Similarities and Differences of the Interactive Concepts between China and Germany Smart Meters

In the world, the power consumption information acquisition system is called the advanced measurement system. The interaction with the user is one of the important functions of the smart meter and constitutes a complete interactive system of the advanced measurement system. The smart meter can not only realize the measurement of electric energy, but also can connect with other energy meters, such as water meter, gas meter, and heat meter, to realize multi-table copying. In 2013, the German Information Security Agency (BSI) was entrusted by the German Ministry of Economy and Energy to develop a new technical specification for smart metering systems, and put forward a smart meter gateway as the center, based on advanced two-way communication network connection measurement. The intelligent measurement system (Intelligent Measurement System) for the instrument network, wide-area electricity market, and demand-side interaction is abbreviated as iMsys. In this architecture, electricity meters (as well as gas meters, water meters, etc.) are just measuring sensors responsible for collecting data, while smart meter gateways are the core of system intelligence and are key functional modules that connect participants from different regions. This lays the foundation for the definition of a unified, interoperable smart meter measurement system and is currently a uniform technical guideline accepted by the German industry.

The smart meters currently installed in China do not usually have direct interactive functions. The interactive functions are usually implemented through the 95598 portal site of the power supply enterprise. The energy data needs to be sent to the power consumption information collection system. After verification processing, it is sent to the marketing business system. The marketing business system periodically synchronizes the user energy data to the 95598 portal website database. Due to the large number of intermediate links, it is usually only possible to provide electricity data query for the past month and before.

In May of this year, at METERINGChina2015, held by Global Meters, experts from NARI Group shared a smart meter interaction model that NARI Group is developing, which means that smart meters interact directly. Smart meters form a user interaction link by extending communications to home interactive routers and interactive terminals. By introducing a smart meter with direct interaction, users can not only obtain real-time energy application through interaction with the energy meter, guide users to use scientific and rational electricity, and realize various types of power business such as application for expansion, fault warranty, and payment, etc. It can support various energy-saving applications such as user energy efficiency management, automatic demand-side response, and orderly charging of electric vehicles, which is of great significance for the realization of intelligent power usage.

However, to achieve direct interaction between users and smart meters, it is also necessary to solve problems such as lower communication speeds and how to ensure data security. At the same time, in order to implement various types of applications for direct interaction of smart meters, a two-way interactive platform on the grid side needs to be constructed. It supports various types of interactive functions such as publishing public information, payment, business management, and remote control of electricity equipment. How to expand the two-way interactive function based on the current data acquisition communication is also a technical difficulty that must be solved.

In general, a unified technical standard can help companies better formulate R&D plans and marketing to help reduce costs. The current domestic standard for two-way interaction of smart meters has not yet been formed, and the technical specifications introduced by Germany have set a high technical threshold for the information security and functionality of smart meter systems. This has caused German companies to launch related products for German power grid companies. Putting into use has increased a lot of difficulty, but also increased costs and expenses. At present, this technical specification is still being further improved. However, it is foreseeable that, in the future, demand-side energy data may become an important commodity in the electricity market, then market participants who can grasp the massive load and power generation data will occupy a pivotal position, and even have the ability to determine the market.