Utility Week - authoritative, impartial and essential reading for senior people within utilities, regulators and government
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/686319
UTILITY WEEK | 3RD - 9TH JUNE 2016 | 9 Sponsored Report: Internet of Things ing some changes, such as demand-side response in the industrial and commercial sector, with customers helping to balance demand in exchange for savings on their energy bills – and you clearly need con- nected devices to do that." Bill Wilkins, CTO at independent gas and electricity supplier First Utility agrees, pointing to the Nest-style Cosy smart home heating controller that First Energy ships to customers electing one of its Three-year energy contracts, such as its iControl Fixed September 2018 tariff. Designed to work with the standard British Gas combi boiler, the Cosy unit links to consumers' home routers, and enables them to control their heating via a smartphone, tablet or desktop computer. "For us, it's about using the IoT as a dif- ferentiator, helping customers to reduce their energy bills and making us a more attractive supplier to them, as well as open- ing up the door to opportunities to sell other products and services," he observes. "We're no longer just a provider of a com- modity product – we're offering conveni- ence and comfort at a lower price point." But if it's home energy management IoT devices that are currently dominating con- sumer attention and energy supply inter- ests, observers from the network world are also keen to see what IoT deployment can achieve for their businesses. First, as with Western Power's FAL- CON project, IoT devices can be deployed within utilities' own operations and grids – not just within a network management context, but also in support of utilities' growing digitisation agendas. And sec- ond, at the connection points to utili- ties' business and industrial customers, as they use IoT-based devices for energy management and cost optimisation. Within utilities' own grid operations, for instance, an IoT-leveraged network isn't simply one that offers new net- work management capabilities, but is also one that actually changes the net- work management paradigm, says Ste- phen Goodman, Cisco, CTO – Industry & Infrastructure. "Most network operators face the chal- lenges of an ageing workforce, and a work- force that's also increasingly difficult to recruit skilled engineers into," he points out. "IoT-enhanced automation delivers a remote management and monitoring capability that sharply reduces the skill requirement and labour intensity of network management – it's 'go to a substation, plug in a box, and remote management performs all the configuration'." Likewise, IoT technology is seen as a way for utilities to further their growing digiti- sation aspirations, enabling them to build richer, data-informed relationships with customers – especially with the mass of ordi- nary retail consumers. "The prize on offer with Internet of Things is data: data streaming in from smart appli- ances, thermostats and the outer fringes of utility networks, giving utilities a much clearer understanding of consumers' usage patterns," says Eric Woods, research direc- tor at utility and energy specialists Navigant Research. "If digitisation is about improving the flow and analysis of data, then the Inter- net of Things is about getting that data from a much more diverse range of sources." Among business customers, meanwhile, observers are expecting Europe's Energy Efficiency Directive 2012/27/EU (also known as 'Article 8') – with which large businesses have had to comply since last December – to drive IoT adoption rates. "The impact of the Energy Efficiency Directive and ISO 50001 is prompting busi- nesses to look at their building management and industrial processes in order to improve their energy efficiency," says Matt Freeman, head of operational excellence at DNV-GL Energy, a provider of certification and tech- nical advisory services to the utility indus- try. "As with consumers and smart home management, there's a growing openness to Combined forces To utility executives, it's the big unmentionable – at least in a public context. But speak to them privately, it's another matter altogether. A lthough security is o touted as a priority, it's very rare for cyber security to be highlighted in press or as a focal point at events. But in the one-to-one conversations that we have with utility executives, it's clearly one of the top three concerns, alongside aging infrastructure, and workforce skills gaps. And there's a relationship between all three: utilities possess assets that have been in place for 15 or 20 years, and which are getting more difficult to maintain, and IoT devices help transition those assets to a remote soware- defined world where many of the management and maintenance problems become addressable – if, that is, those devices can be deployed securely. It's a view shared by John Reno, Cisco, IoT Product & Solutions Marketing, who points to the competing priorities that utilities' IT and engineering teams juggle. "On the one hand, they need to demonstrate cyber security compliance, with either internal mandates or standards such as NERC- CIP 5 – and on the other hand, increased pressure to be more efficient is prompting an acceleration of IoT deployment. So the quandary is this: how to make that IoT spend as effective as possible, while also maintaining security?" And by joining forces, Cisco and Intel reckon to have simplified the neces- sary decision-making. Each a leader in their own infor- mation technology sectors, and each noted for placing a demanding emphasis on cyber security provisions, they are each also trusted technology providers when connecting previously unconnected devices to deliver more effective busi- ness outcomes. "Together, we think that we're uniquely positioned to build and accelerate value in the IoT market through trust, innovation, and scale – contributing IoT technology expertise from the edge of the network to the cloud," says John Reno. As utility companies look to increased grid reliability, cut operating costs, and drive their digitisation agendas, Cisco IoT and network security products together with end-to-end Intel security solutions meet NERC-CIP 5 standards with ease. "Together, we think that we're uniquely positioned to build and accelerate value in the IoT market through trust, innovation, and scale – contributing IoT technology expertise from the edge of the network to the cloud." JOHN RENO, CISCO, IOT PRODUCT & SOLUTIONS MARKETING Utility Week in association with