OMS - The smart metering initiative from figawa, grzi, KNX and VDDW
Open international standard for the primary communication of meters
More than 50 companies from all over Europe and other regions of the world are now developing the only open international standard for the primary communication by meters for the billing of electricity, gas and water consumption and heating and cooling as part of the OMS-Group e.V.
In order to standardise the communication of metering of consumption in a way that guarantees interoperability, associations and companies have joined the OMS-Group in 2010 on the initiative of figawa and its “Remote data transmission” working group and developed the "Open Metering System Specification” by selecting options from the European Standard EN 13757-x. This means that all OMS meters speak the same language and are interoperable – regardless of which manufacturer they come from or what type of consumption is being measured.
Further development of standards
Intelligent OMS meters are a prerequisite for saving energy with smart grids, smart homes and the optimal integration of sources of renewable energy. Version 3.x provides an interoperable international standard for the unidirectional communication of meters in the direction of the so-called gateway.
Version 4.0 has been specially adapted to the German data protection requirements for meter communication.
Test tools are available for both versions to ensure compliance of vendor-specific solutions with the requirements of standards and interoperability. Based on these tools and the DVGW G 5484 VP initiated by the OMS Group, the DVGW Cert GmbH also offers a corresponding neutral conformity assessment procedure.
The next step is the development of a standard for bidirectional communication, which is actively sought by interested metering operators and service providers. OMS is compatible with the widely used KNX standard (ISO/IEC 14543-3 = EN 50090), so that the building automation system, e.g. for energy management, can also be directly connected in addition to consumption recording. Thus conditions for future services such as tariff or load management can be created cost-effectively using OMS.
Contribute to reducing energy consumption
By evaluating various studies and field trials, the OMS-Group, together with figawa, grzi and VDDW, demonstrated in 2015 that the widespread use of intelligent metering systems and correspondingly realistic and timely information of consumers about their current consumption of gas, heat and electricity can make a cost-effective and substantial contribution to reducing domestic energy consumption and CO2 emissions, especially in buildings that are not up to current standards for energy efficiency.
OMS-Group e.V.
