Mercury Consortium

Government Schemes, Regulations, Planning & Organisations

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Jeff

(@jeff)

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Joined: 4 years ago

Posts: 478

Topic starter 12/12/2024 8:38 am

Palo Alto / London – Dec. 5, 2024 – More than two dozen companies from across the global energy value chain have today launched the public-private Mercury Consortium.

Conceived by Kraken, drawing inspiration from Ericsson’s pivotal role in the development of the Bluetooth connectivity standards, the consortium will be managed by EPRI, an independent, non-profit R&D organization dedicated to advancing clean, affordable, and reliable energy.

This groundbreaking initiative aims to establish guidelines and best practices to accelerate the adoption and impact of clean energy technologies, such as EV chargers, heat pumps, solar panels, smart thermostats, and residential batteries. It also focuses on enabling utilities to leverage these technologies to make grids more resilient and efficient to operate, driving the transition to a sustainable energy future.

The consortium will work to define common functional behaviors for low-carbon devices, ensuring they work seamlessly with the grid, regardless of brand, boosting consumer confidence in the energy transition.

The Mercury Consortium is open to electric utilities, manufacturers, technology providers, regulators, and others. See below for a full list of founding members.

In 2023, consumers throughout the world invested $184 billion in low-carbon technology, outpacing government spending two-fold, and by 2030, consumers are anticipated to purchase more than 200 million devices like EV chargers, solar panels, batteries, and heat pumps. If managed inefficiently, this surge could drive peak electricity demand beyond grid capacity, requiring extensive investment in transmission.

The ability to seamlessly exchange actionable information between two or more systems, referred to as interoperability, could allow for new solutions to better manage the flow of energy from generation to consumption. However, there is no universal approach to interoperability in energy systems. Consumer devices that have the capability to operate with utilities’ requirements, integrate into energy systems, and participate in demand-response programs and markets could help the energy system be more responsive and flexible.