Networked Energy Services Supports Innovative “Energy Bank” Initiative

San Jose, CA, December 3rd, 2020: Networked Energy Services Corporation (NES), a global smart grid solution provider with the industry’s leading Energy Applications Platform (EAP^TM), announced today its partnership with CIAC IT; its French Partner that is leading the VERTPOM® consortium (Véritable énERgie du Territoire POsitif et Modulaire).  VERTPOM® is being supported in France by the Environment and Energy Management Agency, ADEME.  

This exciting objective from VERTPOM® combines leading edge technologies from the energy industry, and research from leading universities, to create a positive energy territory in which consumption and generation are optimized and balanced dynamically. The participants in this consortium are CIAC IT, GAZELEC, University of Picardie JULES VERNE and the towns of Péronne and Saint Quentin. This solution, based on artificial intelligence (AI) and developed in France, interfaces with the NES smart meters. It includes the VERTPOM-BANK® decision support tool also called Energy Bank, which will direct production, distribution, and consumption of energy across the two territories and serve as a template for a wider deployment. The VERTPOM® infrastructure also anticipates other needs as it includes the management of gas, water and any available energy meter connected via dongles to NES electric meters. The outcome is to achieve “positive energy territories” – territories where consumption of energy is balanced with locally generated energy with a net-flow of energy back into the grid.

Energy networks need to become flexible, enabling agile brokers of energy to promote interactions between producers and consumers. The Energy Bank contributes to this by collecting data on electricity and other energy networks using sophisticated sensors, analyzing the network status and anticipating local production from renewables and energy storage. This solution also enables the development of energy management services. It provides information on energy consumption, optimizes consumption and intelligently interacts with the end-consumer. This enables the deployment of new services, contributes to the implementation and manages the control of new flexible technologies, provides information to end users and suppliers as well as any market player involved. Furthermore it ensures the safety and stability of the networks. 

NES is contributing to this exciting and pioneering project through its sophisticated AMI solution, which provides detailed information on the quality of energy received at the consumer, as well as their consumption of energy. Importantly, the NES smart meters will also be used to measure the generation of energy from within the grid and use this insight to drive the algorithms for demand response functions within the Energy Bank. It is the configurability and upgradeability of the NES meters that makes them ideal for VERTPOM® to tune the sensors and optimize the flow of grid information into the Energy Bank. Security of the meters is critical – with more services being dependent on the flow of enriched information across the grid. NES AES128 encryption and other security features, provided through its standard OSGP (Open Smart Grid Protocol) interface, is essential to protect the system from cyber-attack. 

"NES is proud to be part of this exciting innovative adventure in France that addresses key questions about the way in which any kind of energy will be produced, distributed and managed in the near-future”, said David Thomson, CEO of NES. "Our Patagonia EAP will be a key enabler in bringing information about consumption, local generation and supply quality into algorithms that aim to improve power efficiency, increase energy saving, integrate micro-generation and renewable energy, and improve distribution infrastructure." 

"NES AMI forms a solid foundation for VERTPOM® and VERTPOM-BANK® long-term goals being primarily developed with NES meters” explained Jean-Paul BORONAT, R&D Director, CIAC International Technologies.  “Today VERTPOM-BANK® is an independent DATA processing tool able to process any kind of data. The advanced functions NES smart meters provide and their remote configurability and upgradeability mean that CIAC IT has been able to develop algorithms within VERTPOM® faster and with lower overall cost. This promotes the spirit of innovation that is part of every initiative that the VERTPOM® project aims to achieve." 

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 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

About CIAC IT  
CIAC IT is a French software solution provider renown both in the IT and Energy business. CIAC IT is a late start up (created in 2010) totally involved in research and development (AI software) dedicated to a respectful use of energy and renewable energy. CIAC IT has been gathering awards for its research and achievements over the last years which only demonstrate the soundness of its global solution and involvement in the fight against climate Change. CIAC IT was a French delegate to the GCCS -SAN FRANCISCO September 2018. CIAC IT is a member of the OSGP Alliance as well as THINKSMARTGRIDS (gathering of utilities and start ups promoting smart networks worldwide and cooperating in European Research Program) and it includes other French and European awards with Pole MEDEE, AMIENS CLUSTER,  the Energy Start Up Tech Festival Berlin April 2019. 

While using its own software to develop sustainable, green and positive territories, enabling utilities to provide their customers a reliable, innovative, secured solution, protecting their systems from two major threats: cyberattacks and network damages and alterations (human or not), CIAC IT has been developing a software interface putting both its VERTPOM-BANK® IA software  and supervisor VERTOPEN® available for its partner NES and customers.