Echelon Wins Advanced Metering and Energy Management Project with Austrian Utility LINZ STROMUtility Chooses Ubitronix to Install Echelon's Energy Management Infrastructure to Control Electricity Meters, In-home Devices and City Streetlights(San Jose, CA - April 24, 2007) - Echelon Corporation (NASDAQ: ELON), a leading provider of networking technology that is used to manage and reduce energy consumption, today announced that its Networked Energy Services (NES) System has been selected by LINZ STROM, Austria to network 75,000 of its customers using advanced meters. The project includes an option for an additional 75,000 of their remaining 175,000 meters. NES Value-Added Reseller Ubitronix (also of Austria), will serve as the prime contractor under the terms of the recently concluded public tender offer. The project is the first large-scale NES win in Austria and demonstrates the power of the NES system and Echelon networking infrastructure products to provide comprehensive energy management systems to utilities and municipalities. In addition to installation of the NES System, LINZ STROM, Austria will also install a LonWorks® based managed streetlight system in a segment of its territory as well as provide direct control of in-home appliances such as hot water heaters or furnaces. Echelon expects shipments to begin in the third quarter of 2007 and total revenue, without options, of approximately $7.5 million over the course of the initial three year project. "We're very excited to have successfully concluded a long and stringent public tender process so satisfactorily," said Josef Heizinger, CEO of LINZ STROM. "The NES system, as supplied by Ubitronix, will provide us with substantial competitive advantages in our metering market. Additionally, by extending the electricity metering infrastructure to other residential meters, and through the direct control of high-consumption devices inside the home, I believe that LINZ STROM has embarked on a truly market leading project – not only in Austria, but globally." The LINZ STROM project includes in-home command and control via the NES meter's EN 13757 (M-Bus) communications connection to existing gas or water meters. A Ubitronix developed Load Management Module with integrated M-Bus controller and corresponding enterprise applications specifically for use with the NES system manages up to four separate circuits – creating a cost-effective, two-way demand response and load management system for high-consumption in-home devices. The same Ubitronix controllers provide switching for street lights. Light level information is provided to LINZ STROM control centers over a broadband power line wide-area network or other IP connection using Echelon's i.LON® 100 servers and light sensors based on Echelon's power line communications technology. Switching of the street lights is controlled over the NES infrastructure and Ubitronix controllers. The system provides LINZ STROM with the opportunity to substantially reduce streetlight related operating and maintenance costs. For example, the City of Oslo uses a similar system that has resulted in energy savings of nearly 50% and maintenance cost reductions of nearly 30%. "We are very pleased with this win in Austria, both for the widening of the advanced metering market that it represents and also because of the breadth of vision that LINZ STROM has shown," said Frits Bruggink, Echelon's senior vice-president and general manager, service provider group. "By combining the power of Echelon's LonWorks infrastructure and NES product lines and working with a skilled partner such as Ubitronix to extend the functionality and integrate it into their business, LINZ STROM serves as a great example of how Echelon offerings can be leveraged to improve operations and lower costs across multiple functions and services within a utility." "We are proud to accomplish the comprehensive and forward-looking requirements of the tender," said Christoph Schaffer, Ubitronix's CEO. "LINZ STROM will benefit from our modular software suite and the powerful hardware modules for load management and street lighting which automatically integrate into the NES system by means of plug-and-play." About the NES System About ubitronix system solutions gmbh About Echelon Corporation ### Echelon, LonWorks, i.LON, and the Echelon logo are registered trademarks of Echelon Corporation registered in the United States and other countries. Other product or service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners. This press release may contain statements relating to future plans, events or performance, including statements regarding the award of the tender for the LINZ STROM project, the timing of installations and acceptance of the project, and the amount and timing of Echelon's revenue under the project. Such statements may involve risks and uncertainties, including risks associated with the ability of the NES and LonWorks systems to perform as designed, potential production or shipment delays for NES meters and other components; the risk that the application of U.S. generally accepted accounting principles could significantly affect the timing of, NES revenues that Echelon expects to recognize under the project; risks that the deployment and system integration activities with Echelon and other partners in the project are not successful, do not meet their target dates, do not expand or gain momentum or cause the LINZ STROM to terminate the project; and other risks identified in Echelon's SEC filings. Actual results, events and performance may differ materially. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Echelon undertakes no obligation to release publicly the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Contact Information
|
||||||||
 |