Energy Assets Launches Dynamic Load Switching within Multi-Utility Control Platform

Energy Assets, the UK’s leading independent industrial and commercial (I&C) metering business, has launched a multi-utility platform that combines energy data collection and analysis with the ability to control electrical loads remotely and on-demand.

The company’s new ‘MU+C’ (Multi-Utility + Control) system will transform the ability of I&C organisations to monitor, manage and actively control energy consumption.

In what is a UK first, not only will I&C users now be able to aggregate and analyse data through a single Automated Meter Reading (AMR) platform covering gas, power and water, they’ll also be able to switch electrical loads using the Energy Assets’ Z-LYNK system.

“Private and public sector organisations have long been able to collect and analyse consumption data – but what’s been missing until now has been a dynamic and easy means of controlling electrical loads remotely and instantaneously,” says Kenny Cameron, Director of Strategic Development at Energy Assets Group plc.

“Through MU+C, this is about to change. Now, I&C energy users – from manufacturers and retailers to hospitals and local authorities – will not only be able to see their consumption data and analyse it, they’ll also be to control it more effectively than ever before through remote load switching, either to a schedule or on-demand. This takes control over energy consumption, carbon reduction and cost to a new level.”

The Energy Assets MU+C package includes:

• Metering installation & data collection covering gas, power and water services, using advanced and smart gas, power and water meters transmitting half-hourly consumption data.
• Data aggregation and analysis via Energy Assets’ AMR portal, enabling managers to analyse consumption profiles, create bespoke ‘best/worst’ site reports and set alarms for performance exceptions covering all utilities.
• Utility control via the company’s Z-LYNK system, providing energy users with the ability to manage electrical loads on demand by sending command signals over the electricity network, from 11KV right down to individual 13 amp sockets – and all via a browser or App interface.

This new multi-utility approach to energy data and control has been possible by Energy Assets’ acquisition of power metering business Bglobal Metering and a commercial partnership established with Zenner, Germany’s third largest independent manufacturer of meters and data systems for hot and cold water and heat.

“The MU+C proposition is based on knowing what you use…and then controlling it,” says Kenny Cameron. “Energy managers can now seize control of local loads linked to water, lighting, heating, ventilation, and any other equipment. We’ve estimated that in some cases, this could lead to energy savings in buildings of around 30% per annum.”

1 Energy Assets’ Z-LYNK control systems

Z-LYNK works by broadcasting short messages over the 11KV or415V power distribution network, or at a very local level via the mobile phone network on GPRS, or through an Ethernet connection.

For 11KV sites, a high power transmitter sends command data over existing power lines to an unlimited number of receivers located within devices to be controlled. On a 415V network, a low power transmitter (LPT) installed on the incoming supply enables I&C users to control every downstream appliance, right down to each 13A socket, via hard-wired receivers. The key feature of the LPT is that on a medium to large site it delivers automated site switching using existing cabling – wherever the power goes, so can the command signal.

On smaller sites, the same effect can be achieved by sending control signals via either the mobile phone network on GPRS or through an Ethernet connection, using a LYNKswitch device to control up to four local loads. This enables energy managers to exercise control, for example, over common area heaters, kitchens, internal lighting etc remotely, either at set times, by associating them with sensors, or instantaneously ‘on-demand’. This eliminates situations where appliances or lighting systems are consuming power unnecessarily.

2 About Energy Assets Group plc

Energy Assets provides metering and related services in the I&C segment of the UK utility market and is the largest independent provider of I&C gas metering services in the UK*. The Group offers utility suppliers and end-user consumers of energy a broad spectrum of metering services from the provision and management of new and replacement meters through its MAM Services division to the procurement and project management of related infrastructure works, the collection and provision of consumption data through the Group’s Siteworks and AMR divisions, and the control of electrical loads through its Z-LYNK system.