Peer-to-Peer Communication Using Enhanced German Smart Meter Gateway Infrastructure

Power grids are rapidly moving towards so-called smart grids. Smart grids describe the networking and control of different actors and components in the energy system using information and communication technology. Households are evolving from consumers to prosumers, as they no longer just consume electricity, but can also produce energy and feed it into the public grid. Additionally, coupling mobility and heating sectors, as well as the increasing number of battery storage systems, further increase the system complexity. The efficient monitoring and control of such systems requires the use of energy management systems. Recently, the German government accelerated the rollout of smart metering systems with the Act to Restart the Digitization of the Energy Transition [8]. The smart meter gateway (SMGW) was introduced to collect metering data within the local metrological network (LMN) and, to establish communication between controllable local systems (CLS) in the home area network (HAN) with external market participants (EMP) in the wide area network (WAN). Using smart metering systems for energy management purposes may potentially increase their value. However, the coordination of and communication between energy management systems using SMGW can be challenging.