The sharing economy is not just a trend amongst private consumers. When the Danish company Jysk Energi Teknik starts the roll-out of 30,000 intelligent electricity meters in 2017, it will be part of the MV Group consortium, in which eight Danish utilities use just one reading system.
The sharing economy is about more than holiday flats on AirBnB. There are advantages to sharing resources in the supply industry as well. Jysk Energi has joined forces with the MV Group, which currently comprises eight utilities that have invested in one of Denmark's largest combined systems, which reads around 155,000 meters for different types of supply. The system and meters are supplied by the Danish company Kamstrup, which is also responsible for both the hosting of all the meter data and the operation of the system.
“That we will now be part of the MV Group means that we will reap many benefits in relation to the operation of the reading system. We are talking about both financial benefits for ourselves and our customers, and the same time being able to benefit from the exchange of experience that will naturally be the result of such a collaboration”, says Per Kristensen, Director of Technology at the Jysk Energi Group. Through the years, Kamstrup has collaborated with a number of utilities that join forces in offering a number of different supply types, as this amongst other things can offer benefits in relation to the reading of meter data. And even if the utilities use the same solution, the system ensures that the collected meter data is divided and separated so that the utilities are guaranteed to comply with the law regarding personal data.
Part of a growing trendThe Jysk Energi Group is therefore far from being the only utilities that sees a major advantage in sharing the reading system.
“We are experiencing a growing demand from smaller power utilities that wish to collaborate on a system for reading their meters, as this will strengthen their business is many ways. In addition, our OMNIA system is flexible and scalable, and also has the advantage that it can read both electricity, water and heating meters that are operated by many of the utilities in the MV Group”, says Uffe Vinther-Schou, Head of Global Sales at Kamstrup.
Jysk Energi Teknik also expects to join forces with water utilities that may be interested in having their intelligent meters read using this system.
With the new intelligent meters, the consumers in the Jysk Energi Group’s supply area will no longer have to read their meters themselves, as this will happen automatically. Most power utilities in Denmark are in the process of installing new meters to meet, before the end of 2020, statutory requirements regarding remotely read electricity meters. At Jysk Energi, the process is starting this year, and the expectation is that it will be possible to read all 30,000 electricity meters in the supply area in September 2020.