Echelon Partner ELO First in Brazil to Receive Government Inmetro Approval to Sell Portfolio of Smart Meters
Echelon Corporation’s (NASDAQ: ELON) partner, ELO Sistemas Eletronicos (ELO), the leading supplier of digital electricity meters in Brazil with 40 percent market share, is the first meter manufacturer in Brazil to receive approval from the National Institute of Metrology, Quality and Technology (Inmetro) agency, for its complete product portfolio -- including single phase, poly phase and current transformer meters -- that conform to the stringent Brazilian market standards. This certification is required to sell smart meters in Brazil. Echelon is providing smart metering sub-systems to ELO including power line control and communication technology and embedded firmware for smart meters. In conjunction with Echelon’s Control Operating System (COS)-powered control nodes and datacenter-based system software, ELO is providing a proven, open-standard and multi-application control network solution customized for the Brazilian market. The rapid Brazilian market growth coupled with the requirement for near real time performance, feature breadth and reliability make the Echelon solution a perfect fit.
“The Brazilian market is not only very large, but it is also very forward thinking, as evidenced by its vision and leadership in modernizing the smart grid, said Marcos Rizzo, ELO's vice president of business development. “2011 has been an important year for ELO, transitioning from development to preparation to support the roll-outs in 2012. Based on our experience of deploying utility-grade solutions to the leading energy suppliers in Latin America, we believe that basing our smart grid product line on Echelon technology and the industry standard Open Smart Grid Protocol (OSGP), uniquely delivers improved quality of service, reduces peak demand and operational costs, and protects revenue for our customers.”
“Brazil is the clear regional leader in South America in terms of its market size, development of a smart meter regulatory framework and attractive market conditions. Brazil will be the first country in South America to begin large-scale deployments and will pave the way for other countries in the region to follow,” according to Ben Gardner, President of research firm Northeast Group, LLC. “The benefit case driving smart meter deployments in Brazil includes the reduction of non-technical losses (theft) and improved reliability to help keep the country on track to achieve GDP growth of 4% or more in the medium term.”
“Congratulations to ELO for reaching this significant milestone,” said Michael Anderson, senior vice president for utility sales and market development at Echelon. “Echelon’s proven, open-standard, and multi-application energy control networking technology combined with ELO’s market leadership position and first-mover advantage ensures ELO is well positioned for success in one of the most vibrant and fast growing markets on the globe today.”