Early Adopters of GCP Standard Advance Interoperability, Expanding Choices for Utilities and Meter Vendors
CHINT Global, a global metering solutions provider with its regional headquarters in Singapore, and Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI), which is innovating new ways for utilities and cities to manage energy and water, have introduced the first residential electric smart meter based on the DLMS User Association’s AC Electricity Smart Meter (ACESM) Generic Companion Profile (GCP) standard. With this collaboration, the companies are advancing interoperability and streamlining mutli-vendor solution integration for the global utility market. The GCP-compliant meter is now available globally.
The GCP standard ensures interoperability across smart metering technologies and enables a comprehensive range of smart grid use cases and functionalities. By aligning with this standard, CHINT Global and Itron enable utilities to adopt smart meters more quickly, reducing integration and deployment costs and ensuring consistent execution of smart metering use cases. By providing a standardized framework, the GCP standard eliminates the need for costly, custom-built interfaces, enabling a more efficient and scalable approach to advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) deployments.
The GCP-compliant meter features an Itron Gen5 network interface card (NIC) embedded in a CHINT electric meter. This integration was achieved through collaboration between CHINT Global and Itron, leveraging Itron’s Meter Integration Services alongside CHINT Global’s expertise in meter development. Itron supported the integration process by providing a comprehensive suite of tools, templates, and expert guidance. The solution underwent rigorous testing and validation in professional laboratories, ensuring high performance and reliability. With this collaboration, CHINT Global and Itron continue to drive innovation in the smart metering industry, contributing to a more connected and efficient energy ecosystem.
As utilities worldwide accelerate their efforts to modernize smart metering infrastructure, adopting a unified, standards-based framework is becoming increasingly critical. Standardization not only simplifies integration but also enhances interoperability, scalability, and long-term operational efficiency. The industry is shifting toward greater synergy in metering technologies, and GCP stands out as the ideal solution for streamlining meter-to-cash processes, ensuring reliability, and future-proofing utility investments.
“Itron is at the forefront of advancing interoperability and ensuring utilities worldwide can transition to a more standardized, efficient and scalable ecosystem. The GCP framework is a major step toward industry-wide standardization, enabling a more unified, scalable approach to smart metering,” said John Marcolini, Senior Vice President of Networked Solutions at Itron. “Over the past year, Itron has worked closely and in parallel with DLMS in the development of the GCP framework, and we are proud to be at the forefront of its adoption with our partner CHINT Global.”
The launch of the GCP-compliant smart meter is a testament to CHINT’s dedication to delivering high-quality, interoperable solutions for utilities worldwide. By leveraging industry standards, CHINT empowers utilities to optimize grid operations, improve efficiency, and ensure future-ready smart grid deployments.
To learn more about DLMS UA Generic Companion Profiles, see Itron's DLMS COSEM white paper. More information about CHINT Global’s metering solutions can be found here.
