Development of the Swiss  energy market

As part of the Swiss federal government’s energy strategy, conventional electricity meters must make way for smart meter solutions. Thus, Swiss utilities are gradually implementing smart meters into their infrastructure and Iskraemeco has included active engagement in the Swiss energy sector as part of its strategic plan. Iskraemeco operates independently on the Swiss market with its own subsidiary that takes care of certain customers and a sales partner who is vital to our successful performance in the Swiss market. Iskraemeco has been working closely with GWF MessSystems AG since 2018, providing the utilities with smart metering solutions and benefits and enabling them to take steps towards implementing a smart grid. GWF is the leading Swiss company for the metering and recording of gas, water, heat and electricity consumption data. They is very active in the implementation of the Swiss Energy 2050 strategy. With the support of Iskraemeco`s products and knowledge, they can be confident to deliver the best solutions and services to the entire measurement area. Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in Europe and the Swiss electricity market is very versatile with around 900 companies involved in the generation, distribution and supply of electricity. Nearly 700 DSO`s supply electricity to approximately 5.6 million consumers. The leading players in the Swiss energy industry have displayed a strong interest in smart grid technology and are eager to make the electricity sector more efficient and more sustainable. GWF is an important link between Iskraemeco and other players in the Swiss market.

Working closely together to strive for excellence

Market conditions and customer expectations require new adaptations and improvements. Striving to develop solutions to tackle contemporary global challenges, Iskraemeco is working on many initiatives from different strategic directions. Our focus is on continuous improvement and unwavering commitment to excellence, superior quality and operational efficiency. GWF is actively participating in the majority of the national roll-outs and relies heavily on Iskraemeco’s most advanced technology. This means Iskraemeco is one of the most present providers of metering technologies in the energy sector in Switzerland. Combining system environment with communication technology and measuring devices, our portfolio meets the expectations of the Swiss market.

With our knowledge, experience and innovative approach, we managed to create an environment in the company that encourages the development of new comprehensive solutions for energy management. Iskraemeco is proud to be working with several utilities in the Swiss market and for complexity reasons runs the largest projects such as Spontis, Viteos, EW Luzern and IB Chur through its Solutions and Delivery department. Due to the large number of distributions, we need to use flexible solutions with many variables included in each project and we need to provide meters with different communication options (4G or CAT-M1/NB-IoT). The projects also require multiple additional services, implementations of different use cases, offering different levels of support, knowledge transfers, etc. The latest project underway in the Swiss market is with the utility IB Langenthal. We will provide three-phase AM550 meters, the Symbiot software suite, and the key management system (KMS solution).

Counting on SaaS

In the last months we invested a lot of our effort and knowledge into preparation of our SaaS (Software as a Service) solution, which is the strategic orientation of Iskraemeco in the future. We expect that SaaS will become the most common way of doing business in various markets. Instead of having to install, and maintain software, customers can simply connect to the application (Symbiot) over the Internet, freeing themselves from complex software and hardware management. The biggest benefits for utilities are low setup and infrastructure cost, accessibility from any device, anywhere in the world, scalability, service levels agreements for uptime and performance, and highest-level security. SaaS can benefit businesses of any size, from cost-effective outsourcing for small utilities to holistic big-picture solutions. In response to supply challenges, this year we have successfully switched to a newer version of AM550 meters, named PGBK, for which we obtained the METAS certificate. METAS, the Swiss Federal Institute for Metrology, stands at the cutting edge of measurement accuracy in Switzerland. It serves as the federal center of competence for all issues related to measurement, measuring equipment and measuring procedures. By obtaining its approvals by the Federal Institute of Metrology, Iskraemeco is fully set to be part of smart metering projects in Switzerland.

Plans for the future

Regardless of market volatility and the overall component supply challenges tackled on a daily basis, the Swiss market is on the rise, which fills us with optimism for upcoming projects. Moreover, the excellent work of both teams is best reflected in the increasing number of orders over the years. We are preparing a smooth transition to the new generation of our meters – IE.X, and we will continue to implement numerous innovations in the field of products and solutions. Our goal is not only to be among the leading meter manufacturers, we strive to be the best in the market.