Hafslund has signed up for a subscription on the simulation service Ghostwriter from Greenbird. The biggest utility in Norway is currently undergoing a major transformation towards becoming a fully digital utility. Hafslund is placing major investments on new IT systems, which can turn smart meter readings and smart grid data into real assets for the company. By utilizing Ghostwriter, Hafslund can perform end-to-end testing of the value chain for smart metering before the smart meter rollout.
Preparing for smart meter rollout
Hafslund is planning to start rollout of smart meters in 2016. Before the rollout starts, the DSO have to make sure all systems are ready to receive and store vast amounts of data from the smart meters. Hafslund is operating the power delivery to more than 1,5 million citizens in the region around Oslo. To secure efficient rollout and operation of the new smart meters, they are upgrading several business applications. During the ongoing upgrades, they have to verify that all systems will scale and that a wide array of integrations is working properly. Ghostwriter from Greenbird will simulate the data output from the Head End System from Aidon. The data output includes meter readings and various kind of events from 675 000 simulated smart meters in the region around Oslo. By utilizing the simulation output from Ghostwriter, Hafslund can perform end-to-end testing of the value chain for their smart metering infrastructure before the rollout of the smart meters.
Proven technology with new interface and subscription model
The simulation components in Ghostwriter have been in operation for several years. Thorsten Heller, CEO at Greenbird told us that
– Now, we have added a web interface to configure the simulations of the smart meter readings. It is very easy for utilities to sign a subscription on Ghostwriter and access one of the most powerful tools for simulating smart meters and Head End Systems. We have done some major upgrades on the functionality. With simulations from Ghostwriter, you can now perform system integration testing, value chain readiness analysis, meter to cash verification, performance testing and test how your systems handle events and alarms from the smart meters.
