Introduction
Definitions
A Smart Grid is an electricity network that can cost efficiently integrate the behaviour and actions of all users connected to it – generators, consumers and those that do both – in order to ensure economically efficient, a sustainable power system with low losses and high levels of quality and security of supply and safety.
A Smart Meter is an electronic device that records consumption of electricity, gas or water and communicates that information for monitoring and billing. Smart meters send meter readings to the utility company automatically. They also come with in-home displays, which give users real-time feedback on their energy or water usage and what it is costing.
Smart Grids and Smart Meters Standardization requests and Coordination Groups
In 2009, the European Commission and EFTA mandated CEN, CENELEC and ETSI the development of an open architecture for utility meters involving communication protocols enabling interoperability (smart metering). In response to this request (M/441), CEN, CENELEC and ETSI decided to combine their expertise and resources by establishing the Coordination Group on Smart Meters (CG-SM).
In March 2011, the European Commission and EFTA issued the Smart Grid Mandate M/490 requesting CEN, CENELEC and ETSI to develop a framework to enable European Standardization Organizations (ESOs) to perform continuous standard enhancement and development in the smart grid field. In order to perform the requested work, the ESOs combined their strategic approach and established the Coordination Group on Smart Energy Grids (CG-SEG).
In January 2021, taking into consideration the close contact between both Groups since the beginning of its creation when the European Commission issued the mandates M/441 (utility meters) and M/490 (smart grid), CEN and CENELEC BTs and ETSI Board decided to merge both groups in CEN-CENELEC-ETSI CG on Smart Grids (CG-SG) coping with both Smart Energy Grids and Smart Meters.
CEN-CENELEC-ETSI Coordination Group on Smart Grids (CG-SG)
Since January 2021, the CG-SG advises on European standardization requirements relating to smart electrical grid and multi-commodity smart metering standardization, including interactions between commodity systems (e.g. electricity, gas, heat, water), and assesses ways to address them. This includes interactions with end-users, including consumers/prosumers.
Its aim is to promote the deployment of open and interoperable data architectures, based on European and international standards. The scope also includes any standards needed to design, operate and maintain electrical grids securely and efficiently. In the specific area of metering, its scope includes electricity, water, gas and heat/cooling metering devices and systems, and associated architectures.
Within its scope the Group is addressing the European requirements resulting from the Clean Energy Package, including secondary legislation, and any other relevant Commission initiatives.
The CG-SG is also receiving inputs from and provide input to the European Commission’s activities related to standardization in the field of smart grids and meters.
With respect to international standardization activities on smart grids and meters, the Group is monitoring the progress of the relevant standardization activities in ISO, IEC and ITU, and promote coordination between the European activities and those at the international level and promote when needed the consideration of European requirements within international standardization.
More information concerning past CEN/CENELEC/ETSI achievements on Smart Grids can be found here and on Smart Meters here.
Our role & activities
Our ETSI Smart Machine-to-Machine communications Technical Committee (TC SmartM2M) actively supports the oneM2M global initiative, especially in relation to European Commission (EC) driven activities, bridging the EC’s needs in the M2M/IoT area and the technical work in oneM2M and other ETSI activities.
TC SmartM2M focus is on an application-independent ‘horizontal’ service platform with architecture capable of supporting a very wide range of services including Smart Metering, Smart Grids, eHealth, Smart Cities, consumer applications (appliances), car automation, Environment, Agriculture and Food security, Smart Water, Smart Industry and Manufacturing, Wearables, Smart Buildings, Smart Lift, etc. based onSmart Applications REFerence ontology (SAREF) facilitating cross-domain IoT Semantic interoperability.
Initially, Smart Appliances have been specified on request of EC DG Connect. The Smart Appliances specifications were based on the oneM2M communication framework (TS 103 267) complemented with Smart Appliance REFerence ontology (that is now Smart Applications REFerence ontology, SAREF V3.2.1 TS 103 264) ontology. SAREF work has contributed to the foundations of the base ontology of oneM2M Release 2.
TC SmartM2M developed "SAREF ontology and oneM2M Mapping standards" and Smart Appliance testing standards. For SAREF extension investigation in the energy domain (TS 103 410-1), direct inputs from EEBus and Energy@home (in TS 103 410-1 V1.1.1/Smart Appliances) plus KNX and the Flexible power Alliance Network (FAN) (in TS 103 410-1 V1.2.1/SAREF for ENERGY with the support of H2020 INTERCONNECT Project) have been included in TC SmartM2M developments. SAREF is enabling the cross-domain IoT Semantic Interoperability where Energy, Environment and Building sectors have been part of the first SAREF normative work. Then more SAREF extensions were developed for Smart City, Industry and Manufacturing, Smart Agri‑Food, Automotive, eHealth and Ageing-Well, Wearables, Smart Water, Smart Lifts and Smart Grids.
SAREF is recognized as key enabler of IoT Semantic Interoperability with a growing set of enabling published standards (search ETSI standards with the keyword SAREF).
CG-SG lead and other ETSI Groups involved in Smart Grids
In the beginning, ETSI Smart Machine-to-Machine communications Technical Committee (TC SmartM2M) has been the lead ETSI Technical Body (TB) for the coordination of ETSI's responses to the EC standardization request on Smart Grids (M/490) and on Smart Metering (M/441). This lead role has been handed over to Technical Committee for Access, Terminals, Transmission and Multiplexing (ATTM) that is now the main ETSI entry point of ETSI participation in CEN/CENELEC/ETSI Smart Energy Grids Coordination Group (CG-SG) with other ETSI TBs/ISGs that indicated their interest to take part in CG-SG (TC ATTM, TC SmartM2M, ISG OEU, TC EE, TC CYBER, ISG CIM, TC ERM, TC SET - Secure Element Technologies - formerly TC SCP, TC MSG (3GPP)). TC SET core platform specification defining the interface between a UICC and a terminal (TS 102 221) is also one of the mandated specifications for the smart meter work item of EC and EFTA (M/441).