Across the globe there has been the increasing number of electric vehicles, batteries and smart devices in the home and the need to find ways to achieve greater flexibility in how demand resources are managed.

Specifically, New Zealand has committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 and a goal of reaching 100 percent renewable electricity generation by 2030. As the country embarks on an ambitious energy transition, it has many natural advantages, including a strong renewable resource base.

Reaching a new milestone is always an exciting moment. The OpenADR Alliance recently announced reaching 200 members, something we are particularly proud of as a global industry organization that started out supporting technical communications standards over a decade ago.

Our goal remains the same, with the OpenADR standard going from strength to strength with the launch of OpenADR 3.0 last year. But like other industry bodies, we need to evolve and adapt as the industry – and our members – change.

Last week the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL was the place to be for DistribuTECH 2024. This year’s conference in the ‘sunshine state’ did not disappoint with over 400 speakers, 17,000+ attendees, 600+ exhibitors and 3,500+ utilities all under one roof.

As promised for those who attended, it was an inspirational event to be among organizations and industry leaders empowering progress and sharing ideas that will transform the way we live.

This week is particularly exciting one for us at the OpenADR Alliance. As we gather at Enlit Europe (November 28-30th) with industry leaders and several of our members, all part of the growing community of companies looking to solve the most important energy transition issues, we are delighted to announce the new version of the OpenADR communications standard.

OpenADR 3.0 is an important milestone for us as the industry body responsible for driving the development, adoption, and compliance of OpenADR. It’s also a significant step in the development of communications standard for utilities, operators, and aggregators, as they look to manage the growing range of distributed energy resources.

Putting renewables and energy storage at the heart of Enlit Europe 2023

Recent estimates by the European Environment Agency (EEA) indicate that we are consuming more of our energy from renewable sources like solar power. Last year in Europe, nearly a quarter (22.5%) was generated by renewables. While this is on the rise, the EEA warns that to meet the new target of 42.5% for 2030 it will “require a deep transformation of the European energy system”.