- The Zigamit project, in which various Spanish and Korean companies have participated, was funded by the CDTI within a bilateral programme of cooperation and technology transfer between the two countries.
- The objective is to create wireless communications infrastructure based on ZigBee technology that enables operators to offer home comfort integrated management services
TGas Natural Fenosa has led, in collaboration with Indra, the Zigamit project to research and develop technologies to enable the energy multinational to use the infrastructure that is being deployed for the remote management of meters to offer its domestic customers added-value services by means of smart grids.
The Zigamit project was funded by the Centre for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI) within the Korea & Spain Innovating (KSI) bilateral programme, which fosters technological cooperation between companies of the two countries. GAS NATURAL FENOSA and Indra have collaborated in the development of the project, applying their experience and technologies from previous initiatives in this scope.
The first objective of the project is to develop wireless communications infrastructure based on ZigBee, a technology widely used by multiple applications and manufacturers of products, which is becoming a standard on the global level in the scope of Home Area Network (HAN) and domotics. Its main advantages are its interoperability between multiple applications and, as it is an open system, its guarantee of the availability of new functions in the short and mid term.
The infrastructure had to integrate all the components with the premise that the system would offer advanced features at a low cost and be easy to install for the customer. Accordingly, the Zigamit project researched and defined the technological, operational and functional requirements necessary to create a standard, open communication architecture based on the Smart Energy Profile (SEP) and Home Automation (HA) application profiles within the existing standardisation of the ZigBee Alliance.
Management of energy consumption and of comfort services
At the same time, the software and hardware necessary to enable the operators to provide their users with added-value products for the multiservice management of their homes were developed. The main functions associated with the Zigamit project include the management of electricity, central heating and hot water by means of the boiler or even sonar panels, and of other functions not directly linked to energy, such as water consumption and security.
This allows the domestic customer to use a tablet to manage all the services in the home: query energy consumptions, program electrical devices, manage the central heating, have images of various rooms in the home and optimise water consumption. The components that make up the system (intelligent plugs, thermostats, etc.) include a device that can be installed in any existing boiler, enabling the provision of exhaustive information about its operation and the implementation of smart boiler applications based on a conventional boiler.
Currently, the project has implemented two added-value pilot schemes in Catalonia and Madrid with real users, which will enable the level of interest in these services to be determined and the functions to be optimised in accordance with the requirements of residential customers.
Deployment of smart grids
The Zigamit project lies within the innovation strategy of Gas Natural Fenosa and Indra linked to the development of smart energy, that is, technological systems applied to the energy consumption point. Specifically, Zigamit has integrated the SOFIA (Smart Objects For Intelligent Applications) platform, the result of a previous Indra project, within the ARTEMIS programme, which is a platform based on semantic web technology, interoperability and smart grids of sensors that enable the application of domotics to cities, buildings and cars and the provision of intelligent and customised services by means of mobile devices. Both multinationals are working on various projects in this line, including some related to the development of smart electricity grids.
In 2011, Gas Natural Fenosa started its deployment with the installation of new smart meters and the adaptation and automation of transformation centres. By the end of this year, the company will have replaced 600,000 old meters with new remote management equipment in the four autonomous communities in which it has electrical distribution grids: Galicia, Madrid, Castile-La Mancha and Castile and León.
The replacement of meters is the first step towards the development of smart grids, which will incorporate information and communications technologies to respond to the needs of customers and improve the efficiency of the electricity system. With this objective, they will integrate all the actions of the users, in such a way that the electricity supply will be more efficient, safer and more sustainable.
Smart grids improve the efficiency of energy systems and will contribute to compliance with the energy objectives of the European Union for 2020: 20% reduction in the emission of greenhouse gases, 20% improvement in energy efficiency and 20% of production with renewable energy.
For its part, Indra is currently working on the development of new technologies and solutions in the fields of energy efficiency and sustainability, both in the generation, transmission and distribution areas and in industrial, residential and transport consumption. The company is involved in various projects on new smart grid infrastructure that ensure sustainable, safe and economic development and is participating in an advisory capacity in the Spanish National Energy Commission's workgroup for the development of smart grids.
Indra and Gas Natural Fenosa are leading the Energos R&D and innovation project, which has the aim of developing methods and technologies for the grids of the future. Indra also participated with the electricity company in the European Union 3E Houses project, whose aim was to demonstrate and quantify the contribution of ICTs to the improvement of energy efficiency in homes by means of a pilot scheme in subsidised housing in San Cugat del Vallés (Spain).
Furthermore, it is collaborating in R&D and innovation projects to develop new systems (grid model, real time integration platforms and bi-directional communication solutions) and has developed a new generation of smart meters. The technology company is also taking an active part in workgroups backed by the Spanish Ministry of Industry to foster the development of electric cars in Spain and is collaborating in various research initiatives and projects with various agents and companies in the energy sector.
Indra
Indra is the leading technology multinational in Spain and a leader in Europe and Latin America. It is the second European company in its sector in terms of R&D, with €550 million invested in the last three years. Its turnover in 2011 was €2.688 billion, and more than half of its income is currently from international markets. The company employs 40,000 professionals and has customers in 118 countries.
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