Benefits of smart energy

Smart energy benefits consumers, energy suppliers and the environment.

For the consumer, it’s about having better information. Once you see how much it costs to boil a kettle of water, it suddenly gets easier to measure out only the mugful that you need. And when you realise exactly how much that extra freezer in the garage is costing you, you may decide you don’t need it after all. Smart metering allows you to reduce not only cost but also your “carbon footprint”, something consumers are increasingly aware of.

For energy retailers, these benefits to the consumer mean improved customer relationships and retention, better offers, and more efficient operations. The smart energy approach also allows energy companies to modernise grids and their management, and decrease the need for future power plants and infrastructure.

While saving consumers and organisations money, smart energy approaches help the environment by reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

Capgemini’s approach

Meter operations management

Capgemini’s Smart Energy Services Platform is the only fully proven end-to-end solution that manages the entire smart meter life-cycle, from  deployment and operation through  to maintenance. Reflecting many years’ experience in both Europe and North America, Smart Energy Services Platform supports multiple communication protocols including GPRS and PLC, and can be integrated with multiple head-ends.

Smart solutions that work

Our Smart Energy Services practice offers a full range of smart technology services encompassing business transformation consulting, technology and managed business services to address smart metering, smart grid and the smart home.

Services include:

• Business case development, customer propositions and deployment planning
• Deploying smart meters to residential and small commercial customers
• Building the enabling communications infrastructure
• Developing and testing time-of use billing, and integrating it into existing business processes

We manage, and often execute, all necessary technological work including design, meter and network installation, and integration of new and existing systems.

Success stories

EDF, France

This programme involves the creation of real-time integration architecture for a large- scale data management system that will handle six million customers. It has adopted an SOA XML standards-based approach leveraging SPL/SAS/Siebel/BEA environment, while the architecture and integration framework are compliant with IEC TC57 WG14 and the proposed CIM framework.

Capgemini responsibilities include architecture, testing, training, and integration with SPL, Siebel, OMS, Lodestar, SCM and BEA. The team is currently developing an event management application to support multiple AMI network technologies and smart devices.

Hydro One, Canada

We have been supporting Hydro One’s demand response smart metering programme for 1.4m electric customers. Key activities included enabling demand response tariffs and automating meter reading. Capgemini and Hydro One have developed a smart metering technology roadmap to add advanced functionality enabling new retail services, home automation and smart grid capabilities.

The programme required integration of SmartSynch with legacy systems and Lodestar MDMS. Future architecture includes development of an event manager solution to manage multiple smart metering network solutions and intelligent distribution grid communication devices.

San Diego Gas & Electricity (SDG&E), U.S.

Capgemini is working with SDG&E to deploy 1.4m gas and electricity smart meters. We have put in a programme management office handling overall day-to-day management of the programme, as well as tracking schedule, budget, and benefits realisation. Other responsibilities include business integration, solution architecture, customer experience, operational services and deployment management, and organisational change management.