edna Bundesverband Energiemarkt & Kommunikation e.V.

EDNA-Initiative: The Deregulation of Metering ― Drawing on Experience with the GPKE/GeLi Directives

Getting external experts involved and launching a central test platform

In connection with the imminent process definitions required for deregulating the metering sector, the associations’ committees ought to take the effects on existing market processes in the electricity and gas sectors into account as well. This is one of the conclusions reached at the 12th EDNA Conference held in Oldenburg, north Germany at the end of October. "To ensure the communication processes that take place between the market players actually work and enable market communication, from the point of view of life-cycle management, the versions of the GPKE and GeLi Gas that have been tailored to the metering regulations ought to be available at the same time,” says Dr Franz Hein, managing director of the EDNA Initiative. Besides this, the Initiative suggests strengthening the special groups set up within the associations by involving external experts. The organisation also sees an opportunity to dramatically reduce the risks and costs to users primarily with respect to implementing market processes in the metering field and subsequently for all of the market processes in general by creating a central testing facility. "As we saw when GPKE and GeLi Gas were introduced, the huge costs that resulted when faults were corrected while the systems were in operation could have been almost completely avoided by employing a central testing platform well in advance,” Hein continues, referring to the example set by Switzerland, where tests conducted across the entire market with a central test machine in connection with the current introduction of its market processes have been successfully implemented.

All of the participants at the EDNA Initiative’s 12th Conference, including representatives from the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) and the Association of Local Utilities (VKU), were convinced that early planning and strict adherence to the deadlines envisaged for market processes and messages in the scope of life-cycle management could significantly reduce the costs firms have to shoulder. "It will take some time for the utilities to implement the Federal Network Agency’s provisions in their software,” explains Hein. "Changes made at short notice or late publication always mean extra work and expense, which the market players and ultimately their customers have to bear.” By getting independent experts involved – people who have the appropriate know-how about IT issues as well as being familiar with the power sector – bottlenecks in schedules and other such adverse factors can be recognised early on and then avoided.

Take Switzerland’s free software tests as a model
In addition, the EDNA Initiative believes it may also be possible to significantly reduce the amount of effort and expense involved in introducing future market processes in the metering sector. Rudolf Baumann’s conference presentation on the situation in Switzerland is proof of this, it says. In that country all the market partners and software producers are currently testing their systems on a central testing platform made by KEMA, a member of EDNA, which has been designed exactly the same way as EDNA’s own test machine. The Swiss test is free to use and is financed by swissgrid. "We went through the costing and found that it’s cheapest for us if we offer the test to interested parties at no charge whatsoever,” Baumann explained in his talk. "This model could also be employed in Germany since adopting a procedure like this here would certainly result in seven-digit savings being made, judging by the experience we gained from GPKE and GeLi Gas being introduced,” declares Franz Hein. What’s more, with the aid of machine-based tests, process-related problems encountered while the market partners exchange data with each other could be clarified quickly and neutrally. That would help to sustain data interchange, which is constantly necessary, and would be extremely cheap into the bargain.

The following 64 companies/organisations are members of the EDNA Initiative:
ABB AG, AKTIF Technology GmbH, applied technologies GmbH, Atos Origin GmbH, badenova AG&Co KG, BTC Business Technology Consulting AG, CAS Concepts and Solutions AG, Client Computing Energy AS, ConEnergy AG, contexo Gesellschaft für Systemintegration mbH, Cordys Deutschland AG, Cronos Unternehmensberatung GmbH, CSC Deutschland Solutions GmbH, Delta Energy Solution AG, EBSnet eEnergy Software GmbH, EMS-PATVAG AG, EnDaNet GmbH, EnergiePartner Süd GmbH, EnergyICT GmbH, ENSECO GmbH, ENTEGA Service GmbH, FACTUR Billing Solution GmbH, Fichtner IT Consulting AG, GEN Deutschland GmbH, GeneSys Gesellschaft für Netzwerke und Systeme mbH, GÖRLITZ AG, HAKOM EDV Dienstleistungsges. m.b.H, IBM Deutschland GmbH, Ing. Büro für Energiewirtschaft Dr. Schramm GmbH, INTENSE AG, inubit AG, iRM integriertes Resourcen Management GmbH, items GmbH, ITF-EDV Fröschl GmbH, KEMA Consulting (Netherland), Kisters AG, Klafka & Hinz Energie- und Informations-Systeme GmbH, KOMKE Consulting (BDU), Landis+Gyr GmbH, make IT GmbH, Neutrasoft GmbH&Co.KG, NZR - Nordwestdeutsche Zählerrevision GmbH & Co. KG, OFFIS e.V., phi-Consulting, procilon IT-Solutions GmbH, PSI AG, Robotron Datenbank-Software GmbH, regiocom GmbH, rhenag Rheinische Energie AG, Schleupen AG, SEEBURGER AG, Seven2one Informationssysteme für Energie- und Umweltplanung GmbH, Siemens Energy Automation GmbH, SIV AG, SDK - Software Development Kopf GmbH, Somentec Software AG, SOPTIM AG, Stadtwerke Schwäbisch Hall GmbH, Steria Mummert Consulting AG, SWU Energie GmbH, Syseca Ingenieurunternehmung AG, TwentyOne Gesellschaft für innovative Lösungen mbH, VWEW Energieverlag GmbH, Wilken GmbH

Additional information:
EDNA-Initiative e.V. – Dr. Franz Hein
c/o mpc management project coaching
Schlosswiesenweg 34 - D-73732 Esslingen
f.hein@edna-initiative.de - www.edna-initiative.de    

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The EDNA Initiative e.V. is a coalition of software manufacturers, corporate consultants and IT service providers & users from the different sectors of eBusiness active on the energy markets and dealing with energy logistics. The aim of EDNA is to promote the automation of business processes between market partners in the energy industry and implement existing and new electronic data exchange standards in software systems, making them "purchasable" in doing so. At the same time a certification procedure and an EDNA seal of approval should ensure that IT systems do indeed abide by the set standards. For the user this means a much larger amount of security in the investment and decision than previously as time-consuming interface programming and integration efforts are no longer required. At the same time the user can tap into considerable rationalisation potential through the automation of business processes.