Echelon (ELON) was a bit slow in releasing this news today or they just didn’t coordinate it well with Telvent (TLVT).  At any rate, the Fortum smart grid deal is yet another big win for Echelon (ELON) and cements them as a significant player in the smart grid arena.  The press release indicates it will provide ELON with $50 – 60 million (so about 20 mill/year beginning in 2011) over the life of the project which is the largest smart meter deployment in Finland to date. 

“We are pleased to be chosen by Fortum for this project. Finnish regulators have specified a rich set of high-level requirements that the smart grid infrastructure must meet, a trend we see growing throughout the world. Utilities and regulators are looking to leverage their investments to build a truly smart grid, and together with Echelon, we are confident that we will help Fortum to achieve that goal. Echelon has been a great partner, and I am sure that we will continue our successful relationship for many years,” said TLVT CEO Manuel Sanchez Ortega.