The future of metering

Innovation Day 2008

Alistair Morfey

22 October 2008

Whats the problem ? Climate Small increases in average temperature can have a big effect. Glacier melts in Greenland and Antarctic (e.g Wilkins) would cause significant rise in sea level. Increased energy in weather system is released through bigger storms.

Whats the problem ? Energy Security UK total energy consumption = 125 kWh/day per person
40 = transport 40 = heating/cooling 45 = electricity generation (18 to end user)

Concerns over price and supply security

Oil Gas

Power stations reaching end of life

Coal Nuclear
3

Legislation EU Triple-20 by 2020 (v 1990) 20% reduction of energy consumption 20% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions 20% of energy from renewables UK 2050 targets (v 1990) 80% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions

Whats wrong with the humble meter ? Stand-alone No communications Manual meter reading Awkward locations for user. No support for Energy Displays Meters fixed as Credit or Pre-Payment No support for micro-generation No integration with Home-Automation No support for intelligent grid or demandside management No support for time-of-use tariffs No consumption logs Site visits required for a number of functions (inc disconnection !)
5

What do we need to do ? Generate energy from sources with low CO2 emissions : Nuclear Renewables (Hydro, Solar, Wind, Wave) Intelligent Grid Smart Meters can help Micro-generation Smart Meters can help Consume less energy Smart Meters can help European governments now want domestic Smart Meters (at least for Electricity and Gas) but not prepared to pay for it themselves !
6

What are Smart Meters ? Energy Meters with 2-way communications Electricity, Gas, Water, Heat (EGWH) Domestic and Commercial Required functionality varies nationally Most countries have focussed on Electricity (meters and infra-structure) Information between meter and Supplier (not User). Single Supplier to home for multiple utilities (pre de-regulation) Credit meters only (no moneyhandling)

What needs to be connected ? Homes in : Houses Blocks of Flats

Meters in Flat Meters in Basement
PC Washing Machine

Meters in Flats H AN 3 = C hannel 2 ? H ouse H AN 1 = C hannel 5 ? Energy D isplay Washing Machine Electricity Meter Energy Display Gas Meter

Meters in Basement H AN 4 = C hannel 12 ? Washing Machine Energy D isplay Gas Meter Electricity Meter H AN 5 = C hannel 7 ? Washing Machine Energy D isplay Gas Meter Electricity Meter

H AN 2 = C hannel 11 ? TV Washing Machine Electricity Meter TV

Data concentrators ? Central Information Systems White boxes Not owned by Home e.g Meters Revolutionary roll-out Green boxes Owned by Home Evolutionary adoption Integration with Home-Automation

Electricity Meter

Gas Meter

Gas Meter

C hannel 1 Last Mile LAN U ses Same LAN technology as H AN s

Street D ata C oncentrator U p to 1000 houses ?

LAN Gatew ay N ational C omms

e.g GSM e.g GSM

Energy Suppliers H ead End processor N ational C omms

Smart meters in Victorian terraced house Meters are still in the same locations : Unfriendly for User access Need wireless links to devices in Home Flat peer to peer LAN More flexible than a Master-Slave hierarchical system :
New devices New commercial model
Internet

Washing Machine

LAN

Freezer

LAN

U nder -stairs C upboard

Fuse Box

PC

LAN LAN

Sw itched , Metered , D omestic Electricity Supply Opto E meter

TV

LAN

UI U n -sw itched , U n -metered , Limited ( series capacitor ? ), Fused , Electricity Supply WAN Gatew ay

Pool of energy information enables more intelligent energy decisions : Manually (User reads Display) Automatically (Appliance chooses a cheap/low carbon time to run) Supports separate Gas and Electricity Suppliers Gas suppliers do not like communications via E-meter
9
Electricity Gas

D isplay

LAN

Main Fuse

LAN Opto Sw itched , Metered , D omestic Gas Supply LAN

LAN Front D oor

Opto UI

G te r e m

W meter Opto UI

WAN

Service Side

Smart Meters around world to date

Italy 30M E-meters with PLC (Enel) Sweden E-meters with GSM Australia E-meter trial in Victoria North America E-meters in California E-meters in Ontario Netherlands Large national programme for EGWH-meters. Specifications and trials. Germany specifications and trials underway. France ERDF starting implementation of PLC infra-structure for 35M E-meters Spain Trials and research for EG-meters UK LAN and WAN specifications being led by ERA for EG-meters
10

International v National Energy Suppliers are international, e,g in GB (not Northern Ireland) : British Gas (Centrica) EDF (France) E.ON (Germany) nPower (RWE, Germany) Scottish Power (Iberdrola, Spain) Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) Meter Manufacturers are international, e.g : Elster Itron/Actaris Landis+Gyr Smart Meter requirements are national ! Ownership De-regulation Commercial model
11

GB Smart Meter Requirements Electricity and Gas Domestic Meters Interoperable standards No meter change required when User changes Supplier (currently 100k/week) Make E and G meters look as similar as possible to the User Configure for Credit or Pre-Payment (Pay as you Go)
contain switch or valve handle money handle time-of-use tariffs (30 min)

2-way Comms
LAN (inside Home) WAN (back to Central Information System)

Support Micro-Generation Remote configuration (inc software upgrades) Energy Logs

12

UK Organisations Involved Government BERR DECC (Dept Energy and Climate Change) from BERR and DEFRA Regulator Ofgem Suppliers ERA (Energy Retail Association) BG, EDF, E.ON, nPower, SSE, SP Development of new LAN and WAN standards is being led by : ERA DECC

13

Engineers v Economists Stake Holders Users Energy Suppliers Grid operators Economy of Scale v Competition Engineers want standardisation and high volume Economists want competition at every level in the commercial model We have to identify architectures that satisfy both the above with : Long roadmap (3 meters = 45 years) High functionality Low cost Low power consumption
14

GB Roll-out 25M Homes 25M E-meters 22M G-meters 5 year roll-out (2011-2016 ?) 180k meters/week Replacement roll-out (15 year) 60k meters/week Misses 2017 target completion

15

Technical difficulties Gas (and Water) meters dont have power Target is 15 year operation from one Lithium AA cell Average consumption = 15uA at 3V Blocks of flats Meters can be remote from Homes Communications partitioning LAN, inside home, not political WAN, outside home, political, commercial model, ownership structure Data Security Ownership Flexibility v Cost 2 or 3 box solutions ?

16

GB LAN Options ERA / SRSM Committee : www.energy-retail.org.uk/smartmeters Licenced Band 184 MHz Unlicensed bands 868 MHz 2.4 GHz 6 standards still being considered : Wireless M-Bus at 868 MHz Wavenis at 868 MHz Z-Wave at 868 MHz ZigBee at 868 MHz ZigBee at 2.4 GHz Bluetooth Low Energy at 2.4 GHz
17

Metrology All European devices must be MID approved Measuring Instruments Directive In general the industry is happy with existing sensor technologies : Mechanical bellows gas meters Solid state electricity meters Most R&D effort is focussed on : Communications Payment mechanisms User interface with : Low cost Low power Flexibility
Long roadmap Software upgrades (in field)
18

How can we help you ?

Users Suppliers Government Legal Market Model

Energy Security

Climate

Metering Products

Standards

Design Process

Metering Products Metering Products

RF Wireless

Mechanics Electronics Software

Client ?
Product Definition

Meters (EGWH) Displays Gateways ? ...

19

Thank you Questions ?

Alistair.Morfey@CambridgeConsultants.com

20