GB’s SSEN gives access to smart meter half-hourly consumption datasets
Image: SSEN
GB distribution company Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) has made its full smart meter half-hourly consumption datasets available as open access.
With the publication, the data, which has been aggregated to a minimum of five smart meters on an individual feeder, is now available for access by interested parties such as local authorities, flexibility providers or academia for modelling and planning.
With the publication also, SSEN has become the first of Britain’s network operators to make such data available, having pioneered the development of an ‘open data’ portal for distribution data in the country.
“These are exciting times for accessing and utilising smart meter data. SSEN is delighted to be the first DNO to unlock the full consumption datasets at such a granular level, and to make them available on our open data portal for interested parties to access,” says Paul Fitzgerald, Smart Energy Systems Manager at SSEN.
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“Smart meter data plays a key role in supporting a cost-effective and efficient transition to net zero. As we decarbonise heat and transport and move towards low carbon technologies, knowing current demand on the electricity network will help identify new opportunities for low carbon technologies, flexibility and reinforcement.”
SSEN has over 1.8 million smart meters – about 54% coverage and increasing daily – in its two distribution areas in the north of Scotland and across central southern England recording active and reactive half-hourly consumption.
This equates to over 170 million readings per day with the opportunity for insight into 84,000 LV street-level feeders and over 36,000 distribution substations.
The systems to process and aggregate this large volume of data for publication on a daily basis were developed with CGI as SSEN’s ‘DCC adapter’ – the intermediary enabling the supplier to connect and communicate with the Data Communications Company’s (DCC) smart meter network.
A key aspect was around the methodology for sharing the data in a consistent manner and in particular aggregation to protect individual consumer privacy.
In collaboration with the other network operators agreement was reached on an aggregation level of five or more smart meters from an individual circuit on the low voltage network, with any less than five meters or sensitive sites, following data triage, being excluded.
