Press Release

BEENIC GmbH becomes a partner in the funding project Smartu

  • Austrian Green Energy Lab funding project runs until the end of August 2024
  • Value-added services based on real-time smart meter data

BEENIC GmbH, a German start-up belonging to the EWE Group, is a partner in the SmartU funding project, which started work at the beginning of September 2021. In addition to BEENIC, the consortium led by Forschung Burgenland includes the Austrian regional energy suppliers Wien Energie, EVN Energievertrieb and Energie Burgenland. By the end of August 2024, the research project aims to build on the standardized hardware solution that converts smart meter data into a uniform format in Austria and makes it available via an interface. The project outcome will be value-added and real-time services based on a standardized low-cost hardware environment connecting end consumers, energy suppliers and distribution grid operators. The goal is for the solutions to be usable by all customer groups based on standardized smart meter interfaces. This will open up new opportunities for automated data collection and analysis, as well as applications based on consumption data. 

With its work, the consortium is creating a functionality that makes the potential of smart meters to provide real-time data in an automated way usable for different use cases. Even though the smart meter infrastructure could theoretically already provide real-time data today, it is currently not successful due to delayed data provision. The project deliberately does not rely on consumption data from uncalibrated and often expensive smart home systems. The often different consumption data leads to deviations from the billed values and confuses customers.

The range of value-added services envisaged includes analysis and visualization of data to create awareness of energy consumption, security and convenience functions, integration into energy-related processes, and market communication. The project promises high potential for long-term and sustainable stakeholder participation in the energy transition by reaching not only environmentally or technologically aware users, but also the masses. For the first time, a variety of interacting use cases are demonstrated in parallel and holistically in real-life situations and their technical, economic and social impacts are analyzed. A standardized user interface, the integration of over 200 households and three rollout plans for the broad implementation of the solution are further project goals.  

Portrait Green Energy Lab

Green Energy Lab is a research initiative for sustainable energy solutions and part of the Austrian innovation offensive “Vorzeigeregion Energie” of the Climate and Energy Fund. With about five million end consumers in the test market and more than 200 participating partners from research, business and the public sector, Green Energy Lab develops customer- and demand-oriented, scalable solutions together with the four provincial energy suppliers Wien Energie, EVN Energievertrieb, Energie Burgenland and Energie Steiermark – from prototype to market maturity.

More information:
https://www.forschung-burgenland.at/projekte/projekt/smartu/

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Ina Buchholz
Press officer
Ina Buchholz