Two aspects have had a major influence on BelVis EDM GAS: firstly the new German Energy Management Act and the associated Gas Network Access Ordinance; secondly, the experiences gained in developing BelVis EDM POWER, already being used successfully today by over 200 electric utilities.
BelVis has been added to and developed on an ongoing basis in order to respond promptly to the constantly changing requirements of the deregulated market. Such was the technological background, along with extensive experience with time series management systems for water and air, behind BelVis EDM GAS which has been purchased by many utility companies since 2004.
In contrast to the situation in the electricity sector, EnWG and GasNZV have completely rewritten a number of market rules. For example, access to the gas networks is undergoing major reconstruction. The Energy Management Act provides an entry-exit model for the gas network access covering the length and breadth of Germany and spanning property lines. Operators of gas supply networks are required to designate specific entry and exit points between which gas can be transported without specifying a shipping route.
This and many other new requirements have therefore dictated the development of the functions of BelVis GAS.
Implementation in EDM
BelVis EDM GAS supports the management of standard gas load profiles, the administration of customer accounts and contracts, nomination, allocation, overtake / undertake calculation, the calculation of transport charges, and much more. Naturally there are also interfaces for standard gas meters and remote meter reading. Adjustments are constantly being made to BelVis EDM GAS in order to accommodate the requirements stipulated by the German Energy Management Act.
The implementation of the Gas Network Access Ordinance has given rise to new roles and contractual relationships among the market participants. The structural model of the GAS module has yielded the gas market model. The entire specialized knowledge of BelVis EDM GAS has been invested in the master data of the individual structures, in their allocations and in the time series stored on them. In the BelVis data model the market participants and their contractual relationships are linked together with the gas networks and their physical characteristics.
All the time series required are automatically stored for each market participant. Time series are aggregated automatically so that all the relevant sums are always available. Quality zones and districts provide a structure for the gas networks mapped. Needless to say, the year and day of the gas supply are factored in continuously.
The gas distribution systems themselves are mapped with their physical characteristics. BelVis EDM administrates entry and exit points and transfer stations as instances, including their technical data, together with natural gas distribution systems and sub-networks. The state of the gas, including its temperature, pressure or compressibility factor Z, and its calorific value are factored in as time series and allocated to the relevant structures. As such, the variable of interest in any given case - standard volume or heat flow volume - is always directly available.
The GasNVZ includes a flexible entry-exit model. Previously a fixed transport route had to be specified for each shipping process. In contrast, the new network access model is more flexible. In so far as it is technically possible, every gas consumer in Germany can now be supplied with gas independently of the feeder point.
BelVis EDM GAS is already primed to reproduce the further development of the entry-exit model in the BelVis structures.
