The Elektrizitätswerk des Kantons Schaffhausen (EKS) is modernizing the meters in its service territory. As part of the rollout, 32,000 E360 smart residential meters and 260 E570 industrial meters from Landis+Gyr will be installed. The rollout of all devices is planned over a period of five years. An extensive as-a-service model with a duration of ten years will be used. This includes the Landis+Gyr AIM Smart Metering software, which will be implemented as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution, allowing the benefits of a future-oriented cloud-based platform.

In addition to hosting the SaaS environment in Switzerland, local expertise can be leveraged and extensive support will be provided from Landis+Gyr's headquarters in Cham. The entire cellular connectivity, including data transmission and SIM card management, is also part of the as-a-service contract and closes the gap between the smart meter on site and the central system to further process the measurement data. This ensures, regardless of the company's own resources, that all service components and transmission technology are always state-of-the-art and meet the latest security requirements. By shifting the expenses for the system environment to the operating costs, the as-a-service concept also preserves liquidity.

"Landis+Gyr's complete as-a-service concept enables us to implement the smart meter rollout quickly and efficiently while focusing on our core competencies. With Landis+Gyr, we have an experienced partner at our side who is very familiar with our needs and the Swiss specifics", said Markus Niedrist, Head of Network and Member of the Executive Board at EKS.

"We are very pleased to support EKS with a comprehensive solution of innovative products and services for their Smart Metering project. As a company with strong Swiss roots, we see ourselves as a partner to all utilities in Switzerland and are able to support them in the various phases of the rollout with offerings tailored to their needs", said Christian Zaugg, Head of Business Unit Switzerland at Landis+Gyr. The Swiss subsidiary acts both as a direct partner and in cooperation with local service providers in order to meet the diversity of the Swiss market.

Embedded Cellular Connectivity

The meters are already delivered with integrated SIM cards, so they are ready for transmission immediately after installation. The embedded connectivity solution was developed specifically for the energy industry by Landis+Gyr together with Vodafone, one of the world's leading mobile carriers, and is compatible with all of today's common mobile standards and uses both national and international cellular networks, thus allowing maximum network coverage, especially in border areas with neighboring countries. EKS uses Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), which was developed for communication between IoT devices (M2M) and ensures stable transmission even under the most difficult structural conditions.

Landis+Gyr's connectivity solution adds an optimized layer of security through a private multi-operator APN. Meter data is securely transmitted via NB-IoT and processed in a way which allows EKS to use it for its own business processes. Evaluations and billing are carried out by EKS, while the hardware, software and expertise required for data collection and processing, including regular maintenance and updates, are provided by Landis+Gyr.

The platform for the service has already been set up in Switzerland and is available for the integration of the meters. The first meters have been successfully installed in the area and are communicating with the systems, laying the foundation for the complete rollout.