ICT products for the computing, storage, networking, security, telecom, imaging, and retail. HCL has partnered with Echelon (A Smart Grid product development company) for providing smart metering and network infrastructure services. It has also roped in Oncor as a client for its SmartGrid infrastructure services. Collaboration with these companies will provide HCL a competitive edge against the competitors when the Smart Grid development in India accelerates.

New Delhi Power Ltd (NDPL)
NDPL is a joint venture between Tata Power and Delhi Government. NDPL is among the earliest adopter of Smart Grid approach. They have collaborated with GE for using various Smart Grid approaches for efficient distribution of electricity. NDPL serves the National Capital Region(NCR).
NDPL at Linkedin

General Electric popularly known as GE is one of the world's leading MNCs operating in diverse business verticals like Home Appliances, Engines, GeoSpatial, Power Sector, Clean Energy, Nuclear Plants, Softwares, Finance, and many more. GE is one of the major player in Smart Grid domain. Through its eco-imagination GE is focusing its research efforts towards clean energy including Smart Grid. It has got US government grant for building Smart Grid training and research infrastructure. GE will leverage its years of vast domain experience to develop various innovative products for the Smart Grid. It has started working with various utilities in US to roll out Smart Meters and related products. In India, GE has collaborated with NDPL for improving energy and transmission efficiency.

PowerGrid is one of the largest transmission utilities in the world with 72,000 circuit kms transmission lines in India. A Government of India enterprise has pan India presence and more than 45% power generated in India is transferred through PowerGrid transmission lines. It also has presence in telecommunication sector with more than 19,000 km telecommunication network. The Government has entrusted the company with various projects and schemes including the Rajiv Gandhi Gram Vidhyut Yojna. Lately the company is focusing its efforts towards Smart Grid. It will be one of the major player in Smart Grid area in India.

Telvent (NASDAQ: TLVT) is a global IT solutions and business information services provider dedicated to helping improve efficiency and reliability for the world’s leading companies. Telvent serves markets that are critical to the sustainability of the planet, including the energy, transportation, agricultural and environmental sectors. Telvent recently announced that it is going to partner with Larsen and Toubro(L&T) for Smart Grid Projects in Maharashtra State

Larsen & Toubro is a USD 9.8 billion technology, engineering and construction group, with global operations. It is one of the largest and most respected companies in India's private sector. A strong, customer –focused approach and the constant quest for top-class quality have enabled L&T to attain and sustain leadership in its major lines of business over seven decades. The company operates in various infrastructure domains and is major player in power infrastructure. It has recently collaborated with Telvent for Smart Grid projects in India.

ABB is one of the leading  power and automation technology company in the world. The global conglomerate operates in more than 100 countries focusing on power transmission, distribution, and power plant automation that serves electric, gas, and water utilities as well as commercial customers. It core business lines includes power products, power systems, discrete automation and motion, low voltage products, and process automation. As a leading power sector company, ABB has strong Smart Grid focus and has been actively collaborating with utilities from US, UK, Europe, China, and India. The capacity, reliability, efficiency, and sustainability are the four key aspects of its smart grid vision.

CISCO is the largest supplier of communications products in the world. With annual revenue of $36.11(2009) billion, it is one of the largest technological company that was born out of the Computer/Internet revolution. Cisco considers Smart Grid as the next big thing and visualizes smart grid emergence similar to the emergence of Internet. With its strong networking products portfolio  and its deep expertise in IP based products, the company's smart grid vision is to be provider of intelligent, transparent communication between the power producers, the transmission substation, the distribution substation, the residential complex, and the commercial buildings. Through its  Smart Grid ecosystem it plans to develop smart grid technologies and standards by collaborating with the  smart grid stakeholders. It recently launched Smart Grid products Connected Grid Router (CGR 2010) and Connected Grid Switch (CGS 2520). It has strong presence in emerging country like India, China, and Brazil.

IBM nicknamed as the Big Blue is one of the largest technology company in the world. With almost 400,000 employees worldwide, it has revenue of $100 billion and operating presence in 200 countries. IBM through its "Smarter Planet" initiative is developing various innovative products and services to transform the important entities like transportation systems, water systems, cities, rail, traffic, food, buildings, computing, banking, education, and energy systems. Smart Grid is one of the major component of its Smart Planet initiative.  IBM is one of the top 10 Smart Grid companies leading the charge for advancement of this technology. It has setup Global Intelligent Utility Network Coalition (GIUNC) organization to collaborate with utilities of the world.  IBM is implementing smart grid project for Oncor, CenterPoint Energy, American Electric Power and Consumers, EDF of France and for Malta.

Echelon Corporation (NASDAQ: ELON) is leading the worldwide transformation of the electricity grid into a smart, communicating energy network, connecting utilities to their customers, enabling networking of everyday devices, and providing customers with energy aware homes and businesses that react to conditions on the grid. Echelon's NES System – the backbone for the smart grid – is used by utilities to replace existing stand-alone electricity meters with a network infrastructure that is open, inexpensive, reliable, and proven. The NES System helps utilities compete more effectively, reduce operating costs, provide expanded services and help energy users manage and reduce overall energy use. Echelon's LonWorks® Infrastructure products extend the smart grid, powering tens of millions of energy aware, everyday devices made by thousands of companies – connecting them to each other, to the electricity grid and to the Internet. LonWorks based products work together to monitor and save energy; lower costs; improve productivity; and enhance service, quality, safety, and convenience in utility, municipal, building, industrial, transportation, and home area networks.

Infosys, the third largest Indian IT services company is globally engaged with utility companies to meet their IT needs. It has partnered with Itron to provide Itron customers Advance Metering Infrastructure (AMI) and Meter Data Management Services. The company is also part of the Cisco Smart Grid ecosystems and will gain valuable knowledge and experience about Cisco Smart Grid products and related technology. Infosys , along with C-STEP co-developed report "Technology : Enabling Transformation of Power Distribution" for  Ministry of Power, India and is associated with India's Smart Grid Development Program.

Accenture : As One of the world's top 10 IT consulting firm, Accenture is at the fore-front of the Smart Grid transformation. In a consultative capacity it is collaborating with organization like World Economic Forum (WEF), Governments, and utility companies to develop road map for Smart Grid evolution. With more than 30 years experience of enabling utilities become higher performing businesses and with 7,500 utility industry professionals serving 300 clients in 43 countries, the company offers products and consulting and technology services in AMI, Intelligent Network Data Management, Home Area Network, Distributed Energy Integration, Demand Response, and network application and architecture for technologies like plug-in Electric Vehicle.

e- Meter is one of the leading Meter Data Management System (MDMS) provider company that is serving the utility industry since 1999. Headquartered in California, USA, the company is working with more than 20 utilities in USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand for their Smart Grid deployment projects. Through its leading product EnergyIP, which is open, scalable, and extensible software platform,  it provides an important linkage between AMR/AMI and other utility systems like Billing, Outage management systems, Customer portal, Deployment planning, and Asset management. The company was recently named as one of the top 10 Smart Grid company by GreenTech media. It has partnered  with companies like IBM, Accenture, Siemens, Trilliant, and Landys+Gyr and  is rapidly expanding in other emerging markets like India, Taiwan, and China.

Ecolibrium Energy is India's first Smart Grid startup company focusing on Demand - Response segment. Incubated by Center for Innovation, Incubation, and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) at Indian Institute of Management, Ahmadabad (IIMA) and supported by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), under Renewable Energy Search program, the company is rolling out its first pilot project in  Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat. Started by brother duo Chintan and Harit Soni, the company also focuses on other renewable areas like Bio-fuels and Carbon Advisory Services. The company is based in Ahmadabad, India.

KEMA is one of the leading authority in energy consultancy and testing & certification at global level. With 1600 plus employees, the company has presence in more than 20 countries across the globe. The company is engaged in almost all energy value chain with specialization in business & technical consultancy, operational support, measurement & inspection, and testing & certification. In Smart Grid domain, it has provided its services to various governments, organizations, and companies across the globe. Its notable Smart Grid activities involves partnering with US Department of Energy for Smart Grid and storage report, its CEO's chairmanship of EU Smart Grid Initiative, and report development on Smart Grid impact on Job Creation in US that is drafted in legislation. In India, KEMA is going to serve as knowledge partner to BESCOM (Bangalore Utility) for its Smart Grid project.

SIEMENS is one of the few companies in the world that provides integrated energy solutions to the entire energy value chain starting from generation and transmission to distribution. With 88,000 employees and € 25.5 billion revenue, Siemens Energy is planning to get engaged in almost all aspect of smart grid businesses. It plans to provides products and services in Smart Distribution,  Smart Consumption, Smart Metering, Efficient Network, and e-mobility segment. By 2014, the company plans to have order worth €6 billion from its present €1 billion from Smart Grid segment. Siemens has partnered with emerging startups e-meter, BPL Global, and Viridity for its Smart Grid offerings and is engaged in various Smart Grid pilots across the world.

Tridium is the global leader in open platforms, application software frameworks, automation infrastructure technology, energy management and device-to-enterprise integration solutions. Software frameworks from Tridium extend connectivity, integration and interoperability to the millions of devices deployed in the market today and empowers manufacturers to develop intelligent equipment systems and smart devices that enable collaboration and communication between the enterprise and edge assets. 

Schneider Electric is a leading organization in power generation, transmission and distribution. It boasts being the leader in Energy Management. It recently acquired the distribution branch of AREVA T&D, another French transmission and distribution Company, along with ALSTOM, a French major in Power Generation and Transport. This recent acquisition has given Schneider a good hold in the global distribution market and enhanced its Smart Grid Vision. It provides solution for power and energy management and has recently launched initiatives like Ecostruxure and MyEnergyUniversity. Ecostruxure, which is an intelligent energy management solution, helps save money and reduce waste by providing compatibility between power management and other essential components of the organization, its agile architecture well fits wider audience and thus saves up-to 30% power for the industries. MyEnergyUniversity provides free online courses on energy management, energy efficiency, smart grid, demand response, and energy audits. The Company has moved from Smarter homes to Wiser homes where it integrates smarter home solution with the multimedia infrastructure in the home. In India, Schneider Electric is headquartered in Gurgaon and has four manufacturing plants in Baroda, Hyderabad, Nasik and Chennai. In 2003, it established its first global R&D Center in Bangalore.

Mahindra Satyam is a leading global business and information technology services company that leverages deep industry and functional expertise, leading technology practices, and an advanced, global delivery model to help clients transform their highest-value business processes and improve their business performance. . Mahindra Satyam is part of the $12.5 billion Mahindra Group, a global federation of companies and one of the top 10 business houses based in India. The Group’s interests span automotive products, aviation, components, farm equipment, financial services, hospitality, information technology, logistics, real estate and retail. The IT major recently launched Smart Grid Customer Demo Center in collaboration with Schneider Electric to simulate various smart grid technologies.

Landys+Gyr is the leading provider for total metering solutions in the world with operating presences in more than 30 countries. With 5000+ employees, it provides products and services like Smart Meters, Gas Meters, AMI, Smart Grid, Communication Technology, Heat Meters, Personalized Energy Displays, and IT & MDM services. Based in Zug, Switzerland, the company with 300 million plus installed Smart Meter across the globe is the leader in Smart Meter deployment. In India, it has offices in Kolkata, Bangalore, and Noida. Recently Toshiba acquired Landys+Gyr for $2.3 billion making it one of the largest acquisition in Smart Grid domain

Power System Operation Corporation Limited (POSOCO) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL). It was formed in March 2010 to handle the power management functions of PGCIL. It is responsible to ensure the integrated operation of the Grid in a reliable,efficient and secure manner. The company is also implemeting various projects on Synchrophasors/WAMS in India. Synchrophasors/WAMS is the most essential part of Smart Grid in EHV grid. One pilot project is already operational at national load dispatch Center, New Delhi.

Kalkitech is a technology based company, which provides products, solutions, and services in the integrated domains of control, communication, and computing of energy industry. The company enables seamless integration of their customer's field, automation, and enterprise systems on standard based protocols & interfaces to optimized their operational systems. Kalkitech's optimization solutions are build around its own products and third party products, which when combined with its communication solutions compliment with each other in building a smart grid. The company's main products are SYNC and ELTRIX; Sync consists of suite of products that enables filed-to-enterprise communication for energy sector whereas ELTRIX is energy optimization solution and is one of the core offering of its optimization verticals. ELTRIX provides overall sustenance of energy eco systems through optimal decision within regulatory, environmental, and reliability constraints.