This year, the HERMES AWARD, one of the world's most coveted technology prizes, has gone to the German utility network services and systems provider SAG GmbH. The Award was presented to the company on the occasion of the HANNOVER MESSE Opening Ceremony on 6 April 2014. "Energy system transformation" ranks alongside Industry 4.0 as one of the big, overarching themes at this year's HANNOVER MESSE. The now award-winning solution developed by SAG GmbH is a major step towards energy system transformation because it provides a flexible approach to converting existing local networks into smart grids," said Deutsche Messe's Managing Board member Dr. Jochen Köckler.
SAG GmbH has won the HERMES AWARD for its iNES product, an intelligent distribution grid management system that can be used to convert conventional local grids in stages into smart grids. This is done by adding modular, decentralized and autonomous metering and control systems comprising decentralized network status monitoring technology and decentralized intelligent software agents. The metering and control systems capture and monitor all in-feeds and load flows in real-time and can balance out critical variances in a targeted and timely manner by managing grid equipment and grid-connected generation capacity and loads. iNES adds intelligence to conventional low-voltage networks in three stages, starting with station monitoring and progressing from there to full grid monitoring and, finally, to grid automation.
The HERMES AWARD was presented to SAG representatives at the Opening Ceremony by Germany's Minister of Education and Research, Johanna Wanka. "The energy transition is a project that affects our entire society. Groundbreaking innovations for an intelligent network conversion are very important to successful implementation, because they protect the environment and spare resources. The German government promotes sustainable energy research and supports this transition," commented Minister Wanka during her address at the prize-giving ceremony.
