LamA-connect – BSI-Compliant Charging Using Smart Meter Gateways

In the LamA-connect project, intelligent solutions for electric mobility are being developed that enable charging with safe control and calibration-compliant billing. The Smart Meter Gateway (SMGW) is a key element, which together with modern measuring equipment (mME), forms a so-called intelligent measuring system (iMSys). This system is already being used to record the electricity consumption of larger households in compliance with calibration regulations. In future it shall also be used for electric mobility applications, in accordance with the standardization strategy of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy BMWi and the Federal Office for Information Security BSI. For this purpose, the Smart Mobility use case of the BMWi-BSI roadmap is being discussed and implemented in LamA-connect. The system will be tested under real conditions in the three different field cases: company, public parking garage and residential area.

Fraunhofer ISE develops innovative solutions for the private sector on the basis of the SMGW infrastructure and is heading the test field “residential area” in the project.  Together with the partners Badenova AG & Co KG and bnNETZE GmbH, the new concepts will be tested in a selected grid area in Freiburg that contains single and multi-family homes. In addition to billing solutions for electric vehicle charging in compliance with calibration regulations, the focus here is on the secure control of the charging infrastructure in grid-critical situations by the distribution network operator. With the ramp up of electric mobility, the simultaneous charging of several electric vehicles with high charging capacity particularly is creating new challenges for stable grid operation. Under certain circumstances, for example, it is possible that the power limit of a grid area or existing buildings, especially apartment buildings, may be exceeded. In some cases, this can damage the electrical equipment and in the worst case lead to power failures.

In addition to the secure transmission of consumption data to the metering operator, the SMGW offers, with the CLS interface and a transparent TLS channel, the possibility to control local generators and loads via a secure communication path. For this purpose a so-called control box is typically connected to the SMGW and the controlled device. Authorized players such as the distribution system operator or the charging station operator can use this highly secure communication path to control the charging infrastructure.

In LamA-connect, Fraunhofer ISE is further developing its open energy management framework OpenMUC to create generic control box software. The development focuses on local access to SMGW measurement data and the implementation of interfaces for secure communication via the TLS channel with external market participants. The implementation will be carried out in two phases, starting with the construction of a test bench in the Digital Grid Lab of Fraunhofer ISE. On the one hand, the continuous communication from the distribution system operator via SMGWs and the control box to the charging infrastructure is to be tested in the laboratory. On the other hand, hardware-in-the-loop (HiL) tests and network simulations will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the control commands. In the second phase, tests and trials of grid friendly and prioritized control interventions will be carried out in the selected residential area under real conditions.