Smart Metering: the situation in Italy at the Smart Utility Open Meter

The final Smart Utility Open Meter event took place digitally, closing a series of appointments undertaken in 2020.

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smart metering power grid Pixabay

The last 2020 Smart Utility Open Meter event, organised by Anie Energia Media, was held in mid-December. Smart Metering Group of Anie and by Energy Media. The virtual meeting took stock of Smart Metering in Italy and how the utility meter sector still needs to complete the process of automation and digitalization.

Furio Cascetta and Vincenzo Quintani, Scientific Coordin ator and Smart Metering Group Coordinator of ANIE CSI, respectively, took the floor and outlined a scenario with lights and shadows, with the digitalisation of the metering and billing process of utilities not yet completed.

Electricity, gas and water: where do we stand?

The situation is very diverse, depending on the network service, and overall not very satisfactory. The electricity sector is traditionally the most 'advanced' and at the forefront of smart metering. In recent months we are witnessing the installation of second generation (2G) electricity meters. Among the new technologies, chain 2 (post-meter communication) is one of the most innovative features of E-Distribuzione's second-generation Open Meter (2G). Chain 2 is the new power line communication channel (PLC-C) between the Open Meter and the User Devices (DU), home automation devices available on the market.

Il settore gas si trova in uno stadio intermedio, incompiuto, circa il roll out degli smart meters di prima generazione (1G). Per i grandi distributori (>200.000 punti serviti) l’obbligo di raggiungere l’85% dei contatori elettronici G4-G6 è stato recentemente (causa emergenza Covid) spostato al 31/12/2021; per i medi distributori (100.000 – 200.000) l’obiettivo dell’85% è spostato al 31/12/2022; per i piccoli distributori (< 100.000), infine, la scadenza rimane per ora fissata al 31/12/2023.

Unfortunately, thewater sector is at the bottom of the list. Smart metering (i.e. automatic remote management of meters via a fixed communication network) is still a pipe dream. Political and regulatory intervention would be indispensable. The heat meter sector is in an intermediate situation. The recently installed heat meters are mainly electronic (sometimes with a static hot water volume sensor), with the readiness to transmit consumption data. However, the communication infrastructure is completely lacking, so that in this sector too (as in the water sector) it can be said that there is no real AMI(Automated Metering Infrastructure) or SMI(Smart Metering Infrastructure).

 

 

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