Italy

NanoLock will secure millions of smart meters in Italy

Posted on by Techtime

The Israeli cybersecurity company NanoLock, which developed a cyber protection solution for smart meters, IoT and edge devices, announced a commercial partnership with the Italian IT company Atlantica and its subsidiary Atlantic Cybernext, to offer managed security service, based on NanoLock technology, to protect tens of millions of smart meters and connected devices for leading utilities and industrial companies in Italy and throughout Europe.

Operating primarily in Europe, Atlantica Digital is currently managing over 13 million smart meters, in addition to smart lighting and industrial devices. Atlantica Cybernext, the sister company of Atlantica Digital, has created a next generation Security Operations Center (SOC), which includes the NanoLock-enabled managed security service, to help protecting their business and infrastructure. The new service from Atlantica and NanoLock will be commercially available in Q2 2021, with a potential value of 8.000.000 euros of income by 2023.

The cyber risks of smart grids

Founded in 2016, NanoLock’s solution provides device level protection for IoT and industrial equipment, with minimal power, processing and memory footprint, and is therefore particularly suitable for IoT devices with limited processing resources and scant battery power such as smart meters in the gas, water and electricity industries. NanoLock is working with major utilities, industrial companies, and large ecosystem partners in Japan, Spain, Switzerland, Singapore, Netherlands, the U.S.¸ and Israel.

Driven by rising emissions¸ energy resource constraints and outdated infrastructure¸ the global smart meter market is growing in demand. But this trend also poses major risks. Smart meters can be manipulated by hackers, that by altering the device reading are frauduently lowering their electricity bill. Northeast Group estimated in a report dated a few years ago that the total losses arise from electricity theft amounts to about $ 96 billion globally a year. Smart meter can also be used as an access point for hackers into the grid itself and put the entire grid at risk.

Last month NanoLock has announced a strategic collaboration with Genus Power Infrastructures, the largest electricity infrastructure company in India and the leading smart meters manufacturer in the country. As part of the collaboration, Nanolock’s solution will be integrated into GPI’s smart meters and will provide protection against power fraud and cyber attacks on the grid.

Electreon to pave its electric road in a toll road in Italy

Posted on by Techtime

Electreon Wireless will conduct its first pilot project in Italy, in collaboration with the Italian toll road operator A.p.S Brebemi. The two companies signed a MOU earlier this year, which went into effect this month, as reported by Electreon to the israeli stock exchange this week. It is Electreon first project with a toll road operator. The israeli company stated the engagement with Brebemi has a strategic potential for its business.”The collaboration may promote further penetration of the wireless electric road system into the European and international markets.”

Brebemi operates the A35 toll road in Italy, which connects the cities of Brescia and Milan in the Lombardy region. As a first step, it was agreed that Brebemi would purchase a pilot project from Electreon that includes construction and demonstration of the wireless electric road on a one-kilometer section of road, adjacent to the A35 toll road, for 36 months. The goal of the pilot is to test applicability of the technology in the context of toll roads. If succesful, the pilot may lead to installation of the wireless charging infrastructure into more segments along A35.

The holding of Brebemi was recently acquired by Aleatica SAU, a global infrastructure contractor headquartered in Spain and operates mostly in Latin America. The company manages some 20 franchises around the world, including fifteen toll roads, three ports, one light rail and one airport. SAU Aleatica is owned by the Australian fund IFM, one of the largest investors in infrastructure.

First Electric Roads in Sweden and Tel-Aviv

Electreon Wireless developed an electric road technology that charges the batteries of electric vehicles during their drive on the electrical section. It is based on the use of magnetic coils that are placed under the traffic lanes and charge the vehicles’ chargers wirelessly, using magnetic induction. This helps to reduce the weight of the electric vehicles, since a relatively small battery is needed. The system includes a management unit located on the sides of the traffic lanes of the electric road, and a receiver unit located in the vehicle’s undercarriage.

The company reported last March on the complete integration of the system on a public road on the island of Gotland in Sweden and successfully performed a dynamic and static wireless charging experiment of a heavy electric truck equipped with receivers that it developed. It recently reported the start of an Israeli pilot in collaboration with Dan Bus Company and the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality: paving a smart road with infrastructure for charging electric buses on a 2 km section of which the electric road section will be about 600 meters and will connect Tel Aviv University to the nearby train station. Electreon is traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange at a market value of approximately NIS 3 billion.