Italy’s smart grid advances through partner cooperation

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Digital smart meters have been compulsory for all electricity providers since 2006. The government’s timetable is for 95% of customers of the approximately 100 electricity companies to be on smart meters by 2011.

The electricity provider Enel operates the world’s largest smart meter deployment, covering about 85% of the country. The company has been able to lower the costs of servicing customers from Euro80 in 2001 to Euro50 in 2008.

The Euro2.5 billion thus far spent in provisioning its 32 million customers with smart meters provides annual cost savings of some Euro500 million − an extraordinary return on investment within five years. Enel also provides a mobile connection to meters as part of its smart grid.

Enel has now partnered with Telecom Italia, Electrolux, and Indesit to launch the ‘Energy@Home’ initiative, a system which enables smart appliances to manage themselves by adjusting households’ power consumption. It also sends users consumption data directly to their computer, mobile phone or the appliance itself. For the trial, which is scheduled to end in 2010, Enel will provide remote meter management systems and applications (allowing the appliances to communicate with the users’ computers and mobile phones) while the telecoms side is channelled through Telecom Italia’s fixed and mobile broadband networks via the Alice home gateway. Electrolux and Indesit provide the smart appliances and applications which regulate consumption.

This cooperation is intended to create an eco-system for the Italian consumer market, whereby appliances are automatically switched on to the electricity and telecoms networks and can thereby run both when required and also – optimally – when power demand and prices are favourable.

For more information of smart meter developments, see:

• Global - Smart Grids - Energy & Environmental Issues

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• Smart Grids - Global Overview & Activities

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• Global - Utilities Broadband - Trends & Analyses

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• Europe - Smart Grid Developments - 2009

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