HOW DID THE IDEA OF DEFINING A COMMON STANDARD AND ULTIMATELY THE FOUNDING OF THE OMS GROUP COME ABOUT?

In 2006, the European Union adopted Directive 2006/32/EC. This Energy End-Use Efficiency and Energy Services Directive (EDL), known as the Energy End-Use Efficiency Directive for short, mandated member states to require that” …all electricity, natural gas, district heating and/or cooling, and domestic hot water end-use customers be provided with individual meters at competitive prices that reflect the end-user’s actual energy consumption and time of use. “^*1

HOW DID THE IMPLEMENTATION GO IN GERMANY?

In Germany, 8 large utilities (8KU) joined forces after the publication of this guideline. These companies jointly developed a position paper and from it formulated the request to meter manufacturers to specify an open and interoperable system that covers the most diverse types of energy and also water, independent of the manufacturer.

In 2007, the Open Metering interest group was founded from six members from the associations: Companies in the Gas and Water Industry (FIGAWA), KNX Association, German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association (ZVEI) and the German government.

In 2015, the legal form was changed to a registered association – the OMS System Group. (see also https://oms-group.org)

WHAT ARE THE APPLICATIONS FOR OMS?

Basically, the main application area of the OMS is the remote transmission of measured values. Remote meter reading (RMP), or automated meter reading (AMR), is primarily about combining devices from a wide range of manufacturers from different supply areas in a single system environment.

The key application areas identified by the OMS Group are:

• Energy utilities – mainly companies that supply across divisions – i.e. electricity, gas, water and heat.
• Companies in the housing industry – bundle the purchase of energy and supply their tenants. (Submetering)
• Industrial companies – requirement of the DIN EN ISO 500001 standard for the introduction of energy management systems – thus also the measurement of energy consumption.
• Home Automation / Building Automation – efficient regulation and control systems based on measurement results, which help to reduce energy consumption in the private housing environment, but also in the field of industry (office complexes, industrial plants) and also to ensure the security of supply.
• Tenant information systems – in particular through the mandatory consumption history to be presented transparently to the tenant in the EED (Energy Efficiency Directive). Here, the primary goal is to raise tenant awareness and change behavior patterns that lead to energy waste.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF OMS/INTEROPERABILITY?

• The utility – greater flexibility, less dependence in vendor selection. Measurement systems work together and “speak the same language”.
• The energy billing company – similar to utilities. Greater flexibility, less dependence. Possible delivery bottlenecks of one manufacturer can be compensated by a product of another manufacturer. Also, the choice of gateway manufacturer is free and not linked to the meters.
• The real estate company – in addition to the advantages listed above, it is also less complicated for the real estate company to build its own infrastructure and couple it with other systems (e.g., back-channel capable broadband networks).
• The manufacturers of counting and communication systems – there is a predefined, future-proof (based on European standards) communication standard that more or less all (free) manufacturers follow. Proprietary systems continue to decline as customers demand open and interoperable systems from their vendors.
• To the user (tenant, apartment owner) – greater openness and flexibility in the choice of systems, also stimulate competition among suppliers. Technological lock-in (as with proprietary systems, for example) is virtually eliminated. Switching providers is made easier.

SUBMETERING AND SMARTMETERING?

A distinction is usually made between meters that measure primary energy demand (metering) (main meters in buildings) and meters that measure consumption in residential or office units (submetering). The central role here is played by the real estate company or property manager. He decides which energy billing company will perform the heating and utility billing. Likewise, the property manager (in consultation with the owners) or the real estate company decides on the energy supplier.

The upcoming smart meter gateway rollout may lead to a convergence between smart metering and submetering. (> Smart meter rollout)

INTEROPERABILITY VS. DATA SECURITY?

The topic of data security has become increasingly important in the more and more – not least due to the implementation of the DSGVO. It goes without saying that the issues of data security and data protection play an important role in the remote transmission of sensitive meter data. For this reason, extensive requirements for data protection, data security and encryption were formulated in OMS generation 3, but especially in generation 4 (BSI data protection guidelines for remotely readable counting units).

^*1 Directive 2006/32/EC of the European Parliament from April 2006

Axel miller
AM Efficiency Ltd.
Dead man’s mountain 90
59755 Arnsberg
+49 2932 528494
axel.mueller@am-effizienz.de
www.am-effizienz.de