Ansbach, February 19, 2025 — Elvaco GmbH, a subsidiary of Swedish metering specialist Elvaco AB, and Digimondo GmbH, a leading provider of IoT solutions, announce their strategic partnership. The aim of this cooperation is to provide energy suppliers and public utilities with a consistent, interoperable and future-proof solution for remote meter reading. The focus is on automating the entire process chain — from recording to billing and providing measurement values in other specialist systems. The benefit for suppliers: A legally compliant solution that enables significant increases in efficiency and real-time monitoring. In addition, the vendor-independent and cross-sector approach allows a short payback period and a future-proof and scalable solution. Interoperability is the key to digitizing networks and meeting legal requirements.
The District Heating and Cooling Consumption Recording and Billing Ordinance (FFVAV) obliges suppliers to use remotely readable, technology-open meters and to provide consumption information on a monthly basis. At the same time, requirements for recording, processing and managing measurement values are increasing — driven by requirements for energy efficiency and climate protection. This development is leading to a growing demand for metering gateways at Elvaco and an increased use of remote-readable meters in Digimondo's Niotix platform solution.
Technology-open, standardized and vendor-independent
The partnership between Digimondo and Elvaco is based on free choice of technology, standardization of radio and data routes, and a vendor-independent solution approach. This gives public utilities maximum flexibility when it comes to remote meter reading. The integration of the Elvaco Edge gateway and Elvaco meter communication modules into the Digimondo platform enables seamless and automated data collection across various radio technologies — LoRaWAN, WM-Bus, NB-IoT. This breaks up existing data silos, reduces manual processes and IT overhead, and makes public utilities independent of proprietary systems. The recent successful implementation of the LwM2M IoT protocol by Elvaco and Digimondo underlines this standardized approach.
Markus Drexler, managing director of Elvaco GmbH: “As a provider of holistic metering solutions, we work closely with partners to provide consistent system solutions. It is very important to us that our partners share the values of our company. We want to enable our customers to seamlessly integrate our sensors, meter communication modules and gateways into their processes. Our goal is not only to make remote meter reading as easy as possible, but also to enable our customers to optimize their networks based on real-time data. With Digimondo, we see this requirement ideally met: In addition to our existing joint customer base in the areas of energy suppliers and public utilities, we are united by technology openness, interoperability and a consistent focus on optimizing customer processes in metering. ”
Jonas Thiel, Head of Business Development at Digimondo: “As an established platform provider, we rely on sophisticated and secure hardware from partners such as Elvaco. The Elvaco Edge Gateway for WM-Bus perfectly complements the Elvaco meter modules with LoRaWAN connectivity that have already been used tens of thousands of times. With the recent integration of the LWM2M backend into the Digimondo platform, we enable central device management of NB-IoT meters and WM-Bus gateways within a single application for the first time. Our municipal utility customers benefit from this open and flexible approach through efficient, technology-open meter rollouts and an intelligent, highly available and economically superior solution for remote meter reading — particularly compared to proprietary systems. ”
Automated remote meter reading — Fixed Networks application example
The partnership between Digimondo and Elvaco enables public utilities to digitize the entire process chain of data collection. Fixed networks, i.e. large-scale readout networks, can be operated efficiently with this solution and used across sectors. Thanks to the technical capabilities of Elvaco devices that go beyond market standards, meter data is automatically collected and made available in Niotix. The use of a mix of technologies in the radio link leads to significant savings in hardware, operating and process costs. Especially in large network areas with numerous gateways, it is essential to combine different radio links and ensure the highest possible availability of measurement values.
Reliable transmission of measured values in large network areas
Markus Drexler explains: “Even in extensive networks, the recording and transmission of measurement values must function reliably. We provide Elvaco products with various technologies such as WM-Bus, M-Bus, LoRaWAN for hybrid networks to close gaps in reading. In this way, we ensure that reading rates of up to 100 percent are achieved and that all measurement values reach the customer's specialist systems reliably. ”
The Elvaco Edge metering gateway is particularly suitable for large network areas. It records both wired meters and sensors in accordance with M-Bus standard EN-13757 as well as OMS-compliant wireless meters and sensors. These gateways can be managed remotely via Niotix. The integrated SIM card in the Elvaco Edge allows remote access at any time to make settings and carry out firmware updates. At the beginning, the gateway records all receivable meters and sensors using defined filters. The combination of gateway and software then intelligently optimizes the entire network based on the required measurement values and data resolution. This includes individually adjustable upload intervals and the automatic selection of the gateway with the best reception as the lead receiving device. As a result, operating costs can be significantly reduced thanks to the joint solution from Digimondo and Elvaco.
Jonas Thiel emphasizes: “With the Digimondo software solution for remote meter reading, measurement values can be used far beyond the regulatory requirements of FFVAV. Our customers gain more transparency by collecting operating data specifically for network operation. At the same time, they reduce routine manual activities through automated reading processes and increase operational efficiency. In addition, the optimized processing of measurement values enables a faster response to faults or inefficiencies — such as excessive flow temperatures. ”
About Elvaco
Elvaco AB, based in Kungsbacka, Sweden, has been developing technology-open complete solutions for recording, evaluating and presenting energy measurement data since 1984. As an expert in energy connectivity, Elvaco offers an extensive portfolio of meter communication modules, gateways and cloud-based services. Elvaco GmbH in Ansbach serves the German-speaking region and offers individual customer service for over 400 customers.
Find out more at: ELVACO
About DIGIMONDO
DIGIMONDO GmbH is a leading software company with innovative solutions for public utilities and network operators. Since 2016, DIGIMONDO has been developing pioneering standard software for remote meter reading and network optimization. Find out more at: DIGIMONDO
