Itron’s IIoT and Samsung’s smart platform link for utility-scale DERMS

The US tech giant is linking its Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) network solution with the entertainment powerhouse’s SmartThings’ services to enable utilities a system of improved distributed energy resource management (DERMS), carbon reduction and consumer engagement.

The collaboration will combine Itron’s distributed intelligence (DI) ecosystem which, according to the company, features millions of connected endpoints, with the SmartThings Energy service to provide real-time energy readings and consumption patterns.

According to Samsung, SmartThings Energy recommends ways to be more energy efficient through monitoring and usage management across the consumers’ home.

The combined solution will bring together participating consumers’ real-time consumption data from their meter, behind the meter (BTM) assets and appliances within the SmartThings Energy service, aiming to give a comprehensive picture of energy consumption. 

Don Reeves, senior vice president of Outcomes at Itron, stated on the partnership: “Combining two industry leading platforms is a game changer for energy management. This collaboration will significantly accelerate consumers’ understanding of their energy use, combining information from smart energy devices such as Samsung appliances, electric vehicles, solar panels, heat pumps, thermostats and more.”

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Itron states how utilities will be able to enhance their demand response (DR) programs with AI Energy Saving mode combined with data from Itron’s IIoT solution to initiate DR events for participating consumers, reducing the energy load of their appliances. 

According to Itron, further benefits of the collaboration include: 

• Insights into consumption information from smart appliances;
• Energy efficiency, demand response and EV charging programmes for utilities to engage with, providing access to connected DI devices for enhanced distributed energy management;
• Access to energy consumption over time, enabling utilities to identify EV and solar customers for enrollment; 
• Itron, its utility partners and SmartThings can leverage the cloud-to-cloud integration to provide consumers with a secure way to authorize data access to DI application data, whole building consumption data and more. Consumers can also share data from their millions of connected devices with the utility or authorized third parties.

Chanwoo Park, EVP & head of IoT biz group, Samsung Electronics, stated how the collaboration will allow consumers to “make smarter decisions about their energy use,” while allowing utilities to inform customers on energy consumption and energy saving opportunities.

This announcement comes in as the role of DERMS and virtual power plants (VPPs) are being increasingly recognised as essential for the energy transition.

With the grid experiencing an influx of renewable energy sources, initiatives such as this can provide interesting space for congestion alleviation, allowing utilities to coordinate energy consumption without setback for the consumer involved.