NES and RMS partnership offers a secure, multi-application utility metering and recovery service for property owners and Property Developers in South Africa
Networked Energy Services Corporation (NES), a global smart grid solution provider with the industry’s leading Energy Applications Platform (EAPTM), announced today with its partner, Remote Metering Solutions (RMS), that they completed the second phase associated with a three phase project for one of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) Top 40 Listed Companies. The initial phase of the project, which is the largest commercial smart meter roll-out in South Africa, commenced in 2017, and the third phase is expected to be completed before the end of this year.
The joint solution from NES and RMS leverages the award winning NES Smart Grid and Smart Metering System, along with RMS’ customized solution for its clients’ utility billing and recovery management requirements. The RMS intelligent technology removes the complexity out of measuring and validating the consumption of electricity, water or gas, from any metering point or device, at any or many locations, at any time interval. The solution securely and accurately distributes utility bills and utility usage information that makes it quick and easy for property owners, tenants and residents to reconcile and settle promptly. The RMS utility recovery service effectively and efficiently manages the entire collection process for its customers. Core to this service is the NES smart metering solution, which provides detailed usage and other detailed distribution information.
RMS, with its headquarters in Pretoria, South Africa, supplies dependable utility metering solutions to listed property funds, corporate clients, residential communities and municipalities. RMS aims to be at the forefront of innovation, technology and expertise, leveraging its partnership with NES, in order to lead the utility and revenue solutions industry in South Africa. A few years ago, RMS decided to build its business around OSGP (Open Smart Grid Protocol) based technologies including the NES Patagonia Energy Applications Platform. The Open Smart Grid Protocol (OSGP) is a family of specifications for implementing smart metering and smart grid applications. OSGP is the proven open protocol used by the NES Patagonia Energy Applications Platform, which provides >99.8% daily availability of metering data and offers extensive industry leading security features, such as automatically changing unique meter keys, intrusion detection for individual meters, and AES-128 encryption, which are designed to help protect, detect and respond to cybersecurity threats in an efficient and timely manner. About 60 international utilities are using OSGP for their smart metering technology.
NES has previously worked with a number of partners in the South Africa. However, recently, NES decided to recognize RMS for its exceptional market leadership and innovative solutions by selecting RMS as its Master VAR (Value Added Reseller) for all its products and solutions for the SADC (Southern African Development Community) region. NES chose Remote Metering Solutions (RMS), which is now the sole importer of NES products and services for the region, because of its compatible long-term strategy and proven success in the region.
“We are flattered about being selected for this project, which comprises a diversified property portfolio of more than R85 billion” said Hendrik Greyling, RMS CEO and Board Member of the OSGP Alliance. “By leveraging the joint solution from RMS and NES, the portfolio is able to meet the needs of its customers and exceed their project objectives. We look forward to building on this project’s successful results with other Property Owners in the region.”
“NES is impressed by the continued success that RMS has achieved,” said Mark Ossel, NES Vice-President Global Alliances and Strategic Partners. “SADEC is a growing region and we believe that our joint solution provides keys features, such as secure and reliable communications, accurate identification of losses, and a future-proof architecture, which will ensure success in the region. We would also like to congratulate RMS on recently celebrating its 13th anniversary as a proven provider in the utility management sector.”
As part of the OSGP Alliance, NES and RMS will be showcasing their smart grid and smart metering solutions at African Utility Week (AUW) in Cape Town, South Africa from May 14th to 16th, in booth number F20.
About Networked Energy Services Corporation (NES)
Networked Energy Services Corporation is a global smart energy leader in the worldwide transformation of the electricity grid into an energy control network, enabling utilities to provide their customers with a more efficient and reliable service, to protect their systems from current and emerging cybersecurity threats, and to offer innovative new services that enable active, intelligent use of energy. NES was formed as a result of the spinoff of Echelon Corporation’s Grid Modernization Division in October 2014. NES is headquartered in the US with R&D centers located in Silicon Valley, North Dakota and Poland, and sales offices throughout the world. NES’ smart grid technology is used in nearly 40 million smart meters and other smart end devices around the world. NES is a member of the OSGP Alliance, a global association of utilities and smart grid companies, which promotes the Open Smart Grid Protocol and cooperates to provide utilities greater value by enabling true, independently-certified, multi-vendor interoperability based upon open international specifications and standards. You can find out more information about NES, its Patagonia Energy Applications PlatformTM (including grid management software, distributed control nodes, and smart meters) and services at: www.networkedenergy.com.