Project Mercury kicks off to develop ‘Bluetooth’ for low carbon tech
Devrim Celal, Chief Marketing and Flexibility Officer, Kraken. Image: Kraken
The project Mercury consortium under the management of EPRI has been launched to accelerate the integration of low-carbon technology into the smart grid.
The project, conceived by Kraken drawing on inspiration from Ericsson’s role in the development of the Bluetooth connectivity standards, aims to establish guidelines and best practices for low carbon devices to work seamlessly with the grid.
Such technologies include EV chargers, heat pumps, solar panels, smart thermostats and residential batteries.
The project also focuses on enabling utilities to leverage these technologies to make grids more resilient and efficient to operate and thereby drive forward the energy transition.
Have you read?
Project Mercury to set standards for smart energy device integration
From cyber and fintech to the beating heart of the energy transition
Why Kraken’s success story is built on disruption
With interoperability across brands, consumer confidence also should be boosted in the energy transition.
“The ability for technologies to seamlessly integrate, effectively communicate and undertake tasks is critical for a modern energy system,” commented Arshad Mansoor, EPRI President and CEO.
“Developing best practices to better integrate cutting-edge technologies could help increase the use of low-carbon energy, build a more sustainable future, and accelerate the pace of net-zero emissions by mid-century.”
Devrim Celal, Chief Marketing and Flexibility Officer at Kraken, said the need for rapid electrification is urgent and requires the entire energy system to pull together in the same direction.
“That’s why we’re uniting partners across the sector to develop universal standards – like Bluetooth for low carbon tech – to accelerate electrification and together build a sustainable energy future.”
In 2023, consumers invested $184 billion in low-carbon technology. By 2030, more than 200 million such devices are expected to be purchased and will need to be integrated to the grid.
The Mercury consortium is comprised of over two dozen founding members from across the energy sector globally, with membership open to other interested organisations.
Utilities include AusGrid, Con Edison, CPS Energy, E.ON Next, EDF Energy, Elia Group, Essential Energy, New York Power Authority, Octopus Energy, Pacific Gas & Electric, PPL Corporation, Southern California Edison, Tokyo Gas and UK Power Networks.
The manufacturers are Easee, Enphase Energy, Hypervault, Ideal Heating, Mobilize (Renault Group), myenergi and Solis (Ginlong Technologies).
Technology providers include Amazon Web Services, gridX, Kraken, Lunar Energy, Oracle and SolarEdge.
Amir Orad, CEO of Kraken, said the calibre of partners joining the consortium underscores the importance of the mission ahead.
“This is a call to innovators globally – let’s work together to accelerate the energy transition. Technologies and smart devices already make our lives wonderful, let’s help them all talk to each other to do the same for our energy system to make it more available and affordable.”
