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Smart metering systems - why, when and where?

Smart metering systems and meters are to integrate renewable energy into our energy system and reduce electricity consumption. From 2017, according to a new draft law, they are gradually going to be installed where electricity is consumed in Germany. Who will be affected? Find out more about the digitisation of the energy transition here.

Why do we need smart metering systems?

Smart metering systems will help us to better integrate electricity from renewable sources into the market. They should help us reconcile supply and demand, and cut electricity consumption. To achieve this, they will make electricity consumption and generation transparent. For example, they make it possible to see precisely how much electricity you are using at home, or show you roughly how much electricity your solar panels are feeding into the grid. In future, a smart metering system could also tell you the time of day at which electricity is available particularly cheaply, and then switch your electric storage heater or heat pump on and off as appropriate. In future, the smart metering systems will be able not only to register the consumption of electricity, but also of gas and heat. This means that your own home can gradually be turned into a smart home - a house that makes smart, efficient use of energy. So smart metering systems can help the energy transition to succeed.

When are smart metering systems to be rolled out?

The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy wants smart metering systems to be gradually rolled out in Germany from 2017 - both for consumers and for generators. To this end, it has drafted an "Act to Digitise the Energy Transition". We will start with large-scale users which consume more than 10,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) a year, and generators with installed capacity between 7 and 100 kilowatts (kW). From 2020, it will be possible to require other consumers and generators to install smart meters. Also, smart metering systems can always be fitted on a voluntary basis. By way of comparison: an average four-person household in Germany consumes 4,400 kWh a year.

Who will cover the various costs?

The installation and operating costs are normally to be borne by the consumer or the operator of the generating plant - as is already the case with conventional electricity meters. The new aspect is the protection the consumers/operators will enjoy: there are individual price ceilings which must always be kept to when the equipment is installed. Smart meters should only be installed if the likely benefits outweigh the costs. In the case of consumers, for example, this will depend on the degree to which their electricity costs can probably be reduced.

How will the user know what happens to his data?

The draft legislation contains strict transparency requirements. The operators of the metering points must provide each consumer with separate data sheets explaining who gets what data and when.

How important is data protection and security?

Data protection and security is a crucial aspect of the use of smart metering systems. This is because using them will increase the volume of data transferred: rather than once a year, measurements will be registered as frequently as every quarter of an hour. The draft legislation provides that all smart meters will have to comply with special protection profiles and technical guidelines on data protection, data security and interoperability. Only then will a smart meter become a smart metering system which complies with the standards of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI). Protection profiles and technical guidelines have been drawn up by the BSI for the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. For example, smart metering systems must have firewall mechanisms. Connections may only be established in the upstream direction, and not the other way round. This is intended to provide protection against hacking. Also, the draft legislation contains precise rules governing who can access what data and when. This ensures data protection, and at the same time data needed for energy supply can be used.

What is a "smart meter gateway"?

A "smart meter gateway" is the central communications unit of the smart metering system. Smart meter gateways manage the secure and encrypted communications between the individual components of the energy system, and are certified for this by the BSI. They are capable of integrating not only electricity meters into the smart energy grid, but also - via separate interfaces - generation and consumption facilities like solar panels, electric vehicles, electricity storage heaters and heat pumps.