New Echelon partnership targets China's smart-meter market

Energy control networking firm Echelon will work with Holley Metering Limited to develop advanced smart metering products for the massive China market.

Holley Metering expects to ship 10 million meters into China and international markets this year. Under its agreement with Echelon, the two companies will collaborate to develop products that meet the stringent requirements set by the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) and China Southern Power Grid Co. Ltd. (CSG).

“With a mandate to connect 300 million homes and businesses to the smart grid over the next five years, Chinese utilities will need to leverage the best the world has to offer,” said Ron Sege, President and CEO of Echelon.

“Utilities inside China and throughout the world are developing unique perspectives and capabilities for the smart grid and for energy management, and our partnership can bring these in one package to our all our customers,” added Jeffrey Guo, president of Holley Metering.

In China, utilities generally prefer to use the low voltage power line for “last-mile” smart-grid communication and control to maximize reliability, provide broadest capabilities and minimize deployment costs. Working together, Holley Metering and Echelon will design Echelon’s power-line smart transceivers into meter communications modules and adapt Echelon’s Control Operating System (COS) and control modules to the unique standards of the China marketplace.

The end result, according to both companies, is that utilities will be able to offer a richer set of services to their customers and extract more value from the grid.

Echelon and Holley Metering aim to develop and certify advanced smart metering products over the coming months, and plan to announce pilot programs with current Holley Metering customers early next year.