Smart Grid Initiatives Progressing with ABB and Trilliant Interoperability Success

Power and automation telecom company, ABB and smart grid systems and renewable energy integration provider Trilliant (News - Alert) Inc., completed the interoperability test of Trilliant’s SecureMesh communications network with ABB’s station automation and protection products. 

The smart grid initiative will enable utilities to select the best technologies to compliment their smart grid systems. 

Gary Rackliffe, vice president of smart grids at ABB, said that the smart grid is moving into a phase where distribution automation is becoming critical, and this capability is largely dependent on the reliability of high-bandwidth, low-latency solutions.

"For this reason, we are particularly excited to be working with Trilliant to integrate our solutions and help deliver them to a growing market," Rackliffe said.

If ABB and Trilliant’s news wasn’t solid enough to prove Rackliffe’s point, major plays like Cisco and IBM investing in the smart grid imitative, along with companies releasing new smart grid products, like LumaSense’s smart grid temperature monitor, round the smart grid circle and showcase its popularity in the market. 

According to Andy White, president and CEO of Trilliant, ABB’s and Trilliant’s interoperability success is an indicator of the increasing capability within the smart grid market and the power of standards-based technology solutions available to today's forward-thinking utilities.

Trilliant's SecureMesh communications network is based on open standards to ensure out-of-the-box interoperability with the leading distribution automation equipment, which supports ABB’s applications, creating a helpful system for the future of smart grid technology. 

Interoperability of distribution protection, control and automation devices was conducted using Trilliant's SecureMesh Gateway (News - Alert) and Connector WAN products. A series of peer-to-peer and data protocol packet delivery speed tests were conducted. 

The outcome? 

An extremely fast switching and restoration scheme coordination between multiple devices using multiple protocols, company officials said. The gateway functionality provides connectivity between substation intelligent electronic devices and network-level control and management systems.

Be sure to check out the Smart Grid Summit at TMC’s (News - Alert) ITEXPO East.