ETSI, a European standards organization, has recently published two specifications for smart grid that will help drive the development and deployment of open, interoperable smart grid technologies internationally.

As the smart grid evolves, it will become commonplace for utilities to cooperate with grid-aware systems and devices to reduce power usage intelligently, giving commercial, industrial and municipal users reduced rates in exchange for lower consumption while increasing grid reliability and the use of renewable energy sources. Automated demand response, peak load management, and other programs can mean significant cost savings for commercial and residential customers. This is why it is important that vendors work together through open standards to increase the market for compatible products and technologies. Standards-based smart grid devices and systems can monitor and save energy, lower costs, improve productivity, enhance service, quality, safety, and convenience, and help in the transformation to a more energy efficient future and smarter electricity grid.

The two OSGP specifications that originated with ESNA and were published by ETSI for global use are:

• Group specification GS OSG 001: Open Smart Grid Protocol. Produced by the ETSI Open Smart Grid Industry Specification Group, this application layer protocol can be used with multiple communication media.
• Technical specification TS 103 908: Powerline Telecommunications (PLT); BPSK Narrow Band Power Line Channel for Smart Metering Applications. This specification defines a high-performance narrow band powerline channel for control networking in the smart grid that can be used with multiple smart grid devices. It was produced by the ETSI Technical Committee for Powerline Telecommunications (TC PLT).

"ESNA has been very active during the past year in the various Smart Metering and Smart Grid standardization activities across Europe as well as the rest of the world. We are honored to share this latest achievement with OSGP being recognized by ETSI, and we anticipate sharing more milestones reached with other leading standards organizations in the coming year," said Bo Danielsen, president of ESNA and head of Smart Grid Projects at SEAS-NVE, the largest consumer-owned utility in Denmark.