Shh ... quiet acquisition boosts S&C's smart-grid cred

Chicago-based S&C Electric Company is expanding its reach into the smart-grid market with the acquisition of a host of new grid opimisation solutions, including volt/VAR management software, intellectual property and development platforms.

While it didn’t provide further specifics on the acquisition, S&C said it had also added software developers and customer deployment and technical sales professionals to continue to develop, implement, and support its new smart-grid solutions.

According to S&C, the addition of volt/VAR management to its portfolio advances the company’s layered intelligence approach and provides proven features such as demand management and peak load shifting, both integral to maintaining grid stability and power reliability. Grid stability is of paramount importance to forward-thinking utilities, particularly as they integrate intermittent renewable energy sources such as wind or solar on to the grid.

The volt/VAR management solution further evolves S&C’s smart-grid portfolio, which includes self-healing technology through its IntelliTEAM SG Automatic Restoration System, dynamic communication systems and energy storage. According to S&C, the new offerings will help utility customers realise greater grid efficiency and energy savings through conservation voltage reduction.

“Utilities are challenged with maintaining grid stability and power reliability, while reducing overall energy usage and conforming to renewable portfolio targets,” said Mike Edmonds, S&C’s Global Smart Grid Strategies Director. “The addition of a mature volt/VAR solution with proven installations enhances our smart-grid offering, making it more flexible and scalable to meet diverse customer needs.”