Intelligent energy metering systems

Optimizing the costs of manufacturing and running a business is the number two task in the current realities after maintaining the functioning of the business in general. Utility costs occupy a significant part in the cost structure of production and other types of resource-intensive business. How is it possible to control the entire process of consumption of electricity, water and heat, as well as reduce their energy consumption, says Denis Zhitnitsky, director of NPF EnergoSistemy LLC.

Who needs ASKUE

According to the law, until 2018 it was required that consumer measurement sites with an connected power of more than 150 kW be provided with local equipment for collecting and processing LOSOD or ASKUE data. Since 2018, a code on commercial metering of electric energy has been in force, according to which requirements for automation of metering of consumers are presented already from 50 kW of power.
ASKUE stands for automated system of commercial accounting of all (or some) types of energy resources. The most advanced systems also include accounting for the allocation of resources to workshops, buildings (consumers). These systems make it possible to optimize energy costs, choose a payment procedure, and manage your own consumption. Intelligent systems even allow you to calculate the cost of energy per unit of output, visualize and analyze costs. With a modern ASKUE, an enterprise can fully control the entire process of its energy consumption, enter the energy market with lower tariffs, and choose a more profitable supplier for itself.
Accounting systems can be both local (installed on servers located on the territory of the enterprise), and cloud. The implementation of local metering systems begins with the design, followed by installation and commissioning, then testing, commissioning ... This takes a lot of time and costs accordingly. Those who want to save money find cheap solutions, which in practice often turn out to be unfinished projects, unsuitable for use, the expert warns.

Cloud solutions

Zaporizhzhya company NPF EnergoSistemy LLC has developed and offers the solution ASKUE.net - a cloud-based energy metering system as an analogue and a replacement for the local one. “The main difference between the ASKUE.net construction scheme and the classical ASKUE scheme is that all the necessary server equipment is already in the cloud, it does not need to be purchased. “We do not need servers, licensed software, there are no expenses for GSM-communication, daily monitoring of the system’s functioning, no costs for maintenance,” Denis Zhitnitsky explains. - Only communication equipment and electricity meters are installed at your enterprise. This reduces the cost of design work by 30-50%, and the implementation itself by 30-70%. " Today, the cost of implementation for one accounting point is about 10 000 UAH. An individual project study is done for each consumer.
Further, the client pays a small monthly fee for the service provided by the operator of the accounting system. The maximum today is 600 UAH per accounting point. There are volume discounts for enterprises and utilities. Among those who have already taken advantage of the solutions are bakeries, oil and fat plants, cheese factories, poultry factories, knitwear factories, companies producing various household goods and construction products, shopping centers and office centers, recreation centers.

ASUNE

For medium-sized and larger production enterprises, as well as for owners of production facilities leased to various tenant enterprises, an automated system for metering non-electric energy carriers (ASUNE) may be needed. The resource consumption is taken into account for each subscriber of the network without the need for direct access to metering devices for verification of readings. This reduces the cost of servicing metering points and organizing billing.
It is convenient for the owner of buildings that are leased to many tenants with ASUNE to timely identify and eliminate the possibility of theft of resources and other violations by end consumers. It is convenient to collect and transmit data for financial settlements between the supplier and the consumer of the resource. Visualization allows you to analyze and manage the resource consumption modes of both the enterprise as a whole and individual workshops. Both industrial and household facilities of the enterprise are equipped with modern digital metering devices, the analysis takes place in the cloud.
With the help of ASUE the following tasks are solved:

• Heat metering
• Measurement and accounting of fluid flow (hot and cold water supply)
• Level measurement of various media (steam; natural gas; compressed air; oxygen, etc.)
• Measurement and accounting of gas flow
• Automation of heating, gas and water supply.
  The presence of the ASUE system provides reliable information about the amount of energy produced, distributed and consumed by the enterprise as a whole and by each workshop individually, which will allow avoiding unreasonable payments to the supplying organization and obtain significant money savings for the enterprise.

SMART heating

To reduce heating costs, intelligent regulation of the coolant supply has been created. For example, on warm days, when the building is warmed up by the sun, the amount of coolant automatically decreases. As a result of rational use of thermal energy, heat costs are reduced to 40%.
The SMART Balance solution is suitable for buildings and structures with a single-tube centralized distribution system for the coolant. It includes the installation of automatic balancing valves, temperature controllers and special software that remotely monitors the operation of systems. Zhitnitsky claims that it will not be necessary to obtain permits “from above” from “Heating Networks” for the installation of such equipment and the term for its implementation is minimal.
Another solution for businesses and homes is the automatic balancing of DHW systems for networks, applicable for circulating networks. This allows you to reduce the cost of hot water and reduce heat loss by 30%. Here, too, there is a remote monitoring of the system using controllers and automatic temperature control.
In addition, such systems are subject to the conditions of thermal modernization of buildings and it is possible to receive compensation for 40-70% of the costs under the Warm Credit and Energodim programs. This is a real find regarding the possibility of savings for office complexes, management companies, private educational institutions and the HoReCa sphere.