Frankfurt, 24 November, 2023 - Gridspertise S.r.l. (“Gridspertise”), a global player dedicated to supporting distribution system operators worldwide in accelerating the digital transformation of electricity grids, and Cuculus GmbH (“Cuculus”), a German-based software company specialized in critical infrastructures in the utility environment globally, announce the setup of neugemacht (“neugemacht”), a joint venture 51% owned by Gridspertise and 49% by Cuculus, aiming at accelerating the digitalization of German electricity grids.

As shown on the neugemacht’s website, (www.neugemacht.com) the solutions offered include all necessary components, such as meters, smart meter gateways (SMGWs), communication, a software platform, system integration, installation services, and operation to offer a turn-key Metering-as-a-Service. The new company is extending the smart metering solutions beyond the basic metering point operator. This way a complete offering for competitive metering point operator is also made available covering the whole of Germany energy market directly via neugemacht. This kind of offering will be brought to the market for the first time and leveraging on a strong and growing partner network eco-system, where providers of e-mobility, producers of renewable energies, manufacturers of heating systems, submetering companies and energy communities can all equally benefit. 

The new company setup follows the launch of the joint brand neugemacht presented at E-World in May 2023, and embodies Gridspertise and Cuculus joint effort to support the German energy market. The new company establishment is timely with the recent German government law to restart the digitalization of the energy transition and accelerate the rollout of smart metering, providing a roadmap with binding targets until 2028. Consumers with a power demand above 6,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) per year and renewable operators with over seven kilowatts (kW) of installed capacity will be subject to mandatory installation from 2025.

“Gridspertise leverages more than 20 years of knowledge and field experience in the development of smart metering solutions in several geographies. Our recent milestone of 100 million smart meter delivered with Gridspertise technology stands as a demonstration of our solid background and experience. We are now bringing our expertise to Germany together with our partner Cuculus, specialized on Meter Data Management” - said Robert Denda, Chief Executive Officer of Gridspertise. “By offering end-to-end metering solutions, our joint venture neugemacht can really bring speed in the implementation of the German smart meter rollout and enable the active participation of customers in the energy transition”.

"This is the ideal partnership and the right setup to enter the German market at the right time and at the necessary scale. We have always been here but so far, the market didn’t need our expertise on very large, scalable and flexible systems yet. Cuculus is coming back home with its new partner Gridspertise. Next to municipalities we are also targeting customers in the real estate sector and help to achieve a successful change into the new areas these sectors have ahead of them. Via a broad partner ecosystem, neugemacht offers rapid rollouts for our full Metering-as-a-Service (MaaS) offerings", says René Böringer, Chief Executive Officer of Cuculus: “The answer lies in a complete end-to-end-offering of a flexible and future-oriented supply and management system which is also ready to break the sector boundaries. This is what neugemacht stands for”.

The agreements for the establishment of the new company have been signed during a ceremony held in Frankfurt, where neugemacht will be headquartered.

About neugemacht

neugemacht is the new joint venture between Gridspertise S.r.l., a global player dedicated to supporting distribution system operators worldwide in accelerating the digital transformation of electricity grids, and Cuculus GmbH, a leading German software company specialized in critical infrastructures in the utility environment globally. The company offers a comprehensive digital platform for metering point operation that meets the requirements of both the basic metering point operator and the competitive metering point operator in the German market. 

For more information visit www.neugemacht.com

About Gridspertise

Gridspertise offers grid intelligent devices, end-to-end cloud-edge platform solutions and services to accelerate the digital transformation of electricity distribution grids across three main areas: metering and grid edge digitalization, network infrastructure digitalization, field operation digitalization. The Company’s portfolio is designed as an open ecosystem, easy to integrate with Distribution System Operators' existing infrastructure, combining intelligent and automated grid devices with ready-to-use modular applications, running at central level as well as on the edge. The Company was set up in 2021 as a carve-out of Enel’s twenty-year-long experience in developing, testing, and scaling up digital technologies to transform legacy distribution networks into smart grids. Gridspertise is today jointly controlled by the Enel Group and one of the leading global alternative investment managers, CVC Capital Partners. The Company has a significant intellectual property portfolio of over 350 patents and combines its expertise in grid digitalization with cutting-edge solutions from leading technology partners to tackle the evolving digitalization needs of the energy market. A milestone of 100 million smart meters with Gridspertise technology delivered globally has been recently reached by the Company, meeting the need of several energy markets and regulations. Gridspertise is headquartered in Italy with subsidiaries in Spain, Brazil, India and the United States. Current target markets include Europe, Latin America and North America, expanding towards Asia-Pacific and Africa, where investments in power grids will drive infrastructure upgrade projects in the near future. Furthermore, the recent acquisition of Aidon, a leader in smart metering in the Nordics, expands Gridspertise opportunities in one of the most advanced grids scenarios.

For further information, visit www.gridspertise.com or contact Gridspertise Institutional Communication at pressoffice@gridspertise.com

About Cuculus

Cuculus GmbH is a privately held German company offering its leading “ZONOS” IoT Platform for critical infrastructure, including Advanced Meter Management (AMM), Meter Data Management (MDM) and Smart Payment Systems to the range of Smart Metering initiatives in the utilities industry worldwide. The ZONOS system is used by more than 20 smart metering infrastructure customers over 4 continents. Worldwide 17 partners sales- and project partners are managed from 3 offices in Germany plus offices in Johannesburg, South Africa, Bangalore in India, and Dubai, UAE. Cuculus’ products and services are recognized for the combination of a cutting- edge technology solution with an in-depth market expertise and sector knowledge. Using its ZONOS IoT platform, CUCULUS delivers open and scalable solutions to enable utilities’ business processes, consolidating diverse metering platforms and the assigned communication networks. Via our ZONOS platform we are helping about 15 million households worldwide, to get a bit closer to our vision: “affordable energy and water for everyone”.

Please find further information on www.cuculus.com or get in touch with Cuculus Communications at office@cuculus.com