Siemens and Accenture have agreed to form a joint venture in the Smart Grid field. Named Omnetric Group, it will develop solutions and services that allow utilities to improve efficiency and achieve greater supply security. The company will be headquartered in Munich and will employ approximately 100 people in its first year, a joint release by the companies said.
Its business operations will focus initially on Europe and the US, with further global expansion planned in the future. Omnetric Group will focus on solutions and services for system integration and management of the growing volume of data created as part of power grid operation. These offerings will enable utilities to integrate operational technologies (OT), such as real-time grid management, with information technologies (IT) like smart metering.
Omnetric Group will combine Siemens products and solutions with Accenture's expertise in consulting, system integration and operating solutions (managed services). The IT and OT solutions are also complemented by both companies' extensive experience in the power industry. The solutions and services that the new company will provide will address a host of the challenges that energy utilities are facing today. In Europe, for example, the rapid rise of distributed power generation is putting pressure on energy prices and threatening energy utilities' business models. At the same time, this growing influx of intermittent power from renewable sources jeopardizes the stability of the grid. In North America, an aging infrastructure and higher frequency of natural disasters are threatening supply security, the release added.
