QODEC – Quality requirements for data exchange relating to energy communities

Energy communities are a fundamental pillar in the decarbonization of Austria’s energy system and are on their way to becoming an internationally envied success story. In addition to civic engagement, private-sector actors are also a key reason for this success. A small but highly specialized ecosystem of service providers supports Austrian energy communities with consulting and tools. Many of these tools rely on existing data exchange interfaces. The most essential interface is the energy market communication via the so-called EDA platform (EDA stands for Energiewirtschaftlicher Datenaustausch – energy industry data exchange), and the most crucial data source is the smart meter in the customer’s household. Neither the smart meters nor the EDA platform were originally designed specifically for energy communities, and their rapid adaptation has pushed them to their limits.

Regarding smart meters, participation in an energy community (to enable billing) requires opting into the IME (Intelligentes Messgerät Extended – intelligent metering device extended). Once opted in, quarter-hourly values from the previous day are transmitted once per day. Typically, Powerline Communication (PLC) is used for data transport from the household to the distribution system operator (DSO). However, with the increasing rollout of smart meters and IME opt-ins, these systems are reaching their capacity limits. Likewise, the load on the EDA platform, originally intended for occasional administrative processes, is steadily increasing due to growing data requests from energy communities and service providers.

Austria has over a hundred distribution system operators. Given this fragmentation and the increasing demands, it is not surprising that data quality and the reliability of data delivery are not uniform. Anecdotal reports from practice highlight the need for “seamless market communication”, suggesting that there is a gap in the quality of service in market communication. Whether this gap is due to technical issues or simply a lack of transparency is difficult to determine at this point. When energy communities or service providers encounter problems, it is often unclear what is causing them. This frequently leads to phone inquiries with the responsible DSO, resulting in increased personnel costs.

This feasibility study aims to investigate (1) what exactly the problems are and how widespread they are, (2) which existing initiatives already address these issues, (3) whether there are unaddressed problems and/or future requirements, and ultimately (4) which technical adaptations and systems are necessary to achieve the target state—minimal manual resource effort, high transparency, and a clear roadmap.

Salzburg Research is coordinating the project, analyzing existing solutions, and proposing organizational adaptations.