Jeff St. John 09 23 09, 10:46 AM

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GridWeek: Siemens Says Silver Spring Networks Works at Substations

Silver Spring Networks has successfully tested its ability to communicate with Siemens' substation automation gear. That could open up an "up-the-grid" space for the startup's wireless mesh communications, which are now being used mainly for smart meters.

The two announced Wednesday that they've successfully tested Silver Spring's IP-based mesh networks for controlling Siemens' SICAM substation automation unit.

Siemens is one of the giants in electricity grid substation gear, along with ABB – which, by the way, said in March that Silver Springs networking technology worked for some of its substation switching gear.

ABB also announced Wednesday that it has certified smart meter communications from Elster, Sensus, Itron and Trilliant and Wi-Fi provider Tropos as working with its substation automation gear (see Tropos: Wi-Fi For the Smart Grid).

Substations have been operating on older communications technologies like radios for decades, Wes Sylvester, director of distribution solutions and smart grid for Siemens Energy, said Tuesday at the GridWeek conference in Washington, D.C.

Giving them a more modern communications system that's integrated with other utility smart grid networks could make it a lot easier to control substations as part of an integrated system, he said.

Sylvester wouldn't say if the two companies were working with any specific utilities on their interoperating technologies. Rather, the announcement was meant to let utilities know they can "feel comfortable that as they move forward on new communication technologies, our products are compatible."

There are lots of other communications options to link substation automation gear, and not all of them have to be owned by the utility.

ABB uses a communications platform hosted by Qualcomm for some substation automation, for example, and Cooper Power Systems is working with AT&T (see Qualcomm's Machine-to-Machine Smart Grid Moves and AT&T Links Cooper Power Systems' Smart Grid Devices).

And then, Cisco Systems has said it wants to network distribution grids, though what communications technologies it would use for that remain open (see IBM, Cisco Look to Tie Up Smart Grid Partners).

Cisco's gear does serve as the underpinnings of a wireless network built by Arcadian Networks for Minnesota utility Great River Energy and a host of related electricity co-ops, which might provide one example.

Silver Spring's mesh network does sacrifice some bandwidth in exchange for lower cost, compared to, say, the WiMax-based system that General Electric is installing for Texas utility Centerpoint Energy (see GE Offers WiMax Smart Grid Solution).

But as Sylvester noted, for distribution automation that "doesn't require millisecond response, the solution that Silver Spring is providing would be just fine. It all really depends on what the utility is wanting."