Karlsruhe and Berlin, July 12, 2024 – The ongoing rollout of smart metering systems, the introduction of dynamic electricity tariffs and the use of flexibility by electricity customers offer enormous potential for energy suppliers. These opportunities were the focus of the “Smart Grids Talks” on 9 July 2024, which were organized by the German Energy Agency (dena) and the Smart Grids Platform Baden-Württemberg. The focus was on dena’s SET pilot project, in which InnoCharge and partners demonstrated and tested new business models for the economic use and marketing of flexibility via smart meter gateways.
The results of the InnoCharge pilot and corresponding trends were discussed at the event at the IHK Haus der Wirtschaft in Karlsruhe and via livestream. With over 300 registrations, the industry showed great interest in the use and marketing of small-scale flexibilities.
Dr. Manuel Lösch (Managing Director, InnoCharge GmbH) opened the event with an introduction to the SET pilot project. The focus was on the parallel use of various flexibility options such as self-consumption, spot market integration, peak shaving, distribution grid operator curtailment and balancing power marketing. Together with partners, practical solutions were developed to make these options accessible to end customers and to test innovative business models for municipal utilities and energy suppliers.
In his presentation, Dr Christoph Scholten (Head of the “IIIC8 – Digitalization of the Energy Transition” department at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection) emphasized the central importance of the smart meter rollout for the digitalization of the energy transition and the necessary integration of flexible small systems. He emphasized that smart metering systems offer a secure communication platform for the energy system and make the use of dynamic electricity tariffs scalable. These tariffs will be mandatory for all electricity providers from 2025 and the resulting synergies will be a key driver for the energy transition, particularly through the innovative power of start-ups.
In a live demo, Dr Andreas Fischer (CTO, InnoCharge GmbH) illustrated how end consumers can benefit from flexibility optimization through smart metering systems and optimized charging of electric vehicles. Using a commercial site, he showed how various value creation options lead to cost benefits and provided insights into InnoCharge’s visualization solutions. Electricity suppliers can use InnoCharge’s flex optimization to take advantage of dynamic electricity prices on the spot market, increase local self-consumption, avoid expensive load peaks, intelligently distribute distribution grid operator throttling and generate additional income through balancing power – and let their electricity customers participate in this.
Nikolaus Starzacher (CTO Countrol GmbH and founder of Discovergy GmbH) highlighted the role of smart meters in future metering point operation. Dynamic tariffs allow flexibility to be used and renewable energies to be used more efficiently. He emphasized that smart meters provide transparency when commissioning photovoltaic systems, charging stations for electric vehicles and storage systems. Demand has been particularly high in the area of tenant electricity, as there are decisive advantages. The “Act to Restart the Digitization of the Energy Transition” would have further advanced the use of small-scale flexibility in accordance with Section 14a EnWG and via dynamic electricity tariffs and is now the logical step for the mass market.
Verena Schmiederer (Head of Sales & Project Management, Badische Energie GmbH – a subsidiary of Stadtwerk Karlsruhe) presented an innovative business model for smart charging electricity in the neighborhood. This model combines local generation in the tenant electricity model with market-oriented flexibilization measures via dynamic tariffs and peak shaving in order to offer customers attractive prices and abstract away the overall complexity. To this end, InnoCharge’s flex optimization shifts flex customers’ charging processes unnoticed in the background and thus plays a central role in reducing procurement costs and grid charges and increasing convenience for end customers.
Kay Wiedemann (Team Leader Market Development, TransnetBW GmbH) discussed the developments in the control reserve market and the challenges posed by the increasing integration of renewable energies and flexible loads. He showed how renewable energies, storage and flexible loads are increasingly replacing conventional reserve power plants. Wiedemann emphasized the importance of integrating small flexibilities such as electric vehicle batteries and explained how these can be pre-qualified and integrated for balancing power and balancing energy markets. The infrastructure of smart metering systems provides a basis prepared by the legislator for this.
Steffen Hornung (Managing Director of advalju GmbH – a subsidiary of Theben Smart Energy and Lackmann) presented the integration with a communication platform that enables “external market participants” (EMT) to control systems down to the smallest devices via the smart meter gateway and “Controllable Local Systems” (CLS). He emphasized the importance of interoperability at hardware and protocol level as well as the need to prioritize grid and system-beneficial control signals over market instructions in order to ensure the resilience of the energy system while optimizing economic efficiency.
In the closing panel, Ruwen Konzelmann (Managing Director, Theben Smart Energy GmbH), Dr. Manuel Lösch (Managing Director, InnoCharge GmbH) and Nikolaus Starzacher (CTO, Countrol GmbH) discussed the current status of the smart meter rollout and future challenges and opportunities. They emphasized the need for process automation and a reduction in complexity in order to accelerate the rollout and successfully establish new business models. This requires strong partnerships and the collaboration of various specialized solutions, as could be seen at the event. The event was rounded off with a get-together with finger food and drinks, which provided an opportunity for networking and in-depth discussion.
Watch a video of the event here: