Elster, Enel and Panasonic are the winners of the 2010 European Utility Awards at the Metering, Billing/CRM Europe conference and exhibition in Vienna which were announced on Thursday, 23 September. Key companies involved with power in Europe were nominated for the European Utility Awards and were honoured for specific projects that merit special attention. Awards were given in the following categories:
Innovation Award : Elster Metering for the V210 polymer water meter
Elster has played a pioneering role in the innovation of polymer body water meters, with over a million installed worldwide. The V210 polymer water meter was developed to comply with the latest EU and other regional standards, such as UK WIS 4-32-19, and it is AMR compatible. With polymer body the V210 meter is about half the weight and has carbon footprint of a third of its brass body counterparts, and it is suitable for all installations including land that may be contaminated. Additionally, over 98% of the V210 polymer meter can be recycled into Grade 3 plastic products, according to Elster.
Business Performance Award : Enel Distribuzione
To exploit the data available on its more than 32 million smart meters Enel has implemented an advanced metering interface fully integrated with the MV telecontrol system (STAmi). With STAmi network operators are able to acquire, both in the office and in the field, real-time data from the smart meters, such as voltage interruptions and variations, energy consumption, load curves, available power threshold, etc. for network operations and management and business purposes. The STAmi assists in optimizing work force activities in the field, collecting service data for regulatory reporting, and improving customer satisfaction through more efficient and rapid feedback on network anomalies.
Customer Excellence Award : Panasonic
Panasonic is quite simply at the very forefront of the European move towards utilities providing energy consumers with customized, extensive, user friendly and attractive home energy management solutions. Through its partnership with SEAS-NVE, Panasonic solution aim to be the first extensive smart home offering to be rolled out by a utility in Europe. The energy industry urgently needs such pioneers to spearhead the way for others to follow. What really separates the Panasonic offering from others is the way in which it relates to the customer in an intuitive, non-technical, fun, aesthetic and customizable manner, moving beyond the industry's standard of graphs and numbers. The Panasonic approach brings functionality, practicality and appeal together.
