The European discussion about data management in the energy sector is driven by the smart meter roll-out and the need to reduce market entry barriers via data access, writes Marius Buchmann, Post-Doc at Jacobs University in Bremen, Germany. Most European countries are discussing or have introduced Retail Hubs to facilitate data collection and distribution. Germany already has mechanisms in place to do this and is instead discussing the introduction of a Grid Hub. Article courtesy of Buchmann’s blog Enerquire.
Information and communication technology (ICT) is currently applied to the electricity networks to reduce the costs of the energy transition. For Germany, the calculations are that the smart grid approach could reduce the costs for the energy transition by 40% (BMWi 2014). To exploit this potential for cost reductions, data needs to be exchanged between the network users (consumers & producers), the network operators and market parties. Most prominently, we need to define a process how to exchange data from smart meters or other advanced metering infrastructure (AMI).
To increase competition, the EU is keen to reduce entry barriers and retail data hubs can be one approach to do this
The EU Commission requires each member state to equip 80% of all network users with smart meters till 2020. That is, if a Cost-Benefit-Analysis (CBA) shows that smart metering can actually save the network users some money. All member states have conducted these CBAs and the results can be clustered into three categories:
- Positive CBA and large-scale roll-out planned/started
- Inconclusive: CBA not clear, some countries plan roll-outs, some don’t
- Negative CBA and no roll-out planned
In total, we can expect that around 200 million smart meters will be installed in Europe till 2020 . Several important issues need to be addressed related to this large scale roll-out, e.g. privacy, security etc. For now, we want to focus on how the different EU states want to make the data of smart meters accessible for all eligible parties.
Smart meter data can be used for three different applications:
- The retail market: Smart meter data can be used to simplify switching processes, to apply time-of-use tariffs and for billing processes as well. Furthermore, smart meter data can help to increase the efficiency of market party communication: the data exchange between retailers and network operators for billing and balancing processes.
- Grid operation: Smart meter data can help to operate the networks. The transmission and distribution grid operators can use the data to develop more accurate projections to balance the networks, contract flexibility etc.
- The Service market: Smart meters allow a much more detailed tracking of energy consumption and production. Developers can use this data to provide new services to the consumers that go beyond the established retail services. For example, the data could be used to provide energy efficiency applications or to develop virtual power plants on a small scale (e.g. a few households with electric cars).
Data management in Europe – Focus on retail data hubs
From a governmental perspective, once a roll-out plan for smart meters has been developed, the logical next step should focus on the definition of a meter data management (MDM) system. If you have 80% of all network users equipped with smart meters, you want to make use of the data gathered by the meters.
Today, we are in the phase where the European countries that plan an 80% smart meter roll-out are developing such data management systems. If we take a closer look at these initiatives it becomes evident that they all focus on the retail market. These data management systems provide a framework to exchange data from smart metering for billing, switching processes and tariffs. Therefore, we label these initiatives Retail Data Hubs. It makes sense to start with these topics as they are at the heart of the current energy business.
Starting in 2018, a centralized data hub will facilitate the data exchange between market parties in Belgium
Retail Data Hubs are introduced to address two primary issues:
- secure equal access to data from smart metering
- increase efficiency in the communication between market parties, especially between network operators and retails for billing and switching purposes
Especially the access to data for switching and billing processes used to be a market entry barrier for new service providers that tried to compete with the incumbent businesses. To increase competition, the EU is therefore keen to reduce these entry barriers and retail data hubs can be one approach to do this.
We can find several examples for such Retail Data Hubs for meter data management in different European states. The most prominent examples are ATRIAS in Belgium and ElHub in Norway. You can find a detailed overview about the status quo of different Retail Hubs here.
Belgium: Central Market System (CMS) aka ATRIAS
Starting in 2018, a centralized data hub CMS will facilitate the data exchange between market parties in Belgium. The CMS is operated and financed by a company called ATRIAS, which is run by the distribution system operators. The CMS connects the databases of the network operators (who collect the data from the smart meters) with the relevant and eligible market parties.
Thus, ATRIAS has a focus on the data exchange between the DSOs and retail businesses. Other parties, like the transmission system operators and third party service providers willl get access to the data as well (CEER 2016).
Norway: ElHub
Norway has a similar plan as Belgium to manage the data exchange from smart metering. This year the ElHub (Electricity Hub) will start operation and facilitate the data exchange between market parties in Norway.
ElHub is operated by the national TSO. Smart metering data is collected via the DSOs and stored in the ElHub together with consumer data from the retailers.
ElHub aims at a standardisation of data access to smart meter data for all eligible parties. In the beginning, ElHub will provide hourly values for smart metering, but might increase this up to 15-minute values. The customers are in full control of their data, which they can access via an online tool and thereby manage third party access to their data sets (CEER 2016).
The German approach
Compared to Belgium and Norway, Germany is heading into a different direction. There is no plan yet to develop a Retail Data Hub in Germany. Rather, each consumer can define which market party gets access to their smart mater data. This results in a very decentralized data management system with a so-called star-shaped structure. This structure is called star-shaped as the smart meter stores data and this data is exchanged with all eligible parties via a standardized interface (smart meter gateway) Thereby, each market party, service provider and network operator establishes an independent connection with the smart meter.
Importantly, Germany does not plan a full roll-out of smart meters. Rather, it plans to equip about 10-20% of all network users (consumers with high demand and generators above 7kW) with so-called intelligent metering systems (imsys). These imsys can exchange data with external parties via the smart meter gateway.
All other network users will only be equipped with modern metering systems, which do not have the smart meter gateway interface. They can only be used to visualize electricity consumption, not to exchange data with external parties.
This system combined with the smart meter gateway and the star-shaped structure is intended to secure that every eligible party has the same access to metering data and that the consumers keep the power over their data. Thus, as it is, Germany already has a system in place to secure equal access to data from smart metering.
We can expect that Retail Hubs will evolve towards facilitators of value-added services, at least allowing the market parties beyond existing retailers to access the data on smart metering
Additionally, Germany already has a standardized interface (EDIFACT) for the data exchange between market parties to secure efficient processes for supplier switching, billing and balancing.
This shows that Germany already addresses the two issues of smart meter data access and efficient market processes that are central to the Retail Data Hubs in Europe. Consequently, Germany is not explicitly discussing the introduction of a Retail Data Hub at the moment but is focusing on another important aspect related to meter data management systems: the development of a data management platform for network operation, a Grid Hub.
A Grid Hub can be defined as a data hub that collects all data from smart meters, generators and the network infrastructure and makes this data available to the network operators for system operation. In the past, it was sufficient to have data about generation on the transmission level, but this is changing with the energy transition and the increasing importance of renewables. In Germany, 95% of the renewables are connected to the distribution girds; similar developments take place in Spain and in other European countries. Therefore, the system operators require data on generation on the distribution grid as well.
The shift in data requirements from transmission to the distribution level has important implications. Besides load balancing, the provision of ancillary services (voltage and frequency control, reactive power management etc.) now can and needs to be provided on the distribution grid level. Additionally, prospects are that we can use existing and new electricity consumers like heat pumps, electric vehicles and battery storages to provide flexibility to the networks to reduce congestion in the grid. For all these services and applications the network operators need access to data to secure stable operation and to develop accurate projections of load and demand.
In Germany, it is currently discussed what such a Grid Hub should look like. Which data should be stored? How should data be validated? Who should get access to the data and which entity should operate and own the Grid Hub?
The German discussion is already evolving towards a more general discussion about the roles and responsibilities of the network operators
These discussions are currently summarized under the headline of the energy information network (Energieinformationsnetz). So far, the energy information network consists of standardized data packages and communication protocols that secure the data exchange between large generators (>10MW) that are connected to the medium or high voltage grids. At the end of 2016 the transmission system operators (TSO) proposed in a study to develop a central data hub that collects all data needed for network operation from all networks and the connected users.
For example, it is discussed that the Grid Hub collects data from all larger consumers (above 6000 kWh) and small-scale electricity generators (e.g. Photovoltaic power plants >7kW) as well as from the network infrastructure (e.g. intelligent transformer stations). The proposal by the TSOs suggests that this data is collected without aggregation and that the energy information network data hub is operated by the TSOs.
Takeaways: Europe focuses on Retail Hubs, Germany on a Grid Hub
Summing up, we can see that the European discussion about data management in the energy sector is driven by the smart meter roll-out and the need to reduce market entry barriers via data access. Therefore, most European states are at least discussing or already introducing Retail Hubs that should facilitate the data collection and distribution from smart metering for billing, switching and balancing purposes.
This is an important and relevant discussion in Germany as well, but Germany has already different systems in place to secure a level playing field in the retail sector that are currently not under revision. It might happen that Germany establishes a Retail Hub in the future as well, but this is not likely to happen before the smart meter roll-out is finished (anticipated for 2032).
However, due to the increasing share of renewables and the increasing number of new electricity devices (e.g. electric vehicles and battery storage) on the distribution grid level, Germany needs to establish a process to secure data availability for network operation and discusses what a Grid Hub could look like in its function to collect, validate and distribute data for network operation to the network operators. This is a very different discussion than the one currently taking place in other European states.
Outlook
The current debate on Retail Hubs and the Grid Hub are the foundation for the next steps in the digitization process of the energy sector. We can expect that Retail Hubs will evolve towards facilitators of value-added services, at least allowing the market parties beyond existing retailers to access the data on smart metering (given the permission of the data owners).
Furthermore, the German discussion is already evolving towards a more general discussion about the roles and responsibilities of the network operators. How do we facilitate the coordination between TSO and DSO in the future? Who is responsible for system stability? Who can access regional electricity markets or flexibility markets?
What do you think? Will we see a national Grid Hub in Germany and who is going to operate it?
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Editor’s Note
Marius Buchmann (Twitter: @enerquire_) is a Post-Doc at Jacobs University in Bremen, Germany. He currently focuses on the digitalization of the energy sector and energy transition. He conducted several projects in Europe and Asia related to smart grids, electric mobility and regulation. His clients are energy utilities and public agencies. Currently he coordinates the project group enera (www.projectenera.com) at Jacobs University. This article was first published on Marius’ blog Enerquire and is republished here with permission.
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Rok Pernuš says
This won’t end well. It’s just another bubble, that will end in disaster. Production problems cannot be solved with (re)distribution means. It’s like building a perpeetum mobile on a giant scale. Economy is more or less running in the same rhythm, working hours and days are basically the same throughout Europe. Furthermore, we have basically two independent probabilistic systems (weather and economy), that can never be synchronized without one becoming deterministically dependent on the other. Since we don’t control the weather, it can be only economy following weather through demand response. That effectively means, we are returning to pre-industrial age, where economy was following weather patterns. It is energy on demand, that enabled economic growth. I mostly came from fossil fuels, which is nothing but stored solar energy. If we want renewables to become a viable options, it must be efficient enough to optimally follow energy demands in economy through cheap buffer (energy storage) at a LCOE 5-10ct/kWh. This is the only way to go. Unfortunately, we don’t have such technologies yet. Efficiencies of PV is a joke, wind has reached limit of social acceptance (NIMBY), and frankly, it makes sense only in areas with steady wind (i.e. North sea shores). Right now we can only invest in energy efficiency (specially heat), co-generation and new, better technologies, that can truly make a difference. Everything else is delusional!
Helmut Frik says
The error is in the assumption, that all demand can not be shifted in time.
But a lot of demand for electricity can be shifted in time, and often these are consumers which consume a reall hell of electricity.
They function as storage then for the grid, but it’s a ond way stroage, where no electricity is coming back from it, but reduced demand at other times.
The energy is stored in the products then – in Aluminium in case of aluminium smelters, in form of pulverised rock in cane of cement production, in form of reduced temperatures in cold storage warehouses, in for of hot water in case of huge district heating hot water storages fueld with big heat pumpes or for short peaks resistors, and so on, a giant amount of different “storages” in form of products.
Rok Pernuš says
Well, if somebody is anything assuming here, it is you. Tell me, how much demand can you shift without negatively impacting economy…10%? 20%?…All analysis I have seen so far were based on rather vague assumptions. That’s why they’re all talking about “big data” to figure it out. But the question is, how can you even know in today’s ever changing and diversified economy?…How can you tell how much can be shifted in the future?…And there are seasonal fluctuations. How will you deal with that? Honestly, I don’t think anybody can know that for certain. You simply cannot directly deterministically control probabilistic systems, it’s simply not mathematically possible. In the case of society, not without coercion. Paradoxically, it will be market based, systemically imposed by policy makers. It will also mean new stratification of society, since energy on demand will become a luxury. And the consumers will not be pleased. That’s why demand response is a fundamentally flawed approach. It is one thing to talk about energy savings (which makes A LOT of sense), but quite something else to assume demand can be easily shifted. On the end, at certain share of intermittent energy sources, somebody will have to pay for the storage, there’s simply no way around it, if we don’t want our economy to collapse. This demand response hype is nothing but a big charade in order to shift the cost of energy transition on the consumer. And when the public will notice, oh, boy will there be a backlash. Policy makers are playing with fire here!
Helmut Frik says
You can see from countries like france where a lot of demand is pushed in the night, that 10-20% are not a real problem. Especially since for many tasks it’s more easy to move them from the nicht to the day for example.
It is not neccesary to calculate all such things in detail in advance over 30 years, and to want to control them in a central approach.
Important is to impleent a flexible process, and allow the markets to decide what is cheaper.
Give the perople the real prices of what they are demanding, be it cheap or expensive. In the end they have to pay it any way, there is no such thing as a free lunch. It is just hidden today in the average, that today, and much more 10 or 20 years ago electricity was very expensive at times.
In earlier times it was neccesary to work with constant pices no matter how high or low the real prices were, because feraris counters could not work with variable prices. That technical restriction is gone. And demand response exists for all other products in everybodies life, and nobody has a problem with it. If you want to get strawberrys in january at three o’clock in the night you pay a premium price. Nothing special about this.
And the average bill will remain the same if someone decides to ignore all price signals.
In the end it is important to implement a process of grid and power generation development planning, which recusively planns new every one or two year, to adopt to changes in markets and technologys. This way there is no problem to adopt to smaller or bgger demand responses, changing prices of generation, grids and storages, and adopt the plans continuoisly to the changes.
People can decide then what is cheaper and more convenient for them. Adopt consumption, build some storage, buy power from the next continent, add some extra generation, etc.
Another poit is that there are enough instruments to plan propabilistic systems to make relyable systems. In telecomunications and data transmission, ther never was a deterministic behaviour in systems, but that did not stop anybody from making these systems reliable. But you have to plan systems according their characteristics. These characteristics are well known today for wind and solar, and so grid operators can do their planings. But net everybody outside this busines knows how this works today. But if someone does not know how things work, this does not mean that things do not work at all.
Tilleul says
By order of importance modern economy needs : heating&cooling, mobility and electricity… You don’t have to follow electrical demand you only need to have a flexible energy conversion system. Denmark doesn’t separate the provision of electricity from the provision of power, they linked the two energy systems through district heating : if there is no wind they heat with combined heat & power and if it’s a windy day they heat with electricity…
Rok Pernuš says
Well, it’s not that simple…What will you do with overproduction? Denmark already exports quite a big part of its electricity production. What will you do with overproduction? Without storage you’ll need to curtail. You’ll need also a lot overcapacity…which can be very expensive…
Helmut Frik says
Expand the grid, after about 1500km you can be relatively sure you will find a area where wind is low at that moment After 3000km you can be very sure to find such a area. 3000km Distance is not a real problem any more with todays technology and grids. But it requires to keep the grids up to date. So it might not work with a grid built 50 years ago.
Nigel West says
There is no appetite for building a ‘supergrid’ of that extent given the risks and costs involved, particularly with lulls across Europe in winter when demand is high, except amongst people who want 100% renewables and believe a ‘supergrid’ might achieve this. However something similar might evolve over many decades as grid interconnections around Europe grow stronger.
Helmut Frik says
There are no lulls across whole europe. (And forget Euan MEarns […] site, where two retiered geologists have fun to write some nonsense articles which just sound good. 10% of europe is not whole europe)
Nigel West says
Rok, on Cogen there is much the UK could and should have done years ago to make use of power station waste heat. There are few heat distribution networks in UK cities. Big industrial and commercial sites do have cogen. Shame the UK didn’t follow other northern European cities where Cogen is used for domestic heat provision. When I worked in Germany I saw their cogen plants and heat systems and thought why didn’t the UK do this. Perhaps because when coal was dominant the drive for large plants on the coal fields put them too far from cities to pipe the heat, and the cost of laying the heat network.
Frans Rusting says
I am certainly not against smart meters and smart grids.
But: remember the book ‘Black Out’ by Marc Elsberg? This of course romanticised story could happen in the future. This is the risk of installing smart meters and realising smart grids.
One of the problems is that smart grids have numerous access points which is probably great from the point of view of hackers, both civilian and military.
All I know about hacking is that I have the strong impression that ‘hack-proof’ is an impossibility.
And I know that electricity is extremely important for all facets of our daily life, which makes things like smart grids even more interesting for hackers.
Solution? No idea. Requires people smarter than me.
Helmut Frik says
Dumb systems are often hack proof. E.g. you can’t hack a classical POTS system, because it’s too dumb to understand what the hacker wants from it. So one key design parameter for smart meters might be to make them dumb in a intelligent way. Unable to do things wrong.
Since this makes the system more inflexible, you have to think first and build later.
I would be fine if any change of software in a smart meter would mean the physical exchange of a ROM. And if the only protocol the smart meter understands is receiving Price data and sending consumptions per month and price of the consumed power accumulated per month. This data is completely sufficient to do all the things expected of a smart grid.
This still allows to send false price information from the utility. It might be useful if the smart meter only accepts a certain rate of price change per hour, to allow to cut of communication manually if strange things happen. (litteraly pull the plug on the side of the utility)
Frans Rusting says
POTS might take away some problems. However, in many places it doesn’t exist any more. Btw: both POTS and internet do transmission of data, and it is not the internet that is hacked but computers that need communication with other computers.
With regard to smart meters: yes, your thoughts seem worthwile to think about. Although, you’re maybe decreasing the usefulness of smart meters by making them less smart.
But in fact I am more worried about smart grids. They certainly require a lot of interaction between equipments. Given the fact that POTS is often not available, there are probably two options: use the internet or use the 230V cables. Internet is risky, but the powerlines also because they are too accessible and from too many places.
I fear that the only systems that can be made reasonably hackproof are HV systems, if the HV cables themselves are used for data transmission. Plus, HV installations are limited in number and not easily accessible.
I am still worried. Because indeed, if the systems are not very carefully designed, we may end up with a lot of problems. This is not about making hacking difficult, but about ensuring that hackers have no possibility to enter the systems.
Helmut Frik says
Please read again what I was writing. I did not propose to use POTS systems, because they are not suitable for smart grids.
The important point is to make it impossible to hack the system. Whenever physical access to each cable to each house is neccesary to compromise a system, it is hack proof enough. Hacking is relevant, when from one pint millions of units can be accessed. When you need millions of hacckers to acss millions of single cables, this is no atack which works in practice. Designing systems carfully is always neccesary. It today someone enterst the control software of some big poweer stations and switches a dozend of them off in the same second, the grid is down, too.
Nigel West says
UK smart meters said here to be a mess:
http://euanmearns.com/uk-smart-meters-a-ghastly-mess-created-by-decc/