SMITEn - Smart Meter Integrated Test Environment

Smart-Grids are an integrated vision for the future of energy supply networks in response to the current challenges of environmental sustainability, reliability and quality of the European energy supply. These infrastructures integrate various heterogeneous elements that should be well interconnected and whose interoperability will become increasingly complex and critical for the security and world economy. Smart meters are the key instrument to implement these infrastructures and should be installed in nearly 80% of the European households by 2020. However, one of the great difficulties in the development of these complex systems is the ability to test them in an environment close to that where they operate, due to the cost and time needed to make tests in a real environment, as well as to the necessary interconnection between all components of such a system. The SMITEn project proposes R&D activities to develop an innovative solution for testing and validating smart meters, enabling a wide range of global organizations to implement and execute all the needed tests to fulfill technical requirements and validate the interoperability required by each country's government. The validation infrastructure should integrate a toolkit that should support all test scenarios. It provides real and emulated connectivity to suit different situations and enables easy replication of issues and verifiable fixes. Proposing a reliable and flexible solution to enable and help spread smart meters all over the world, SMITEn project may provide an effective response to the transition to a low carbon economy and an important contribution to an affordable, secure and sustainable energy. An important aspect in SMITEn are the R&D activities regarding the integration of simulators, and the design of closed loop smart metering simulators.