Rehearsal for the Smart Meter Rollout: innogy Metering and Sagemcom Dr. Neuhaus are testing the lifecycle process of smart meter gateways


Essen / Hamburg, 27th November 2018

Innogy Metering is conducting a lifecycle test with two SiconiaTM "SMARTY IQ" smart meter gateways manufactured by Sagemcom Dr. Neuhaus. In this special test, both the meter operator and the manufacturer check the requirements of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) for smart meter gateways.

Meter operator innogy Metering and manufacturer Sagemcom Dr. Neuhaus complete the lifecycle test together as part of the BSI approval procedure for smart meter gateways (CC certification). The Assurance Life Cycle (ALC) test enables the gateways' lifecycle processes to be tested by connecting them to the real PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) system – from the secure supply chain to proper disposal.

“By conducting the lifecycle test with our partner innogy Metering, we are demonstrating our high standards of data protection and data security and, on the other, both companies are showing that they are ready for the smart meter rollout,”, sreports Raik Handsche, key account manager at Sagemcom Neuhaus GmbH.

The starting point of the ALC test was the delivery of the SiconiaTM "SMARTY IQ" gateways from Sagemcom Dr. Neuhaus' protected production area in Rostock. A Sagemcom team transported two pre-personalized devices in a high-security PIN-protected transport box of manufacturer Lock Your World and handed them over to the innogy Metering team in Essen.

The start of operation – also called personalization – of the devices will now be carried out via the gateway administration system of innogy Metering. “The ALC test with the gateways from Sagemcom Dr. Neuhaus is a very important step on our way to a smart meter rollout. It gives us the opportunity to test our processes and systems under real conditions. Among other things, we will implement tariffs (Tarifanwendungsfälle) on the gateways and test the metering data reception to the external market participant (EMT),” explains Stephan Rödiger, engineer for communication technology at innogy Metering. In addition, innogy Metering is also testing the over-the-air transmission of a firmware update, which will be particularly important in light of future requirements for the second-generation (G2) of smart meter gateways.