Electricity customers are no longer what they once were. In the past they simply received electrical energy; today they often produce electricity themselves. That’s a good thing because it means more renewable energy is generated and consumed locally. The domestic network operators support the development, but sometimes also have difficulty with it. Her Coordination with electricity customers should in the future improved so that you can “hand in hand” into the Energy future is progressing, as the Supply Security Forum puts it.
Electricity customers often need a lot of patience when planning PV
“Die new division of roles is a challenge for the networks,” says Brigitte Edererspokesperson for the Supply Security Forum. “But digitalization will help bring information to customers more quickly and accelerate processes when dealing with customers.” Today, for example, it is sometimes the case that customers who want to set up their own photovoltaic system on their property sometimes do not have it easy. Just figuring out how big they are in terms of their facility Connected load be able to dimension, requires many requestsa lot of time and patience.
“PowerMap” provides information in seconds
Such requests should be made in the future cleared up in seconds says Werner Hengst, managing director of Netz Niederösterreich. His company is developing a “PowerMap”. digital twin its medium and low voltage networks, into which all load and generation profiles, including current weather data, flow. This makes it possible to accurately simulate what state the network is in and where. This should make network planning easier. Customers should also be provided with information automatically when they have inquiries via an online portal. In 2025 the Lower Austrian “PowerMap” the start.
Planning security for energy communities
There should also be relief for those people who are planning to set up an energy community. “Every network operator publishes theirs today Network development plans. Ours has 112 pages. It offers customers transparency and shows what we are planning, what projects we have coming up and what considerations we are making when developing the network,” says Hengst. Those interested can also find information on the Internet about how Substation supply areas look. A map will show available capacity at all Transformer stations with exact numbers and a traffic light system.
One available on the internet Map of domestic substationstheir booked and available capacities have been available on the industry website ebUtilities since summer 2023. Distribution network operators from all federal states have come together to achieve this. However, the data is only updated quarterly. According to Hengst, a kind of Austria-wide “PowerMap” with real-time data is currently not foreseeable.
Smart meters here, ElWG not yet
In the future, the proverbial hand should also be extended to those customers who do not generate electricity themselves, but rather their consumption and therefore theirs Optimize costs want. Important prerequisites for this are Smart Meterbut also that Electricity Industry Actsays Stallion. The spread of digital electricity meters is going well. 95 percent of all connections are already equipped with this. The ElWG, however, has still not been implemented. The entire energy industry is eagerly waiting for it.
The law is intended to transfer electricity consumption to… 15 minute intervals become the standard. Currently, some smart meters only transmit every hour, others are only allowed to transmit once a year. “Customers’ consumption behavior only changes if they know promptly what they are consuming,” says Hengst. The ElWG should also enable tariffs that… stronger Bill the service. Anyone who uses household appliances to benefit the network and does not leave them all running at the same time will be able to benefit from such tariffs in the future.
Discussions about “Smart Meter 2.0”
However, smart meters can technically do even more. An Austria-wide standard is currently being developed that will enable “Smart Meter 2.0”. Network operators should do this Flexibilities make better use of resources on the network and better control consumption. Customers should do this Consumption data almost in real time preserved, i.e. even better resolved than in 15-minute increments. According to Hengst, discussions about coordination between the distribution system operators to take this next step are going very well.