"Time to get moving" on smart grids, warns tech chief

Government and industry have been warned "it's time to get moving" on the roll-out of smart grids and smart meters ahead of a "big year" for the technology.

The UK is aiming to install 53 million smart meters by the end of 2019, a process set to get underway next year. But Eric Dresselhuys, executive vice president at US smart grid technology firm Silver Spring Networks, told BusinessGreen delays were not an option if the country wants to ensure the huge amounts of renewable energy generation scheduled to be built during this decade are able to connect to the grid.

"We're probably not going to see huge deployment in 2012, but it's really important to prepare for 2013," he said in a phone interview. "2017 sounds a long way away, but five years is nothing in the context of these projects.

"The projects being talked about now are part of a broader smart grid vision. It's a big investment, so people want to get it right and build a platform for years to come. [But] now it's time to get moving."

Silver Spring signed a partnership deal with Cable and Wireless in August to accelerate the delivery of smart grid and smart metering technologies in the UK.

Together, the companies landed a contract to provide the networking and control platforms for the Eco Island project, which aims to make the Isle of Wight energy self-sufficient using entirely renewable sources by 2020.

It is an idea that echoes the Maui smart grid launched in Hawaii, which Dresselhuys cheerily admits could prove a more popular choice for relocating executives. "Judging by the amount of hands that went up in the room when we were looking for volunteers, I believe the weather may be slightly better," he said.

Silver Spring reckons the successful launch of renewable powered smart grid networks on relatively small islands could provide a useful test bed for the rest of the world.

"These leading edge projects work out the kinks and work out the path for how the technology will operate on a bigger island," Dresselhuys said. "This could be the UK, it could be Australia or North America. We're all islands in some respect."

The other advantage of installing the technology is that it can show people both the benefits of smart grids and what they actually entail - a concept that the industry has identified as a real barrier to take-up.

"The joke is that if you ask 10 people what a smart grid is you get 10 answers," Dresselhuys said. "'Smart grid' is a pretty broad and comprehensive idea and it might mean different things in the UK and India, for example.

"If I explain it in the abstract people might just glaze over, but if you see something [in practice] it can help people understand."

Silver Spring installed its 10 millionth operation device during 2011 and if Dresselhuys seems unworried by the prospect of clocking up another 350,000 air miles this year, it is because he feels the opportunity is there to be grasped.

"It's going to be an exciting year in smart grids and smart energy in general - there are a lot of projects at point of scale," he said. "The other thing that's really exciting is the value creation. This isn't the end game, this is the ramping up."