Metering Europe in Amsterdam to Showcase the Dutch Successes of Smart Grid Collaboration

Amsterdam, Netherlands, September 29, 2012 --(PR.com)-- The Netherlands is a glowing example of the power of collaboration and how cumulative efforts yield results far more substantial and far-reaching than what would have been the case had they been undertaken individually. This is according to Aida Mezit, event director of the upcoming, annual Metering, Billing/CRM Europe, which will gather some 6500 utility professionals in Amsterdam from 9-11 October. The largest industry conference and exhibition on the continent is co-located with the events, Smart Homes 2012 and Transmission & Distribution/Smart Grids Europe.

Dutch smart grid market becoming important hub
Says Aida Mezit: “the flourishing Dutch smart gird market is growing into an important European hub where new cutting-edge technologies are constantly developed, leading to an accelerated number of smart 'trials', and which are often backed up by research faculties of prolific local technical universities.”

She continues: “partnerships between academia, research institutes and commercial sector abound: we are seeing progressive Dutch utilities - the likes of Enexis, Alliander and Essent, to name a few - in collaborative projects with academia, such as the University of Eidenhoven or TNO, who also collaborate with key commercial technical consultancies, such as world renowned KEMA, and local authorities (Amsterdam Smart City) to create a test-bed of real life scalage projects, which are already paving the way not only for Dutch but European smart grid development.”

Dutch as global players
According to the Metering Europe event director the true value of the global smart grid market is expected to be $100 billion by 2020. She expands: “if these predictions are correct, smart energy is on the cusp of becoming the most significant investment and growth field of the 21st century. If the momentum of the Dutch forays into smart grid and clean technologies continues, it will establish the Netherlands as one of the most expert global players in sophisticated, digitized low carbon energy solutions.”

She says commercially and in terms of home-grown talent it will be a huge economic boost to the country, and “as a long term strategy it should certainly continue to receive support both by the new government and private enterprises alike.”

Metering, Billing/CRM Europe features more than 200 high-level industry expert speakers and the largest industry exhibition on the continent with more than 320 solutions providers, including global leaders such as Siemens, Deutsche Telekom, Landis+Gyr, Toshiba, Intel and Schneider Electric.

Dutch expert speakers at the event include:

- Peter Molengraaf, CEO and Member of the Board, Alliander
- Bram Reinders, Manager Alliance Management, Alliander
- Frans Campfens, Senior Innovation Manager, Alliander
- Jeroen Scheer, Taskforce Energy Transition, Alliander
- Lonneke Driessen-Mutters, Manager Operations Smart Meters, Enexis
- Martijn van Huijkelom, Asset Management Innovation, Enexis
- Klaas Hommes, Project, Manager, TenneT
- Gerben Dekker, Consultant Energy & Sustainability, DNV KEMA,
- Hans de Heer, Service Line Leader, KEMA
- Alexander Schönfeldt, Director Sales and Marketing, Locamation
- Edward Goossen, Programme Manager, Amsterdam Smart City
- George Huitema, Senior Research Scientist, TNO
- Koen Kok, Senior Scientist Smart Grids, TNO

Event dates and location:
9-11 October 2012, Amsterdam RAI, The Netherlands