Press Release

Raleigh, North Carolina, January 31, 2008 Elster announces SCADA connected meters using ALPHA® Technology

Elster Electricity, part of Elster Group, a world leader in Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) and integrated metering and utilization solutions to the gas, electricity, and water industries, today announces the availability of two new SCADA connected revenue meters: (1) the A1882 ALPHA® Modbus meter, and (2) the A1884 ALPHA® DNP 3.0 meter. Both meters are a part of the 1880 ALPHA meter family. Elster Electricity is now taking orders for the meters.

The A1880 revenue meters are based on Elster’s extensive global metering technology, including both IEC and ANSI standards, and are available for markets in Latin America, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, North Africa, and Europe. These meters are highly accurate, robust, reliable, cost effective, and are system-ready meters for advanced commercial, industrial, and substation metering applications.

”Elster is proud to announce these cost-effective ALPHA platform-based metering products with SCADA connectivity,” stated Rafael Cabrera, Senior Business Development Manager, Elster Electricity. “Elster is bridging the gap between stand-alone revenue metering and SCADA connected point metering. We recognize that there is a demand for increased instrumentation and revenue information at the C&I and utility substation level with a proven record in revenue metering. These products, which are built on the ALPHA meter technology and have a long history of reliability and accuracy, are designed to meet this demand.”

The new A1884 ALPHA DNP meter offers direct access to revenue and instrumentation data via DNP 3.0. This makes meter point data directly available to SCADA systems at the substation. Instant information allows the utility to make quicker and better decisions.

The new A1882 ALPHA Modbus meter offers direct access to revenue and instrumentation data via Modbus. This makes meter point data directly available to large C&I electricity consumers through their Modbus networks in support of innovative demand-side management programs.

Features the following:

• Bidirectional, 4 quadrant metering
• Class 0.2 accuracy class metering
• Conforms to IEC 62052-11 and IEC 62053-21 metering standards
• Auxiliary power supply
• Data logging and event recording
• Circuit diagnostics
• Modbus protocol support (A1882 ALPHA) via RS-232 or RS-485 connection
• DNP 3.0 protocol support (A1884 ALPHA) via RS-232 or RS-485 connection
• ALPHA meter energy measurement technology
• Additional serial connection 
• Four fully programmable relays (for alarm, load control, TRueQ tests, pulse or rate indication)
• Wide operating voltage range, 49 V to 528 V
• Up to 8 channels of load profile data
• Up to 32 channels of instrumentation profiling data
• Standard 0.5 MB extended memory

 

Benefits include the following: 

• The meters are based on the reliable, cost effective and proven ALPHA revenue meter technology platform.

• The meters transmit revenue and instrumentation data directly to the SCADA system and meter reading systems and integrate easily into existing substation SCADA systems or large C&I industrial control systems.
  
• The meters utilize existing meter configuration software for setup and configuration, eliminating a high learning curve to install new metering points. Operators trained in Elster’s Metercat software configuration tool will be able to configure the A1880 ALPHA meter series lowering installation cost and eliminating costly delays.