Tuesday, 30 June 2009 16:03
Image: www.freefoto.com
‘Google' and ‘energy-saving' are not often associated with each other. Google does, however, have an interest in green energy technologies and energy savings. Last week, at the industry-leading Next Generation Utilities Summit, over 50 European Utility came together in Portugal. Google presented to them its new device, the Google ‘PowerMeter'.
Obviously, utilities have an enormous impact on the world's energy system and carbon emissions. They are a logical place to start energy savings initiatives. Saving money and reducing global energy consumption are often-quoted benefits of increased energy efficiency, but it is notoriously difficult for the average consumer to find information about how to save energy. This information barrier seems an important explanation for why certain efficiency measures are not taken up rapidly, despite their financial attractiveness. Energy bills give little information on which energy price the consumer actually faces at the margin, and how to save power. Jens Redmer, Google's director of Business Development for Europe discussed at the summit why the PowerMeter can help the consumer in making the right decisions on their energy consumption.
The PowerMeter provides customers with data on their personal electricity consumption, of course - as might be expected from Google - online on the consumer's iGoogle homepage. The PowerMeter receives information from smart meters and energy management devices, then calculates a customer's energy consumption, and finally allows each customer to see what appliances use the most energy and where they could easily cut back.
The tool is still in the testing phase. Pilot programs are running in the US, India & Canada, and the plan is to expand later this year. For obvious reasons, the NGU summit was the perfect place to introduce it to the European market. Redmer's presentation certainly inspired some of the utilities' CEOs, including João Torres, President of EDP Distribuição, Frank Borchardt, Head of Smart Metering at E.ON, Corne Meeuwis, CEO of CASC-CWE, Odd Håkon Holsæter, Chairmanof Nordpool and CEO of Statnett Norway, and Inge Pierre, Head of European Affairs at Svenskenergi. The PowerMeter helped the utility leaders to get started on a discussion about new ways to manage energy supply and distribution with technology leaders from Siemens, Oracle, Alcatel - Lucent, SAP and Navita.
It is not possible for one company to make the transition by itself. Many different companies will need to cooperate in order create a "path to smarter power". The NGU Summit was certainly an important step to engage the industry's figureheads and have fruitful discussions and collaborations. The next NGU summit will be in February 2010.
