A shortage of electricity is a fact in parts of Sweden. To guarantee the capacity during peak load-hours, a start has been made to measure the energy consumption by the hour, which requires systems that can handle enormous quantities of metering data. A new challenge in Sweden but not in Finland where the legislation has long set strict requirements on the collection of metering data. Enerim is a market leading system supplier in Finland thanks to its well-functioning standard solution for the energy sector. Now, Enerim is making its entry on the Swedish electricity market, just as the Swedish legislation is starting to force the pace.
Enerim has several hectic years behind it, since the majority of the Finnish energy sector has gone from installing systems on their own servers to using SaaS solutions (Software as a Service), where they collect and manage all their energy data in cloud-based services. Simultaneously, new regulations have resulted in requirements for hourly metering and a national datahub has been introduced.
“It is calmer in Finland now, and this means that Enerim can focus on Sweden as its next market. The Finnish legislation is still more advanced than the Swedish when it comes to requirements on metering data. As a result, Finnish system suppliers have had to work full out to fill the energy sector’s needs. In Sweden, things have been rather quiet, but we will move in the same direction as Finland and we can use the same solutions that they have already developed and tested,” says Per Malmberg, Sales Director for Enerim in Sweden.
Metering data shouldn’t be left to pile up
In Sweden, there are still many companies that collect metering data on energy consumption monthly since the law does not require more frequent intervals. Usually, they first collect the data on their own servers, perhaps overnight, before transferring it to the billing system and other integrated systems for processing.
“Instead, the metering data could be downloaded in real time and immediately forwarded in the system, all the way to the billing data. This would mean that those writing the financial reports could base them on facts and not on forecasts, and the energy companies’ end customers would have the option – via apps or ‘my pages’ – to see their real energy consumption and cost up to the most recent hour. There are many benefits from managing energy data in real time,” Malmberg says.
Let groaning servers retire
Many Swedish companies in the energy sector already have problems with the performance of their servers and systems since these are hardly adequate for managing the billing process. Surely some companies have upgraded their metering data systems to handle today’s volumes, but the equipment is outdated and the platforms inadequate. Starting 1 January 2025, all meters in Sweden must be capable of hourly metering, and even be ready for 15-minute metering. Shorter metering intervals mean more data. If their own servers and systems are already groaning from the pressure, it will hardly get better with time.
“In the middle of 2020, the Swedish energy sector woke up and realised that the need for energy would increase dramatically. We have been rather spoiled in Sweden by the availability of energy, but now, we have been forced to get accustomed to a lack of capacity. To guarantee the capacity, we must be able to predict the peaks, which means that we have to keep a check on the consumption.”
Important systems on the same platform
The reason why Enerim has become so popular in Finland is because they have succeeded in integrating central energy sector systems in the same platform, and these communicate smoothly with one another and with other integrated systems. These systems are for managing energy data and customer information.
“We rewrote every line of code when we created this broad platform. It has a real time architecture that is unique in the Nordic countries, both regarding stability and scalability. The entire system has been developed to receive real time data and manage it smartly to allow our customers to use the information in the best way possible. It’s about both simplifying your own processes and also being able to create new, innovative services for your customers who serve increasingly demanding electricity consumers.”
Good foothold on the Swedish market
Per Malmberg notes that Enerim has gotten off to a good start in Sweden with an ongoing delivery to a “dream” customer. By including several different business areas, for example district heating, gas, electricity retail and networks, Enerim is now creating a well-adapted platform for the entire Swedish energy market.
“Furthermore, the implementation is based on a service-based SaaS delivery. It is still quite unusual for Swedish energy companies to explicitly ask for this, so it is a sign that Sweden has woken up”.