Coalition Committee Opts for Collaboratively Developed Software for Network Operators. PTA Brings Many Years of Experience to the Table.
The federal government aims to accelerate the digitization of the power grids. In its “Program for Economic Recovery and Employment,” published in early July, the coalition announced incentives to encourage grid operators to collaboratively develop software based on the “one for all” principle and make it available throughout Germany. This is precisely the approach that PTA IT Consulting has been pursuing for many years as a founding member of the openKONSEQUENZ cooperative. The solutions developed there are now in use by grid operators and have been honored with the Best of Consulting Award from WirtschaftsWoche.
What the Federal Government Is Planning
With the package of measures adopted by the coalition committee, the focus is shifting to the expansion of distribution grids: The timeframe for implementing grid projects is to be cut in half, the smart meter rollout is to be more than 90 percent complete by the end of 2030, and all key data on grid expansion and grid connection capacities will be made available on a central data platform. One component directly concerns software development: The coalition aims to strengthen cooperation among grid operators, “for example, by creating incentives for grid operators to collaboratively develop software on a ‘one for all’ basis and make it available throughout Germany.”
The idea behind this is that many network operators face the same challenges, from communicating outages to planning network measures. If the right software is developed collaboratively and made available to everyone, costs and implementation times will decrease for the entire industry.
openKONSEQUENZ: collaborative software for network operators, in use for years
The energy sector has already set an example in one area for what the federal government now intends to initiate. Network operators, IT manufacturers, and institutions have joined forces in the openKONSEQUENZ cooperative to jointly develop open-source software for network operations. The modular solutions are available to any interested grid operator at no licensing cost and support the core tasks of operating energy and water grids.
The PTA is a founding member of openKONSEQUENZ and has played a key role in developing several modules: the Operations Log for audit-proof shift change processes in grid control centers, the Planned Grid Measures module, a fault information tool for the centralized publication of faults and service interruptions, and the Low-Voltage Cockpit for greater transparency in low-voltage grids. The service-oriented architecture makes the software scalable, expandable, and durable. New requirements can be implemented much more quickly within the working group than any single grid operator could achieve on its own.
Excellent Results
An independent jury has also confirmed that this collaborative approach works: The introduction of the operations log at MVV Netze GmbH—which PTA consultants developed in collaboration with the energy provider as part of the openKONSEQUENZ working group—was honored with WirtschaftsWoche’s Best of Consulting Award 2021 in the Technologies category.
Experience that network operators can now put to use
For network operators, the federal government’s decision sends a clear signal: cooperative software development will receive political support in the future. Those who get on board now will benefit from proven structures and won’t have to reinvent the wheel. PTA supports network operators from requirements analysis through consortium-based development to integration into existing system landscapes, drawing on over five decades of experience with IT projects in the energy sector.
Would you like to know how your company can benefit from the “one for all” principle? Contact us.
