Scroll down for quick news takes and events involving Smart Cities Council Partners.
Cisco, Intel contribute to 2018 Olympic Winter Games
NBC Olympics, a division of the NBC Sports Group, chose Council Global Lead Partner Cisco to provide IP video contribution and distribution solutions, along with networking and security solutions, for its coverage of the recently concluded Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. For its part, Associate Partner Intel livened up the Games with a display of more than 1,200 Shooting Star Drones.
Sensus communication network earns praise
After nine days of freezing temperatures in an area accustomed to a more moderate climate, water pipes were bursting in South Carolina's Chesterfield County. Without the FlexNet Communications Network from Council Global Lead Partner Sensus to monitor water use and pinpoint problems the Chesterfield County Rural Water Company would have run out of water, said utility CEO Charlie Gray. "I firmly believe FlexNet helped us keep up with the intense customer demand," said Gray. "Thanks to this smart technology we caught the leaks and saved our customers from increased water bills at the end of the month. Without it, we would have run out of water."
AT&T to make one of the largest corporate renewable energy buys in the U.S.
Council Global Lead Partner AT&T will buy 520 MW of wind energy through agreements with subsidiaries of renewable energy project operator NextEra Energy Resources. The purchases are said to be among the largest corporate renewable energy buys in the U.S. They are an element of AT&T's plan to use technologies that will allow carbon savings 10 times greater than the company's operations footprint by 2025, according to an article in Windpower Engineering and Development. Council Global Lead Partner Microsoft also has been actively investing in renewable energy. The company recently completed an agreement to buy solar power to help power its new office in Bangalore, India. Microsoft also completed an agreement to buy solar power in Singapore. When that project is completed, it will bring the company's global renewable energy buys to almost 900 MW.
Enel to provide grid stabilization services in Germany
Council Global Lead Partner Enel subsidiary Enel Green Power will build its first energy storage plant in Germany as the result of an agreement with German wind energy company ENERTRAG AG and Swiss energy storage company Leclanché SA. The 22 MW energy storage plant in Brandenburg The storage plant will provide frequency regulation services to Germany’s Primary Control Reserve market to quickly stabilize the grid, and will later be integrated with ENERTRAG wind farms.
IBI Group chosen to build health and wellbeing hub in the UK
Council North America Partner IBI Group will build a Health and Wellbeing Hub in a community in East Hampshire, UK. It will be a part of the National Health Service's Healthy New Towns program intended to enhance the long-term wellbeing of citizens and will help the region's goal of becoming one of the healthiest towns in the UK. IBI Group's Healthcare+ team will design the new state-of-the-art facility.
Doug Peeples is a Portland, Oregon-based writer specializing in technology and energy. Follow @smartccouncil on Twitter.
