A year of development in 2008
For years, the Nordic countries have been pioneers of change towards smart metering and 2008 has been no different. For example, earlier this year the Danish utility TRE-FOR deployed a single integrated multi energy smart metering solution in a turnkey project, reducing infrastructure costs and increasing process efficiency. Two of Europe’s largest economies have followed the Nordic example; in France, ERDF announced the rollout of Europe’s largest smart meter pilot installation and in the UK, the government announced their co- funding of four smart meter pilot projects. In response to the rapid developments in our industry, Landis+Gyr have been at the forefront of these deals working closely with utilities to comply with EU directives.
The European Commission’s push towards a liberalised energy market, promoting an efficient use of energy, has open up our industry to more advanced technology for managing energy. Together with utilities and business partners we have been responding to market changes by providing advanced solutions based on open standards. This year we merged our group of companies, such as Ampy and Enermet, under the Landis+Gyr name; this allows us to offer our open standard solutions on a global level while serving local market needs due to our in-depth local experience.
As we enter 2009, we look forward to continuing our support for utilities as the market liberalises and working with our partners in developing smart metering based on open standards across Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Ad van der Meys
Executive Vice President EMEA