Smart Electricity Meters Help to Save Energy

Siemens is offering utility companies a complete solution for automatically recording electricity consumption data. The Automated Metering and Information System (AMIS) registers the rate of electricity consumption by each individual customer of a utility company and also sends data in the other direction, providing the customers with detailed information related to their electricity use. Experts estimate that as much as ten terawatt-hours of electricity could be saved in Germany with smart electricity meters. That’s the equivalent of nearly two percent of the country’s entire annual electricity consumption.

Smart electricity meters make utility bills transparent, which helps the households to save energy. And being able to record electricity consumption for given time periods also allows the utility companies to offer flexible rates that vary depending on the time of use. With attractive rates for certain times of the day or night, or for times when available capacity exceeds demand, grid operators can offer customers custom-tailored service while also regulating consumption “spikes.” The German government wants to require that all new buildings be equipped with smart electricity meters, beginning in 2010.

A smart technology for recording consumption-related data must include not only the meter but also an appropriate communication system and a means of processing the recorded data. AMIS uses the power grid itself to transmit the data. A data concentrator in the transformer stations monitors and registers the information related to the load on the grid. The load switching devices work in both directions and can independently switch loads on or off. The energy utilities can intervene in the grid at any time to regulate capacity. The AMIS meter also features M-BUS, a metering field-bus system, and can record and transmit other consumption data in a single step, including for water and heating.

AMIS offers important functions for setting up a “smart grid.” In the future we will see more decentralized energy generation — for example with photovoltaic systems and wind power facilities. In 2005 the European Commission reacted to this need by launching the SmartGrids initiative for building up a smart power network in Europe. The smart electricity meters are part of Siemens’ environmental portfolio, with which the company generated about €19 billion in sales in fiscal year 2008.