Cost-effectiveness of installing modules for remote reading of natural gas consumption based on a pilot project

The gas sector in the EU is very developed and advanced, but there are still some steps and measures to improve this sector. One of the measures for the improvement, but also for the collection of data on energy consumption for an easy transition to a low carbon economy, are the projects of installing smart meters. This paper analyzes a pilot project of installing modules for remote reading of natural gas consumption on existing membrane gas meters. In the pilot project observed, modules for remote reading were installed on more than 10,000 existing meters, and their use, activation, and as well as the benefits that are achieved by using them are described in detail. These modules use the increasingly popular Sigfox network, which has proven to be an excellent tool for data transmission with low energy consumption, which can greatly simplify the digitization of many energy sectors. The installation of modules for remote reading on existing meters represents a novelty improvement of classic membrane meters towards modern and increasingly sought-after smart meters, which has proven to be time effective because, unlike some smart meter installation projects, this approach requires a very short installation time. The results of the financial and sensitivity analysis have shown that with the currently valid legal regulation the financial savings achieved by energy supplier due to exemption from paying penalties are more than sufficient to cover the investment and operating costs of the entire investment. In case the legislation changes or is different, this paper proposes the concept of transferring partial financial value of energy savings from end consumers to energy supplier in order to cover the investment and operating costs of implementation. (C) 2022 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

The gas sector in the EU is highly developed and advanced, but there is still room for improvement. The installation of smart meter modules on existing gas meters is a measure to collect data on energy consumption and facilitate the transition to a low carbon economy. This paper analyzes a pilot project that installed remote reading modules on over 10,000 existing meters and describes the benefits and usage of these modules, which utilize the Sigfox network for efficient data transmission. The installation of remote reading modules represents a novel improvement towards smart meters and has proven to be time-effective and cost-efficient.