Siemens and Tendril Team Up for Consumer Energy Management Solutions

ORLANDO, Fla. and BOULDER, Colo., June 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Siemens Energy, Inc. and Tendril, a leading energy platform company, have entered into a strategic alliance to market the Tendril Connect™ platform to utilities. Siemens will deliver the Tendril solutions to energy marketers and distribution network operators with its proven project management capabilities, PM@Siemens. The partnership will initially target the U.S. and Canadian markets and then expand internationally. Additionally, Siemens Venture Capital (SVC) has invested in Tendril, making this its eighth investment in the Smart Grid area. Both actions enhance Siemens' portfolio of Smart Grid solutions by extending available applications to include home energy management, enabling Siemens to create larger operational value for utilities.

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Consisting of an integrated suite of utility and consumer applications, Tendril Connect is an open standards-based, scalable and secure platform for energy service providers and third-party original equipment manufacturers. By implementing Tendril Connect, Siemens will deliver applications and solutions that engage consumers to actively participate in home energy management programs, including energy efficiency, demand response, direct load control, electric vehicle and smart appliance management, and distributed generation.

"Tendril's expertise in consumer energy management and its highly regarded platform make them an ideal partner for Siemens," said Paul Camuti, president, Smart Grid Applications, Siemens Energy, Inc. "Tendril Connect coupled with Siemens' extensive utility systems integration experience and renowned project management expertise will help utilities bring the benefits of a Smart Grid to their customers in a timely and cost effective way."

The strategic alliance will provide utilities with a powerful set of tools to lower operating costs, increase reliability and meet efficiency objectives. Utilities will have the ability to perform demand forecasting and enable demand response event participation. Residential consumers will be offered a high degree of visibility on usage, better estimates of monthly energy bills and the ability to control their consumption to meet their individual needs.

"The energy management and efficiency markets are crowded with companies taking a very narrow and piecemeal approach to solving a single problem for utilities and their customers," said Ralf Schnell, CEO of Siemens Venture Capital. "What makes Tendril's solution so powerful is that as a cloud-based platform, it enables a new generation of products, applications and devices that address the needs from the meter to the home. Together, Siemens and Tendril provide a better return on energy for all electricity stakeholders."

Since 2000, SVC has invested more than EUR30 million in Smart Grid technology, systematically building a portfolio of companies that provide technologies and solutions for grid management, energy efficiency, demand response and electric vehicle infrastructure. SVC will support Tendril with market and technology insight, guidance on operational and financial questions and with contacts.

"As a globally recognized leader in energy-related products, services and finance, Siemens brings decades of expertise to bear for its partners, customers and portfolio of investments and makes them a great partner," said Adrian Tuck, president and CEO, Tendril. "This alliance vastly expands Tendril's footprint, putting our next generation energy management solutions into the hands of more utilities around the world. Together, we will provide utilities with the means to deliver more value to their consumers while increasing their revenue and the efficiency of the grid."

Siemens understands the complete energy conversion chain and is able to transform today's grid into a living infrastructure that is smart enough to respond quickly, flexibly and comprehensively to society's energy needs. Siemens incorporates solutions for commercial and industrial applications as well as smart homes, including building automation, IT systems integration, advanced lighting technology and energy efficient appliances for a comprehensive Smart Grid solution.

The Siemens Energy Sector is the world's leading supplier of a complete spectrum of products, services and solutions for the generation, transmission and distribution of power and for the extraction, conversion and transport of oil and gas. In fiscal 2010 (ended September 30), the Energy Sector had revenues of approximately EUR25.5 billion and received new orders totaling more than EUR30.1 billion and posted a profit of more than EUR3.6 billion. On September 30, 2010, the Energy Sector had a work force of more than 88,000. Further information is available at: www.siemens.com/energy.

Siemens Venture Capital GmbH (SVC), the corporate venture capital organization of Siemens and a business segment of Siemens Financial Services, invests in early-stage technology companies and established growth companies, focusing on the energy, industry and healthcare sectors. In this way, SVC identifies innovative solutions from which Siemens can profit and plays a key role in Siemens' global innovation network. To date, the company has invested more than EUR 800 mn in over 150 companies and 40 venture capital funds. In addition, SVC advises the German Siemens pension funds on their private equity allocation. It is in this context that SVC has launched the venture capital fund of funds Siemens Global Innovation Partners I.

About Tendril

Tendril is a leading energy platform company that is helping to drive the large-scale deployment of the Smart Grid through the development of forward-thinking solutions as well as its work to establish industry protocols. The Tendril platform provides an open standards-based, scalable and secure end-to-end solution for the Energy Internet -- the network for existing and upcoming Smart Grid technologies. With applications, products and services enabled by the platform, Tendril creates a dialogue and marketplace between energy providers, consumers and the energy ecosystem. Tendril is venture backed by VantagePoint Venture Partners, Siemens Venture Capital (SVC), Good Energies, RRE Ventures, Vista Ventures, GE and Appian Ventures. For more information, visit http://www.tendrilinc.com.

SOURCE Siemens Energy