The city of Gothenburg (or Göteborg), Sweden, will soon form the world’s largest ZigBee network when it deploys the NURI AiMiR Advanced Meter-reading Management (AMM) System for its 270,000 homes.
Göteborg Energi AB has chosen the NURI AiMiR AMM System for its Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), making it the world’s first company to cover a whole city with a wireless ZigBee infrastructure for the metering services of tomorrow. This deployment will also make Gothenburg the world’s first ZigBee city. The NURI AiMiR meter reading unit is based on Ember’s ZigBee technology. Ember is a provider of ZigBee networks for smarter, more energy efficient buildings and homes.
Göteborg Energi AB, one of Sweden’s largest energy companies, is creating a city-wide wireless mesh network with the AMM System. Göteborg Energi AB hopes to save millions of euros by eliminating the need to manually read electric meters at homeowners’ premises and be able to bill the actual usage to the customers. And as an environmentally-conscious public utility, the ZigBee AMR platform will also help it deliver sustainable energy services while reducing the impact of its operations on the environment.
NURI’s AiMiR meter reading unit is integrated with Ember’s ZigBee system-on-a-chip and EmberZNet networking software to create a wireless mesh network for remote metering. It will be able to remotely meter a home’s electricity usage more efficiently, accurately and at lower costs, while giving customers greater insight into their energy consumption and better customer service.
“We have continuously adopted new technologies that improve energy delivery while contributing towards the development of a sustainable society, such as the world’s first CO2-free vehicle factory we’re creating with Volvo,” said Tomas Arnewid, Göteborg Energi AB’s project manager. “Our city-wide ZigBee AMR network is another example of our long history as infrastructure builders. We see the ZigBee infrastructure as a great added value to our investment in the NURI advanced metering system. There is great potential for new services that can be offered by the mesh network.”
“Our ZigBee-enabled meter reading units form a complete mesh network so they can all communicate with each other and route data reliably,” said NURI CTO Gab Sub Kim. “The ZigBee network can also be easily expanded as new homes are built, or new services need to be added. We partnered with Ember because its ZigBee platform is the most mature and has proven itself repeatedly in previous NURI AMR deployments.”
NURI Telecom’s Ember-enabled meter reading units will be on display in booths 329 and 331 at the Autovation 2007 show in Reno, NV, Sept. 30 to Oct. 3, 2007.
“Gothenburg’s decision to choose ZigBee technology shows the value of the ZigBee standard as a key part of innovative AMI programs for utilities around the world,” said Bob Gohn, Ember vice president of marketing. “NURI Telecom is one of Ember’s earliest and most valued customers and this success is a reflection of their tremendous efforts, experience and focus in the metering space. Ember is focused on helping consumers, businesses and utilities better manage energy resources; and the platform’s field proven features of reliability, robustness and scalability make it an ideal fit for AMI applications.”
ZigBee: Wireless Control That Simply Works
The ZigBee Alliance is an association of companies working together to enable reliable, cost-effective, low-power, wirelessly networked monitoring and control products based on an open global standard. The ZigBee Alliance is a rapidly growing, non-profit industry consortium of leading semiconductor manufacturers, technology providers, OEMs, and end-users worldwide. Membership is open to all. Additional information can be found at www.zigbee.org.
About NURI Telecom
Founded in March 1992, NURI Telecom is a KOSDAQ listed company offering IT integrated management solutions, next generation Advanced Meter-reading Management Systems, sensor network solutions and auto identification products. NURI Telecom has been developing the next generation technologies since the establishment and has the globally competitive technologies and know-how. NURI Telecom is continuously developing to improve already advanced technologies to meet the changing requirements and needs of the industry and provide the cost effective and the best practical solutions to the customers around the world. The company has three subsidiary companies including NURI Japan. NURI Telecom branch office is located in California, USA to facilitate and accelerate the services to the global customers. For more information, please visit www.nuritelecom.com.
About Göteborg Energi AB
As Western Sweden’s leading energy company, Göteborg Energi AB provides customers with energy services, broadband, district heating, cooling, natural gas and the electricity supply network. Göteborg Energi AB aims to create energy solutions that are sustainable in the long term. Efficient energy provision is one of the most important building blocks of a well functioning society. To achieve its goal, the company has developed into a versatile energy company. Göteborg Energi AB offers services and products that make life easier for both companies and private individuals.
About Ember Corporation
Ember develops wireless sensor and control network technologies that help make our living and working environments smarter and energy efficient. Ember’s ZigBee-based semiconductors and software enable communication between devices embedded in a variety of building and home automation products. Ember is headquartered in Boston and has a semiconductor development center in Cambridge, England and distributors worldwide. Ember is a lead member of the ZigBee Alliance, and its platform is the National Technical Systems’ (NTS) “Golden Suite” for 802.15.4/ZigBee interoperability testing. For more information, please visit www.ember.com.
