For Immediate Release
CONTACT:
Lori Reslock
Vice President Global
Marketing
CURRENT Group,
LLC, USA
Phone: +1 301 944-2824
Cell: +1 518 637-2179
The World’s Fourth Largest Utility Iberdrola Selects Distribution Smart Grid
Provider CURRENT Group for Industry’s First Open and Interoperable
Smart Grid Deployment
Madrid, Spain, (April 27, 2010) – CURRENT Group, LLC, a leading provider of Smart Grid
solutions, announced today that it has been selected by Iberdrola, one of the four largest utilities
in the world, to provide smart metering communications, advanced sensing and network
management solutions as part of their first phase deployment of Smart Grid solutions in
Castellon, Spain.
The Iberdrola deployment represents the first and largest deployment of smart metering
technologies that demonstrate comprehensive end-to-end interoperability using the open PRIME
metering standard, for which over twenty companies are now members or have applied for
membership. Iberdrola plans to deploy an initial 100,000 meters and respective transformers
incorporating two-way medium voltage and cellular communications, grid supervision and
control, and meter collection infrastructure before expanding immediately to territory wide
deployments of smart meters in early 2011. CURRENT’s industry leading Smart Transformer
Station portfolio which encompasses solutions for communications, advanced sensing and meter
collection are a central component of enabling Iberdrola to meet their deployment goals.
“Iberdrola is changing the way metering systems are being selected and deployed by mandating
open standards and end-to-end interoperability instead of proprietary meter communications
solutions,” said Ray Gogel, President and COO of CURRENT Group. “Additionally, Iberdrola’s
recognition of transformer sensing and supervision solutions are leading the way towards a
comprehensive distribution smart grid approach in order to address the 20/20/20 by 2020 EU
initiatives. CURRENT has been working with Iberdrola for several years to create a Smart
Metering solution that avoids the trappings of existing proprietary metering systems by adhering
to a philosophy that multi-vendor, open standards are critical to the wide scale adoption of Smart
Grid solutions. We’re proud to be working with such a visionary partner in Iberdrola and to
provide solutions that will help them achieve their goals.”
In support of Iberdrola’s efforts, CURRENT will provide components of its industry leading
Smart Transformer Station platform comprised of infrastructure solutions for meter data
concentration and collection, transformer sensing and supervision, and communications with
network management. Combined, these solutions provide comprehensive support for smart
metering, distribution management and provide the platform for secure communications. The
Smart Transformer Station platform is a comprehensive Smart Grid solution specifically
designed for the European, Asian, and Australian markets and represents CURRENT’s extensive
experience in providing distribution grid communications and distribution management solutions
with the utility industry’s first open and interoperable smart metering data concentrator solution.
All of CURRENT’s Smart Transformer Station products are supported by CURRENT’s
OpenGrid™ back-office software suite that provides user specific insight into device, data,
event, and utility system information.
About CURRENT Group
CURRENT Group, LLC delivers innovative and industry-leading intelligent solutions that
optimize the distribution system and offer utilities new ways to monitor and manage the health of
the grid. Through CURRENT’s distributed sensing, monitoring, and analytical technologies,
utilities are better able to understand, predict and respond to system disturbances and faults,
identify where inefficiencies are, and enable the smartest possible sourcing and distribution of
power.
CURRENT’s state-of-the-art technologies are being implemented by utilities around the globe
and are being utilized in the largest and most advanced demonstration projects in the world.
CURRENT is engaged in European Union-sponsored projects in partnership with Iberdrola, the
world’s 4th largest electric utility, among others, to expand the use of Smart Grid technology in
the European Union. This year, CURRENT was selected for the second year in a row as one of
GoingGreen East’s Top 50 Private GreenTech companies. In 2009 alone, CURRENT was
honored by the World Economic Forum as a 2009 Technology Pioneer, selected by Venture Beat
as one of the World’s Top 10 Most Innovative Smart Grid companies, and selected by Dow
Jones as one of the Top 10 most Innovative Clean Technology companies in Europe.
CURRENT is a private company founded in 2000 that is backed by leading investors including
Liberty Associated Partners, EnerTech Capital, Google, Inc., and Goldman Sachs & Co.
CURRENT is headquartered outside of Washington, DC, with offices throughout the United
States and Switzerland and Singapore, and has representation in Australia, France and the United
Kingdom. For more information, visit http://www.currentgroup.com.
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