LONDON, October 30, 2008 -- GE Energy announced today that EDF Energy Networks is installing GE’s power distribution management software system to help manage EDF’s London electricity distribution network. The new distribution system completes the final phase in EDF’s integration strategy that will benefit eight million customers in the United Kingdom.
Since privatization and regulation of the electricity networks in the United Kingdom 18 years ago, distribution network operators have delivered significant improvements in reliability, supported by new distribution management systems.
The software will enable EDF Energy Networks to maintain a reliable supply of electricity by helping to identify the location of faults and reroute power to minimize the impact on customers when faults do occur. The integration also will ensure that call handling, fault management and control of the company’s electricity networks in London, the southeast and east of England will be managed by the same system. GE’s management system will help EDF restore electricity supplies that sometimes can be reconnected before crews are sent.
Bob Gilligan, vice president of GE Energy’s transmission and distribution business, said, “GE Energy is pleased to support EDF Energy Networks’ integration strategy so the company can continue to provide customers across London with a reliable supply of electricity.”
“At GE Energy we believe this system will support the U.K.’s expansion of renewable energy for the benefit of the environment because this technology facilitates the effective deployment of renewable energy,” Gilligan added.
Traditionally, electricity has flowed one way, from a power station to the customer. However, as more renewable energy is generated by alternative sources, power will be entering the network from multiple locations. GE Energy’s system may eventually provide EDF with live information about the network to help manage the distribution of renewable energy.
GE Energy believes the system can help the United Kingdom meet its goal to reduce the use of fossil fuels that generate greenhouse gases linked to climate change. The U.K. government aims to generate 15 percent of the country’s energy from renewable sources by 2020 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent of 1990 levels by 2050.
EDF Energy Networks is one of the United Kingdom’s largest energy companies and provides power to a quarter of the United Kingdom’s population via its electricity distribution networks in London, the southeast and the east of England. The company is a core part of EDF Group, one of Europe’s largest power companies.
The distribution management system deployed by EDF is one of several solutions in GE’s smart grid portfolio. The efficiency gains achieved by upgrading to a smarter grid from a conventional one would be akin to switching from a typewriter to a word processor. The smart grid is a banner for many products, including hardware, like smart meters and capacitors, and software, like geospatial information systems, distribution management systems and demand-side response. The smart grid is not “one” product, but rather a solution suite of products and software technologies improving the grid’s overall performance.
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