South African consulting firm EON Consulting has joined forces with global advisory firm Analysys Mason and leading renewable-energy producer Iberdrola to boost the development and implementation of smart energy technologies and services in South Africa.

“Transformation in the energy sector is taking place at a rapid pace, but there’s a shortage of skills to deal with the daily challenges utilities are facing. We will be able to help close the gap and transfer skills through this new partnership,” said EON Consulting CEO Bertha Dlamini.

Dlamini noted that EON, which worked closely with the public and private sectors to improve operational performance and strategic planning, would leverage global expertise in utility transformation and the use of smart energy technologies, taking into account the local South African context and customers.

The partnership would leverage Iberdrola’s global leadership in utility operations and technology development. Iberdrola was instrumental in developing PRIME, an open standard with real interoperability for smart metering and smart grids. The company also recently completed a rollout of more than 7.5-million smart meters in Spain; it also built built two wind farms and a 75 MW solar photovoltaic farm in South Africa.

Analysys Mason has global advisory skills and best-practice experience in communications and networks technology, utility applications and smart energy. Specialised in telecoms, media and technology, the company had worked with utilities, governments and communications service providers worldwide.

“The partnership brings together global best practice and local expertise to support the transformation of the utility sector and help deploy energy solutions that will benefit utility operators and consumers alike and enable South Africa to leapfrog the energy challenges it has faced in the past,” Dlamini told a press conference at African Utility Week in Cape Town.

EON had long-standing relationships with municipalities, Eskom and other technology providers in the country.