The selection of the most suitable communications technology for a smart metering solution is an important step when building a smart metering infrastructure. Communication technology has evolved dramatically since the first installations of ‘smart’ meters, and so did the expectation regarding data availability, and functionality around smart metering. For a long time it was sufficient to read out data once a day for monthly invoicing, but today expectations are often moving in the direction of near real-time availability - for example, to enable DSO to provide load profile and consumption data in a customer portal, have power quality data available for analysis at short intervals, or use the smart meter infrastructure as replacement for ripple control load management.
The transition towards electrical energy generation from renewables is one of the key prerequisites for creating a greener and more sustainable future for all of us. Great progress has been achieved in integrating renewable sources into the network, and according to the International Energy Agency, the electricity generation specifically from photovoltaics will grow 15% per year until 2030. This is a success - however, the integration of photovoltaic plants also comes with quite a few challenges.
In B2B Service Business, SLAs play an integral part of the business. The clearer the individual needs of the customer, the better the value for money the service provider can deliver. At Landis+Gyr, we have been in the service business for over a decade. We have worked with over 30 managed metering reading service customers with different SLA levels in EMEA, each of them tailor-made and individually defined. Here we are sharing some of our learnings.
We have probably all been there: having to choose the right internet connection at home. For this, you need to make a decision on the required service level. To find out what that is, you speak to the service provider and they will be asking you things like: “How many devices do you want connected? Do you stream movies or games? Do you need your connection for working from home?” Based on your needs, you will receive an offer for a specific service for a specific price. Once you have placed your order, you have entered into a Service Level Agreement (SLA).
Austria’s easternmost province Burgenland is known for its beautiful vineyards, its spas and castles. And it is one of the forerunners when it comes to digitizing the grid. According to Austrian regulations, 95% of households need to be equipped with a smart meter by 2022. As one of the country’s first distribution system operators, Netz Burgenland committed themselves to a full-scale G3 PLC smart metering solution rollout.
The long-awaited go-ahead for the smart meter rollout in Germany has officially been given with the recent “market declaration”. There is broad acknowledgement of the benefits and importance of smart metering in the urgently needed digitization of our energy supply. Yet the path to realizing widespread grid upgrades, to include intelligent endpoints for digital business models and future markets such as submetering, is by no means predetermined or free from obstacles. The rollout will be a significant feat in financial, technical and personnel terms, particularly for small and midsize municipal utilities.
The data collected from smart metering are opening up a whole new world of opportunities for utilities. Of course, you need the data for billing, but a lot more is possible today – and even more so in the future. With the E360 we have built an intelligent endpoint with enhanced communication and measurement capabilities. And as part of our end-to-end solution Gridstream® Connect, it accompanies our customers on their way towards more data-driven use cases.
