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ENGIE invests in tiko, a pioneer in the development of intelligent energy management systems for the residential market

By ENGIE - 14 March 2019 - 11:02

ENGIE invests in tiko, a pioneer in the development of intelligent energy management systems for the residential market

ENGIE announces the takeover of tiko through a capital increase. Swisscom and Repower, current tiko shareholders, retain their stake in the company's capital.

Focused on the control of domestic energy consumption, this young company offers solutions for managing a wide range of electrical equipment in private homes. The aggregation of all connected homes enables the creation of virtual energy plants.

 

tiko, a Swiss startup established in 2012, has developed a unique technology for exploiting the full potential of electrical equipment (water heaters, heat pumps, solar panels, batteries, electrical outlets etc.) that may be present in most individual homes. The tiko solution connects these devices to a platform and makes them controllable. The user has a personalized dashboard that centralizes all his data in a highly secure way, he can then control his electricity consumption and comfort according to his needs, or optimize his self-consumption strategy (heating the DHW, supplying the household appliances via the connected sockets, battery charging, etc.) and reduce his electricity bill.

 

Besides the micro-local management of their energy consumption, users of tiko solutions may participate in schemes to aggregate connected homes and create extensive flexible energy consumption, generation and storage reservoirs, which react intelligently to fluctuations in the electricity network. If production in a region falls suddenly, some facilities are able to vary their heating cycle slightly until generation returns to normal. This mechanism, known as “load shedding”, frees up additional electricity capacity for the collective electricity network, thereby creating a “virtual power plant”. The company has developed algorithms based on machine learning that allow these short-term erasures to be carried out without affecting the customer's comfort.

 

Frédéric Gastaldo, general manager of tiko: "We are excited to be part of the ENGIE group. Its strong international presence, its know-how in all aspects of energy and its unique combination of energy supply will enable tiko to express its full potential, accelerate its development and integration and and thereby contribute significantly to the energy transition that is under way”.

 

Directly linked to the Group’s strategy of decentralization and digitization, this investment will ultimately result in the creation of genuine energy communities on multiple levels, from the individual home to the national electricity network, and this in territories as varied as those of the Group. This operation will also enable ENGIE to support tiko’s strategy of international development - the company has already sold several thousand copies of its solution in Switzerland, Germany, Austria and France.

 

Yves Le Gélard, Chief Digital Officer of the ENGIE Group, says: “The unique technology developed by tiko will enable us to create new services for our residential customers and move towards the building of decentralized energy communities. It effectively completes our portfolios of load-balancing and storage solutions, which are so crucial to the achievement of the energy transition.

 

To learn more about tiko, click here.