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ODBMS Blog, by Roberto V. Zicari on June 18, 2012
Big Data: Smart Meters - Interview with Markus Gerdes.
80 percent of all households in Germany will have to be equipped with smart meters by 2020, according to a EU single market directive.
Why smart meters? A smart meter, as described by
e.On, is
"a digital device which can be read remotely and allows customers to check their own energy consumption at any time. This helps them to control their usage better and to identify concrete ways to save energy. Every customer can access their own consumption data online in graphic form displayed in quarter-hour intervals."This means Big Data. How do we store, and use all these machine-generated data?
To better understand this, I have interviewed Dr. Markus Gerdes, Product Manager at BTC , a company specialized in the energy sector.
... RVZ Q2. According to a EU single market directive and German Federal Government, 80 percent of all households in Germany will have to be equipped with smart meters by 2020, How many smart meters will have to be installed? What will the government do with all these data generated?
Markus Gerdes: Currently, 42 million electricity meters are installed in Germany. Thus, about 34 million meters need to be exchanged according to the EU directive in Germany until 2020. In order to achieve this aim, in 2011 the Germany EnWG (law on the energy industry) adds some new aspects: smart meters have to be installed where customers` electricity consumption is more than 6.000 kWh per year, at decentralized feed-in with more than 7 kW and in considerably refurbished or newly constructed buildings, if this is technically feasible.
Q3. Smart Metering: Could you please give us some detail on what Smart Metering means in the Energy sector?
Markus Gerdes: Smart Metering means opportunities. The technology itself does no more or less than deliver data, foremost a timestamp plus a measured value, from a metering system via a communication network to an IT-system, where it is prepared and provided to other systems. If necessary this may even be done in real time. This data can be relevant to different market players in different resolutions and aggregations as a basis for other services.
Furthermore, smart meter offer new features like complex tariffs, load limitations etc. The data and the new features will lead to optimized processes with respect to quality, speed and costs. The type of processing will finally lead to new services, products and solutions - some of which we do not even know today. In combination with other technologies and information types the smart metering infrastructure will be the backbone of smart home applications and the so-called smart grid.
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