Innovators in the field of smart metering were recognized during the 6th Annual Smart Energy UK & Europe 2015 (formerly known as the Smart Metering UK & Europe Summit), held in the luxurious ETC Venues at St. Paul’s London. A total of 11 awards were doled out: 8 for solution providers and 3 for the utility companies.
The European Smart Metering Awards are an initiative of Oliver Kinross aimed at recognising the achievements of solution providers and utilities. All award entries were assessed and judged upon by an independent panel of industry experts.
The winners, as chosen by 22 judges on the panel, are as follows:
- Netatmo (Network & Communications Award)
- Chameleon Technology (Home Energy Monitor Award)
- Green Energy Options (GEO) Smart Metering Technology of the Year Award
- Secure Meters (UK) Smart Meter Data Management & Solutions Award
- E.ON (Smart Metering Service Provider Award)
- Cyan Technology (Innovation of the Year Award)
- Endetec-Homerider Systems (Smart Water Metering Innovation of the Year Award)
- CyActive (Cyber Security Award)
- nPower - Neil Pennington (Roll out Innovation of the Year)
- British Gas (Customer Services Innovation Award)
- Scottish Power (Utility of the Year Award)
Following are the criteria the judges considered for the awards:
Network & Communications Award (Netatmo Thermostat). This Smart Thermostat looks to reduce the end-users annual spend and improve overall efficiency.
Home Energy Monitor Award. Judges picked Chameleon as the clear winner for their simplicity and user-friendly design, stating that the user experience was clearly at the heart of this product. This is the second year in a row Chameleon Technology took this award.
Smart Metering Technology of the Year Award. Judges recognized Green Energy Options (GEO) for their ability to combine philosophy and technology via customer engagement. This approach considers continuously evolving user opinions.
The Smart Meter Data Management & Solutions Award. Secure Meters (UK) cited for their continued developments to the overall management of data, which in turn enhances the end-user experience.
Smart Metering Service Provider Award E.ON won for their continued commitment to ensuring that their approach reflects the needs of their more vulnerable customers.
Innovation of the Year Award. Judges felt that Cyan Technology had contributed greatly to the formation of an Advanced Metering Infrastructure by being able to transmit data wirelessly to utilities.
Smart Water Metering Innovation of the Year Award. Endetec-Homerider Systems was recognized for itsinnovative and future-oriented (cloud based) metering technology.
Cyber Security Award. The judges were particularly impressed with the proactive nature of CyActive's solution, horizon scanning and predicting future malware threats, and pre-preparing defences against them.
Innovation of the Year (Utility). Recognition of an innovative nPower project whose goal was to establish a new strategic relationship with Nest, end-to-end business model, and introduce a new proposition to the UK market that will significantly change the relationship between customers and their energy use.
Customer Services Innovation Award. British Gas cited for the implementation of a customer experience that provides information needed at each stage of the journey, which has led to a significant increase in customers staying in for their appointments, further driving roll-out efficiencies.
Utility of the Year Award. Scottish Power was honored for their Accelerating Renewable Connections (ARC) project. The judges were impressed by their continued collaborative work with SSE on RPZ in Orkney and with UKPN on Flexible Plug and Play projects, respectively. The ARC project has built on this learning and applied it at Grid Supply Points, the interface of Transmission and Distribution networks – a first in the UK. Utilising the latest network information, updated every 24 hours, Scottish Power can provide renewable generation projects with the most accurate curtailment assessments. No other DNO can currently achieve this.
The 7th Annual Smart Energy UK & Europe 2016 summit will be on the 28th & 29th of January.
Nominations are now open for next years’ awards ceremony.