A path into the future

The Metering Point Operation Act was adopted three years ago; in the context of this law, digitalisation and the energy transition, intelligent solutions for measuring energy consumption are clearly needed.

Many companies and industries have already installed modern measuring equipment, tested smart measuring systems, redesigned processes and developed new business models. The first Smart Metering Summit was held in 2017, 2 years on Hager Group hosts a new edition.

Smart systems to link our solutions to energy providers

Hager Group hosted an event for German Smart Metering experts and together with partners Theben AG and Lackmann GmbH presented the Smart Metering System. Theben is the specialist for the Smart Meter Gateway, Lackmann modern and smart electricity meters and Hager for metering cabinets and the technical centre. The 80 or so participants at the event exchanged views and followed the talks by the industry associations ZVEI, FNN and VDE. Energy providers Rheinenergie Cologne, EnBW Karlsruhe and EGT Triberg with EWS Schönau were also at the event to share their experience, solutions for the current network grid and answers questions about energy distribution. Industry-renowned law firm BBH provided answers on the legal implications of the Energy Industry Act & Metering Point Operation Act.

Digitisation in the energy market is inevitable

Marco Sauer of the ZVEI made it clear right from the start of the event;  digitisation in the energy market is inevitable. Further confirmation and impetus was provided by Jürgen Blümer, who presented the standardisation roadmap for the start of the Metering Point Operation Act. Representatives of Theben spoke about the necessity of having a secure supply chain. Colleagues from Lackmann then focused on smart solutions for Smart Metering. Achim Jager, Business Development Manager from Hager Group Market area in Germany spoke about the new VDE application rule, turning the meter into a technical centre and how a home energy management system can be the answer to many open questions about the limited home connection performance in the network.

Looking to the future

On day two of the event, representatives of RheinEnergie AG presented their own project of making night storage heaters more flexible through their integration into the company’s virtual power plant. There was also the question of what happens next with renewable energies and the feasibility of electricity communities. Other discussions were about what the energy grid of the future would look like and the feasibility of Smart Grids and smart measuring systems.