Smart Metering Interoperability Issues and Solutions: Taking Inspiration from Other Ecosystems and Sectors

Valerie Reif,Leonardo Meeus

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3916192

Abstract

Interoperability in the context of smart electricity metering is high on the European policy agenda but its essence has been challenging to capture. In this paper, we look at experiences in other ecosystems (electromobility and buildings), other sectors (healthcare and public administration) and at the national level (the Netherlands and the UK). We show that the definition of interoperability depends on the context, that there are common solutions to different issues across sectors and that cross-sectoral factors must be increasingly considered. We recommend adopting a broader view in smart metering that goes beyond the interoperability of devices, considering solutions that have worked in other sectors and exploiting synergies across sectors. Our analysis of experiences provides a comparison that can help to move the debate at the EU level forward.

Highlights

Interoperability of energy services in the context of smart metering was recognised in the Clean Energy for all Europeans Package (CEP) as a prerequisite for customer empowerment and to promote competition in national electricity retail markets.1 More recently, the Energy System Integration Strategy and the European Data Strategy have respectively reaffirmed the importance of interoperability for a future decarbonised and integrated energy system and a European single market for data that fosters data-driven innovation (European Commission, 2020a, 2020b)
Since the electricity sector is not the only one that is dealing with interoperability questions, we were inspired to look at experiences in other ecosystems, other sectors and at the national level to identify issues and solutions that can help move the debate at the European Directive (EU) level forward
We looked at two other sectors that have long-standing experiences with interoperability at the EU level and are moving towards a more citizen-centred approach, namely public administration and healthcare

Summary

Introduction*

Interoperability of energy services in the context of smart metering was recognised in the Clean Energy for all Europeans Package (CEP) as a prerequisite for customer empowerment and to promote competition in national electricity retail markets. More recently, the Energy System Integration Strategy and the European Data Strategy have respectively reaffirmed the importance of interoperability for a future decarbonised and integrated energy system and a European single market for data that fosters data-driven innovation (European Commission, 2020a, 2020b). In the context of smart metering, interoperability means “the ability of two or more energy or communication networks, systems, devices, applications or components to interwork to exchange and use information in order to perform required functions.” (Directive (EU) 2019/944 of the European Parliament and Council (2019)). Following the adoption of the Clean Energy Package, the focus of the debate switched to ‘service provision,’ differentiating between traditional retail services (e.g. billing, supplier switching), emerging services based on consensual sharing of historical or near real-time consumption data and future demand response/demand side flexibility services based on realtime data (SGTF EG1, 2019) This brings in interoperability issues and requirements that go beyond the technicalities of information exchange, because there is a need for, inter alia, regulatory and legislative alignment, alignment of different business processes (including across borders), agreement on roles and responsibilities, and common solutions for mechanisms such as customer authentication and consent. Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) process to implement and test standards-based interoperability*

Solutions that are commonly applied across the sectors

Solutions that are only applied in individual sectors

The Netherlands

The UK

Discussion

Conclusions