Smart Grid Leader Launches Industry Interoperability Group, Helping UK households to Unlock Potential Savings of £938M a year
Global smart grid communications leader, Trilliant, has recently launched an Interoperability Group, which unifies multiple home energy management devices within a single eco-system.
The formation of the Group provides utilities with a clear, low risk route to help consumers cut their energy bills by up to 10% – by installing smart meters.
The Interoperability Group is built around the Trilliant Communications Hub, which is the first generally available hub designed to support the initial deployment stage of smart meters and the first to address issues of multi-supplier and multi-device interoperability from the ground up. It is already being delivered through a partnership between Trilliant and one of the ‘big six’ UK utility companies.
The Communications Hub Interoperability Group is a robust alliance, providing a simpler, cost effective way for UK utilities to adopt smart metering and to expedite the benefits of money saving energy management technology to consumers. The benefits of deploying interoperable products will be manifold for utilities, government and consumers – lower development costs; introduction of consumer choice and less complex deployments.
Recent research commissioned by the European Smart Metering Industry Group found that UK households have the potential to achieve annual savings of £938 million a year by measuring and managing their electricity use using smart meters. The Government has identified smart meters as a key energy efficiency technology and is aiming for 52 million smart meters to be installed in 30 million homes and businesses in the UK between 2014 and 2019. One of the key barriers to this roll out is the technical complexity of the multiple energy management devices on the market. By unifying these manufacturers, Trilliant is aiming to limit the time and expense of separate standalone equipment roll-outs, and provide a simpler, more robust offering for utilities.
Jon Parr, Managing Director, EMEA, Trilliant, said:
“The Government has set an ambitious, but achievable, target for utilities to roll out smart meters in UK homes and businesses. The Interoperability Group helps utilities start the roll-out faster, with less risk, by offering them an environment where multiple energy management devices and technologies can securely and effectively talk to one another.”
The products brought to market through the Interoperability Group will cover a wide range of products, technologies and approaches, but are all oriented towards providing consumers with better information about their energy consumption, and empowering those consumers to make better decisions about energy use.
Eight industry players and in-home display providers have come together within Trilliant’s Interoperability Group, such as leading energy and water resource management solution provider, Itron, as well as Onzo a global leader in data and analytics for utilities, plus Chameleon, a manufacturer of smart meter in-home displays.
Joel Hagan, CEO, Onzo Ltd, said:
“Onzo is committed to providing products that empower consumers to take control of their energy, as well as meet the requirements of utilities and regulators. Onzo are delighted to be part of the Trilliant eco-system, which will create robust interoperability between different manufacturers, promoting innovation and customer choice, as well as significantly simplifying the complexities of the UK smart meter roll-out.”
Mike Woodhall, Managing Director, Chameleon, said:
“The next two years is a critical period in the run-up to the mandated mass roll out of smart meters. By joining the Interoperability Group, Chameleon is playing its part in the simplification of technologies deployed in the marketplace. Interoperability is crucial to the positive engagement of customers. This, in turn, is vital to a successful roll out for the whole country. Through collaboration with other manufacturers on the open Trilliant platform we can help to bring immediate value to utilities and their customers.”
