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FOCUS ON EUROPEAN UTILITY WEEK
EUROPEAN UTILITY WEEK
DELIVERS AGAIN!
on grid security than at any previous time.
‘Cyber and grid security is a massive issue
which we in the utility industry need
to manage correctly to avoid problems
further down the road. It’s not just security
which is important, but also privacy. Both
angles need to be considered. The system
is becoming more vulnerable, across more
points than ever before.
European Utility Week has announced that
the event will be moving to Vienna in 2015,
and this move has been met by excitement
by attendees at the event. Says Paddy
Young, Show Director for European Utility
Week: ‘The move is really simulated by
popular demand, and the response [to the
announcement] has been excellent.’
Young continues: ‘For three days
Amsterdam was the place to be for anyone
who’s anyone in the smart utility sector.
Ultimately, all involved agreed on the
importance of co-operation for future
energy innovation.
‘We would like to thank everyone who
contributed to the success of the show,
and hope to see them all next year in
Vienna!’ ‘There are a lot of storage pilots which are
turning into business cases, which is again
an improvement on two years ago, or even
on last year.’
‘Data, and everything you can do with
it becomes of greater interest and with
that data analytics – a crucial tool for grid
modernisation and effectively providing
the business case for that modernisation
to take place. The meter is obviously
important, but using the information
in the right way becomes even more
important. This will improve network
management and strengthens the utility
position. In this regard security issues will increase
over the upcoming years” – Brusse says that
they have more utilities attending sessions
‘Sensor development in medium voltage
networks will become prevalent, but on
low voltage networks, especially those
that are buried, there is a lot of information
on the status of that network that is not
currently available. Smart grid development
will focus more and more on low voltage
networks in order to monitor and manage
these efficiently.’
Brusse further told Metering & Smart
Energy International that the new event
location of Vienna ‘reflects the needs of the
market in terms of interesting regions, such
as Germany and Central/Eastern Europe.
There is a lot happening in Germany in
terms of renewable energy; and Eastern
European countries are putting efforts into
developing their grids and establishing best
practice models for smart metering and
smart grids.
‘The new Innovation Area has been very
successful and will expand next year,
providing a great opportunity for startup
companies to get involved and bring new
technologies to European Utility Week.’
Elisabeth Brusse, “General Manager at
Synergy, speaking about the programme
and trends in the industry, told Metering
& Smart Energy International: ‘We see an
increasing interest in the topics around
consumer engagement; consumers
will play a vital role in the smart energy
transition. ‘On the smart grid programme, it’s been
around data analytics, data management,
ICT infrastructure and renewable
integration – you can see this by the
fact that we have four sessions running
around the grid & renewable integration
– and this, of course, has a tie in with
storage. The interest in storage has
boomed in the last year, the programme
has been extended and we expect this
trend to continue.
An Orchestra of Utilities
4 - 6 November 2014, Amsterdam
44 METERING INTERNATIONAL ISSUE - 5 | 2014