Cyan Technology Ltd. of Cambridge, England, is participating in a high-profile smart grid pilot project in Puducherry, a territory in India near the Bay of Bengal with more than one million residents. 

Cyan’s engineered approach enables energy utilities to morph their legacy power grid infrastructure into a smart grid without massive hardware overhauls—using only wireless mesh networking hardware and software for smart meters. Cyan’s proprietary Cylec meters offer bi-directional communications for automated meter reading (AMR) and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) deployments. They are optimized for range, data communications, interoperability and security.

The project is being led by the government-owned Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) and will involve installing AMI in homes throughout Puducherry in order to monitor online energy usage and load patterns, as well as detect tampering (such as energy theft). Batched and scheduled connect/disconnect messages also may be sent to meters, along with tariff updates.  It is anticipated that consumers of Puducherry will also benefit from real-time accurate billing information to help manage their energy consumption.

Cyan and its partners in India are working with a third-party system integrator to provide a meter data acquisition system (MDAS) to manage and present the data collected from the meters.

Above, Puducherry, near the Bay of Bengal, in India (via Shutterstock)

“We are delighted that one of our key strategic partners has implemented a further pilot in India, demonstrating an additional step in the adoption of CyLec as a standard for smart electricity metering across India,” said John Cronin, executive chairman of Cyan, adding, “Cyan is building momentum in India with several pilot installations."

In addition to the Pudcherry project, Cyan is currently involved in an AMI pilot in Trichy, a city in central India that is part of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The pilot is being tendered by Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB).

What’s more, according to Proactive Investors UK, Cyan is taking part in Web Mission 2013, a trade mission to India supported by the UK Technology Strategy Board and UK Trade & Investment (UKTI). On February 9, a group of 16 of the UK’s most promising digital, wireless and mobile software technology companies embarked on the week-long entrepreneur-led mission to Bangalore and New Delhi, with the aim of opening up their business to the Indian market. The 16 participants were chosen based on their high level of innovation and ability to transact “meaningful business” in India.

 “We are … encouraged that Cyan has been chosen to participate in this technology trade mission to India, supported by the UKTI,” commented Cronin. “This mission will support our strategy to build key relationships with local and international companies in the energy and utilities sectors in India to address the significant market opportunity.”