Gas supply in Germany is currently stable and security of supply is guaranteed at the present time [1]. Nevertheless, the alert level of the Gas Emergency Plan continues to apply as declared by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action on 23 June 2022. The German Federal Network Agency is monitoring the situation and is in contact with the grid operators. Even if a general gas shortage in the coming winter does not seem likely at present due to the storage levels already reached, local bottlenecks cannot be ruled out in case of changing flow directions and unplanned capacity restrictions.
If the emergency level is declared in this context [2], the Federal Network Agency becomes active in its role as the federal load distributor and can direct various measures. This includes individual and general provisions issued to RLM customers to require them to reduce their gas purchases. The grid operators are obliged to check the load profiles for the corresponding gas purchase reduction [3] in the period of validity of the provisions. They are usually well-prepared to do this, as they retrieve this data several times a day as part of the normal processes.
But what happens if the situation worsens, and grid stability is threatened? In this case, an ex-post check of the load profiles may no longer be sufficient and grid operators need to be able to check the supply reduction immediately on an ad-hoc basis. Since consumption in the RLM gas sector is registered only once an hour in the facilities, this cannot be achieved with normal remote meter reading. Also, a guidance system is usually not connected to RLM exit stations.
However, RLM systems often offer more technical possibilities than are used in the usual process. For example, the DSfG protocol [4], which is widely used in this field, and also some compact volume correctors can directly access instantaneous values of the measurement technology, e.g. also the current consumption. These queries can be repeated at any interval and thus, a reduction in consumption can be checked directly by the grid operators.
Sopra Steria has integrated these instantaneous value queries into the cpX.Energy Cloud Solution for energy determination and remote meter reading [5] and has been able to test them successfully with the first grid operators. Users of the cpX.Energy Cloud Solution thus have an easy-to-use and almost infinitely scalable tool at their disposal to correctly assess the situation even in critical situations – the prerequisite for being able to act adequately at all.
[1] https://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/EN/Areas/Energy/SecurityOfSupply/GasSupply/start.html
[2] Energy Security Act - EnSiG
[3] DE: https://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/DE/Gasversorgung/Krisenvorbereitung/start.html
[4] Digital Interface for Gas Metering Devices (DSfG) according to DVGW worksheet G 485
[5] https://cpx.soprasteria.de/en/platforms/cpxenergy---our-cloud-platform-solutions/cpxenergy-metering