Grid management

With the appearance of smart meters and Automated Metering Infrastructures (AMI), energy utilities are striving to collect more and more data on the grid in order to cut operating and maintenance costs, improve customer service and identify the information that can optimise decisions on investments (infrastructures, etc.).

Smart metering offers energy suppliers:

• The possibility to introduce a response to the demand, which is particularly high on the electricity market at times of peak consumption,
• A reduction of the cost of reading meters, in comparison with manual data collection, 
• A streamlined billing process in the back office, 
• The means of detecting misuse and fraud,, 
• The management of low-voltage networks,
• Concepts such as smart substations and energy quality monitoring,
• The introduction of new use cases (EVs, solar panels, vehicle charging, etc.).

From the perspective of the end user, or subscriber, smart metering also offers:

• Access to detailed data on their  own precise energy consumption, 
• More accurate and faster billing, 
• The possibility to benefit from the flexibility of demand,
• The possibility to introduce secure equipment management solutions, thanks to improved energy quality and better real-time information on failures. 

Sagemcom calls on a number of measures to optimise grid management:

• Optimised response to demand

Prices are updated in real time in response to worldwide electricity supply and demand, so that subscribers can adapt their consumption in support of the energy management strategies of the utilities. For example, when demand is high or supply is low, electricity prices rise, thereby improving the reliability of the system and avoiding potential outages, if the energy utilities are unable to meet the demand and balance the load on the system. On the other hand, low demand or high supply will cause prices to fall to prevent energy from being wasted.

• Management of disconnections

Management of disconnections

Technical description

Single-phase and poly-phase electricity meters contain an internal disconnection system (power cut-off relays) that cut off the subscriber’s power supply.

Disconnector management modes

There are seven management modes of these relays (the disconnector switches inside the meters). The system administrator can configure the modes locally on the meter using the configuration software, or remotely, on the central system.

First breath

The “First Breath” functionality can be installed in the electricity meter to send a message to the HES data collection server when the meter is powered up.

The meter then sends the precise time of its return to the grid.

Last Gasp

The “Last Gasp” functionality can be installed in the electricity meter to send a final message to the remote server when the current is cut off.

The electricity meter has sufficient energy reserves to send this last message after it is switched off.

• Monitoring consumption

The Sagemcom meters can receive a lot of data about the grids in which they are installed.

Thanks to the integration of the latest-generation processor, the meters can:

   o Make high-precision measurements of the active and reactive energy

   o Produce a long list of quality measurements (EN 50160, EN 61000-4-30, IEC 62586-1, etc..)