Electrical metering management

Electrical Metering

Conventional electrical metering management methods have many shortcomings. 

The fiscal electrical metering must be downloaded directly from meter devices, in accordance with the provisions of the Metering Points Regulation. Other meter data, such as those commonly acquired from network analyzers and multimeters, are not accurate or reliable enough.

Often, manual interventions are required to download, consolidate and validate the data from the various meter counters-registers, and external tools are also necessary to exchange information with the System Operator, Red Eléctrica de España (REE onwards). All of this requires a huge amount of time, the claim for the meter data which have not been validated being particularly slow, with the consequent economic repercussion for the producer, who sees the payment associated with the energy actually delivered to the system delayed over time, but whose meter data has not been correctly registered, and for the consumer, that will have to wait until it is re-invoiced with the correct data.

Comprehensive Electrical Metering Managenent System

The Comprehensive Management System for Electrical Metering proposed by GEM allows the acquisition, validation and estimation of the metering data, as well as the calculation of the energy magnitudes at the delivery points and other indicators, obtaining the corresponding load profiles. The system allows detecting anomalies in the meter devices in real time, such as coverage problems or time gaps. With this system, the reliability of the metering data is absolute.

In addition, we control the power factor at each managed metering point, both in the purchase and sale of electrical energy. The system evaluates the input and output of reactive energy at each point, allowing an effective monitoring of the cosine of phi, which, together with an alert system, avoids unnecessary penalties to our clients.

The scope usually provided to our clients includes, among others, the following tasks:

• Download and daily check of the data of each meter device.
• Calculation of energy magnitudes at the Delivery Point defined by the System Operator of the Spanish Electricity System, REE.
• Daily sending to our clients, via email or to an FTP server, of the hourly and quarterly load profiles of all the meter devices, including input and output of active and reactive energy at each point. The load profiles will also be sent with the meter data obtained as a result of the formulas for calculating the different quantities to be applied at the delivery point. 
• Notifying clients when there are problems in downloading the meter data from any meter device, collaborating in its solution. GEM contacts the customer and the supplier of the metering device, if applicable, in order to find a solution to the problem that is occurring.
• Support in procedures with System Operator, especially within claims in case of errors or gaps in the metering data.
• Provision of an optical reader to customers, which allows the download of their metering data on site, in the event of recurring and persistent failures in ecommunications.
• Instantaneous reading of voltages, currents and powers per phase, in order to detect faults in the assembly or maintenance of the metering devices.

Electrical Metering Secondary Concentrator

Since 2017, GEM is authorized as electrical metering Secondary Concentrator by the System Operator. In this way, we participate in the Iberian Electric System as responsible for the metering of the Delivery Points of participants who have delegated their metering to GEM, directly carrying out communications with the Main Concentrator of the System Operator.

Thus, REE stops downloading the load profiles of our clients’ meter devices, so they can be downloaded in the same way as REE does (conventional RTC line and mobile line) or by alternative means to those traditionally used (via IP).

We send objections and complaints directly to manage events as quickly as possible.

As a Secondary Concentrator, GEM is authorized to download and send files and manage objections and complaints in a direct way. This allows us to process possible events in an expeditious way, minimizing the financial cost derived from the delay in the accreditation and settlement of the metering data before the System Operator.

Moreover, related with the previous point, GEM offers its Clients an interactive dashboard or panel, where their energy parameters are monitored, and their tracking can always be checked. This own developed software, in addition, generates daily alerts related to these parameters are and sends them by email, in case of events such as lack of measures, excess in contracted power or incorrect regulation of reactive energy both in the electric purchase and sale.

Lastly, we offer specific and personalized training in electrical metering to our clients, on demand.

In summary, GEM offers a comprehensive electrical metering management service, so that its customers can completely disregard their fiscal metering data.