METERINGChina 2010 Conference & Exhibition, the 4th ANNUAL international metering event, organized by GSL Consulting Ltd. China, successfully ended on April 16, 2010 in Xi’an, China. The 3-day event, started from April 14, was specially designed to focus on the latest development of global Smart Metering, Billing, AMR/Data Management and CRM & CIS industry.

METERINGChina 2010 Conference & Exhibition took place on April 14--16 2010 in Xi’an. It’s our great pleasure to gather total 35 top officers, experts/managers from both China and international metering-related industries to share their knowledge and opinions with 320 conference delegates by presenting different topics. Over 1200 professionals from nearly 300 governments/organizations/companies attended the event and applausive comments/ feedbacks are received from most of the participants.

The key influential aspects such as government policies, industrial standards, technology application & innovation, as well as current market environment etc. were covered in different sessions of the conference. Latest products and advanced technologies from total 42 vendors (both Chinese local companies and international suppliers) were showcased in the exhibition hall for 3 days.

In May 2009, China announced to build strong & smart grids by year 2020 with investing 4 trillion RMB (approximately 600 billion USD) by three steps. Currently China is deploying smart metering projects with an estimated budget approximately $10 billion USD encompassing 200 million smart meters to be installed in the coming five years. Under this great national strategic development planning and market environment, METERINGChina 2010 Conference was held successfully with support from State Electricity Regulatory Commission of China, China Southern Power Grid Co., Ltd, Northwest China Power Grid Company and other provincial-/city-level power grid companies as well as China's EPRI. We are also delighted to have local/international speakers and participants to share their advanced technologies and field experience together.

In the following sessions, there are 28 experts and utility leaders to present and share their knowledge in the area of Smart Meter New Technology, New Concept and Design; Smart Metering System Deployment and Innovation in China Power Utilities; Smart Metering System Deployment and Innovation; International Development and Experience on Smart Metering/ AMI/AMM; CRM/CIS & Smart Grid Development and Strategies; as well as Outlook Smart Metering and Smart Grids: HAN, Smart District and Electric Vehicle Chargers/V2G etc. From their speeches, participants not only obtained the profound knowledge related to technologies, but also enhanced their understanding of current market environment, including opportunities and challenges. For example, Freescale discussed the single phase meters design under State Grid new standard; Holley Meter Group addressed the distributed energy measurement; And University of Delaware introduced the current development of EV in North American Countries as well as challenges and opportunities will be faced.

In the exhibition hall, total 42 vendors showcased their latest products, systems and technologies. The displayed products ranged from meter components (such as metering chips, relays, CTs, batteries, wireless modules, PLC modules) to completed meter products, system solutions, management software, power quality monitoring equipments, standard meters, etc.

Especially, Utilities Network Management System of Oracle and Advanced Metering Management System IBM attacted more attentions. Besides, some vendors’ briefing, such as Holley Metering’s Smart Meter and AMR products as well as Smart Home Energy Management System, Guangzhou Jiebao’s products introduction, Shanghai Sunray’s Wireless Mesh Network AMR Solution, and On-Semiconductor’s PLC-based Solution, took place in the briefing area of exhibition hall.

50 domestic and abroad visitors visited Energy Metering Center and 750KV Power Grid & Technology Achievement Display Center of Northwest China Power Grid Company. After listening to explanation and touring of the two sites, they had brief communications each other and with the site engineers.

In summary, the global metering industry is in a booming development as the investment on advanced metering projects is an effective and long-term way to stimulate the economy. Many Chinese and International Metering leading suppliers are also aware that this will be a great opportunity in the Metering market. The success of smart metering/smart grid development cannot be achieved without any party within this ecosystem. The communication will bring us to the bright future.