Alcatel-Lucent and China’s SGIT to offer joint smart grid solutions

The two companies are teaming up to help utilities more effectively manage peak electricity demand, identify opportunities for power savings and cut down on energy usage.

Alcatel-Lucent and China’s State Grid Information & Telecommunication Company Ltd are teaming up to help utilities more effectively manage peak electricity demand, identify opportunities for power savings and cut down on energy usage. The two companies will do this by increasing the intelligence in utilities’ power distribution systems, or ‘smart grids’, which allow the continuous measurement, monitoring, control and adjustment of power distribution.

Alcatel-Lucent, a leading provider of telecommunications technology with a long history of delivering to the utility market, and SGIT, a subsidiary of SGCC, or the State Grid Corporation of China, will address some of the biggest challenges related to smart grids - accessing data used to track energy usage from the plethora of devices including smart meters, analysing that data and delivering that information to the utility. This information can then be used by utility companies to monitor and control peak and off-peak demand and more effectively manage delivery during those times, which can help cut costs and reduce outages and waste.

These solutions will also provide the customers of utility companies with access to reliable power distribution as well as information on their own power usage, allowing them to make educated decisions about their power consumption, for example changing their normal usage patterns to take advantage of lower pricing structures at off-peak times.

Kamal Ballout, Vice President, Global Energy Systems Integration Division, Alcatel-Lucent, said: “With power consumption rising across the globe, reducing carbon footprint and costs are a priority for everyone. In combining SGIT’s expertise in the realm of smart grid information systems development and power line technology and Alcatel-Lucent’s experience building large-scale, intelligent communications networks, we are in a stronger position to understand and address the fast growing energy demands in the Chinese markets, while helping all of our customers around the globe operate more sustainably. Together we are able to bring tools to both businesses and individuals that will help them manage and control their energy usage and costs.”

Alcatel-Lucent is bringing communications technology to the smart grid allowing customers to make energy choices—in real time, online, from anywhere—empowering them to save energy and money every day. All while helping support their mission-critical operations with uncompromised reliability and security. Alcatel-Lucent is running more than 80 mission critical networks and smart grid transformations worldwide. And with our new Bell Labs innovation - advanced analytical techniques and tools, utilities can mine the wealth of information from smart meters, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition systems and other data to provide the utility with the ability to measure, monitor and control their electricity distribution network in real time with unprecedented levels of detail.

Smart grid technologies from Alcatel-Lucent help reduce the total amount of electricity needed to meet overall demand and improves the reliability and quality of power available to society. The result is cleaner air, better power and more possibilities for economic growth to society in general. The cleanest megawatt of electricity is the one not produced at all and Alcatel-Lucent’s work in smart grid is a natural progression from our own commitment to reduce the carbon footprint from our operations by 50% by 2020.