Finnish utility Fortum will invest 120 million euros (US $171.5 million) for a smart metering system in Finland to be designed and built by Spanish IT company Telvent, recent media releases said.

Telvent will wire 550,000 households and small businesses to a smart grid system by the end of 2013, making the effort Finland’s largest metering project to date.

This system will use Telvent’s smart metering software called Titanium, combined with control networks company Echelon's Networked Energy Services offering. Echelon's smart meters and data collectors use the web to communicate to Telvent's meter management software.

Being wired to an Internet service network, the system can provide customers with features such as online consumption reporting, accessing of real-time meter readings and connection to future smart home systems through a local wireless interface in the meter. Installation will begin in 2010. Telvent is expected to manage this system for six years.

"Better knowledge in turn improves energy efficiency and makes it easier to operate and manage network capacity when actual customer electricity consumption is known. In addition, the smart meters will be used for faster power failure resolution and as a platform for future services within electricity solutions,” said Timo Karttinen, Fortum's senior vice president for corporate development.

As the largest utility in Finland, Fortum continues expanding into the Nordic market, where it has been operating since 2001. The Company has already placed offices in Stockholm, Copenhagen, Gothenburg and Helsinki.

Last May, the European Parliament mandated the roll-out of smart meters in all EU Member States by 2022 to achieve 80% coverage by 2020. The Parliament also approved the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive which requires all new buildings and renovations to use smart meters


-  Oliver M. Bayani