Networked Energy Services Successfully Completes OSGP Smart Grid Project in Albania

San Jose, CA, May 6, 2020: Networked Energy Services Corporation (NES), a global smart grid solution provider with the industry’s leading Energy Applications Platform (EAP^TM), is delighted to announce the successful completion of the deployment phase of its smart grid project with OSHEE (Electricity Power Distribution System Operator) in Tirana, Albania. The previously announced project with OSHEE, provides for “investments in the balance metering system and re-construction of ABC cable network”, as per Buletini Nr. 9 dated 04 March 2019, Agjencia e Prokurimit Publik.

The project included OSGP (Open Smart Grid Protocol) compliant smart meters for residential, business and light industry consumers in Tirana, in conjunction with OSHEE’s ongoing project to renew its distribution cable infrastructure. NES delivered its smart metering solution, its smart meter operational support system, Grid Operations, and its analytics solutions, Grid Navigator and Grid Flow. The smart grid solution was deployed in cooperation with NES partner, ACI, an established energy services and infrastructure provider in Albania and supplier to OSHEE, who provided the installation services for the NES technology and the ABC cable network.

The successful results of the project include:

• High SLAs Achieved – NES is delivering very high SLA levels for performance and availability of metering and operational data in all locations including some anticipated challenging low voltage grid environments.
• Automated Grid Operations – NES provided software that enables OSHEE to attain a robust and secure “meter to cash” process and efficient use of back-office technical operations teams. The software allows OSHEE to obtain more information about operational issues and identify actions at the back-end that reduces the number of truck rolls and the amount of time field-force needs to address network problems.
• Theft Detection – Based on information delivered by the NES System, OSHEE is able to identify fraud actions that reduce revenue, and to initiate corrective activities that address these situations.  
• Improved Low Voltage Grid Visibility - The NES solution included Grid Navigator and Grid Flow applications that are enabling OSHEE to discover its low-voltage grid topology as well as power flow models for each phase of the grid. It also allows OSHEE to operate more efficiently the distribution network, including checking transformer utilization, identifying losses, and detecting and alarming on phase imbalances within the low-voltage grid.
• Identified Capacitive Energy – The NES System allows OSHEE to identify changes of municipal customer demand caused by using devices that are generating capacitive energy, such as electronic converters / transformers, UPS equipment in server rooms, and LED Lighting. Previously these sources were not known and were treated as an export into the network that decreases an energy consumption bill.

“OSHEE is focusing on business efficiency and customer service, and this project aligns with our strategy”, says Adrian Cela, CEO of OSHEE. “We were very pleased with the results of this initial smart metering project with NES. We see smart meter solutions as a means to not only improve revenue collection, but also to improve energy efficiency, operational efficiency, optimize capital spending, and improve the quality of supply to our customers.”

“The excellent results from the project provide additional evidence of the detailed information and high value that the NES System is able to deliver to utilities and their customers”, says David Thomson, NES President and CEO. “OSHEE was a tremendous partner during this project. We were honoured that OSHEE selected us for the project and we look forward to continue demonstrating and delivering the advantages of our NES System, and help validate OSHEE’s business case for deploying smart grid solutions throughout Albania”.

“This project illustrates how NES smart meters and Patagonia EAP applications can bring increased visibility of how customers use energy, including changes in consumption pattern, and allows OSHEE to optimize how they bill for energy and tune their network, as well as reduce costs of field inspections at consumer locations”, said Petraq Shomo, CEO, ACI. “In addition, we continue to be enthusiastic about the possibilities of our partnership with NES, who is also offering their Professional Services to support OSHEE by provide training, optimizing installations, supporting implementation of equipment and software, and general project consultation services.”

About Networked Energy Services Corporation (NES)
Networked Energy Services Corporation is a global smart energy leader in the worldwide transformation of the electricity grid into an energy control network, enabling utilities to provide their customers with a more efficient and reliable service, to protect their systems from current and emerging cybersecurity threats, and to offer innovative new services that enable active, intelligent use of energy. NES was formed as a result of the spinoff of Echelon Corporation’s Grid Modernization Division in October 2014. NES is headquartered in the US with R&D centers located in Silicon Valley, North Dakota and Poland, and sales offices throughout the world. NES’ smart grid technology is used in nearly 40 million smart meters and other smart end devices around the world. NES is a member of the OSGP Alliance, a global association of utilities and smart grid companies, which promotes the Open Smart Grid Protocol and cooperates to provide utilities greater value by enabling true, independently-certified, multi-vendor interoperability based upon open international specifications and standards.  You can find out more information about NES, its Patagonia Energy Applications Platform^TM (including grid management software, distributed control nodes, and smart meters) and services at: www.networkedenergy.com.