World's Largest Intelligent Grid Deployment Reaches New Milestone

Landis+Gyr congratulates TEPCO as it surpasses 10 million installed devices on utility IoT network

ZUG, Switzerland, April 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Landis+Gyr, the global leader in transforming the way energy is delivered and managed, announced that the grid modernization project underway at Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) has surpassed 10 million advanced meters and devices installed and communicating on the world's largest IoT utility network. In doing so, this complex project has now reached a breadth and deployment pace which is unparalleled in the utility industry.

"Our deployment is making smooth progress, and reaching the 10 million endpoints on the network milestone is a clear indication of the efficiency of our program and the capability of our leading-edge system developed by Landis+Gyr. The target for completion is in 2020, and I believe it can be accelerated, as benefits provided to meeting the customer needs are strong," commented Hiroshi Yamaguchi, Executive Vice President, TEPCO.

Driving this connected platform is Landis+Gyr's IPv6 multi-technology network that connects utility and consumer devices using RF Mesh, G3 PLC and cellular communications, providing Wi-SUN compliant connectivity to the premise.

Currently, the network is moving data between devices at a rate of 513 million interval reads per day. When complete, the TEPCO deployment will include more than 27 million meters and millions of other devices transmitting 1.3 billion interval data packets daily. All of these messages are processed by Landis+Gyr's head-end system and meter data management solution.

"The scale of the project, design requirements and overall goals of this deployment are unprecedented in the industry," said Richard Mora, CEO of Landis+Gyr. "The challenges of routing and managing this magnitude of data are real, but we've been able to meet deployment objectives and are positioned to complete the project ahead of schedule. Landis+Gyr congratulates TEPCO on reaching this impressive milestone."

Landis+Gyr's network and grid management technology supports multiple smart grid and smart city initiatives at TEPCO. For example, deregulation of the Japanese electric market in April 2016 required all meter reads for customers utilizing an alternative retailer to be pushed to a common portal every 30 minutes, allowing the energy retailers near real time access  to customer data. Other performance targets include the ability to operate 6.5 million demand response requests per hour over the same network.   

With an average of 1 million smart meters and devices being installed every three months, the utility eclipsed the 10-million-meter mark in less than three full years of deployment. Within seven years, TEPCO will have 30 million utility and consumer devices operating on the network.

TEPCO is the largest electric utility in Japan and 4th largest in the world. The utility provides electric service to 45 million people in Japan's Kantō region, which includes the city of Tokyo, Yamanashi Prefecture, and the eastern portion of Shizuoka Prefecture.

"Landis+Gyr's pioneering work in Japan is yet another example of our global capabilities to help utilities transform the way energy is delivered," Mora said. "With major contracts for utilities in Europe, North America, Asia and South America, we are extremely proud of the company's unique ability to help the world manage energy better."

About Landis+Gyr
Landis+Gyr is leading grid modernization across the globe with solutions for utilities that improve reliability, energy efficiency and consumer engagement. The company's comprehensive portfolio includes standards-based smart grid networks and intelligent devices, analytics and data management, renewable integration and energy storage. Landis+Gyr employs 5,700 people supporting customers in 31 countries. With sales exceeding US$1.5 billion, it operates as an independent growth platform of the Toshiba Corporation (TKY:6502) and is also 40% owned by the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ). More information is available at landisgyr.com.