Nicigas connects 850,000 Gas Meters with UnaBiz and SORACOM
The Japanese energy market was deregulated more than 20 years ago. However, corporate protectionism has hindered full liberalisation, restricting access to accurate and timely data. Led by UnaBiz and SORACOM, the Smart Gas Meter makeover allows the collection of real-time data without the need for a costly and time-consuming network overhaul. The project marks one of the largest deployments of smart utility solutions to date.
Challenges
To digitalise gas consumption management in a cost fitting manner on a global scale.
Solution
A retrofitted Network Controlling Unit that enables smart features and lasts at least 10 years.
Results
Data precision, lower operational cost, better service offering and new revenue streams.
NIPPON GAS CO. (NICIGAS) is an energy company engaged in the business of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), City Gas and Electricity. Since deregulation, the company has steadily grown to become one of the fastest-growing LPG retailers in the country.
Thanks to its high service quality and competitive pricing, NICIGAS currently supplies gas and electricity to more than 1.67 million customers in the Kanto region, Yamanashi prefecture and Shizuoka prefecture.
DIGITALISATION
As a strong proponent of market deregulation and how it will benefit the end customer and society as a whole, NICIGAS wants to create a platform to provide new players with access to operational systems and compliance services at a reasonable cost.
Currently, these meters are being read manually by gas company agents monthly. This method is costly, prone to errors and dependent on a large workforce. To change that, NICIGAS has to digitise the data collection of gas consumptions.
However, unlike Japan’s 62 million smart residential electricity meters, over 50 million residential LPG and city gas meters are currently offline.
A PRACTICAL INNOVATION
Before working with customised IoT hardware maker UnaBiz and Japanese IoT connectivity and data management platform supplier SORACOM, NICIGAS tested several off-the-shelf and custom-built solutions from reputable companies. None of those solutions met their technical requirements within their expected return of investment.
To answer the problem, SORACOM teamed up with UnaBiz to create the “Space Hotaru” – a Network Controlling Unit (NCU) that transmits gas consumption data to “NICIGAS Stream”, the company’s central IoT data platform.
This is done via Sigfox’s 0G wireless network operated by Kyocera Communication Systems (KCCS) in Japan.
“We currently offer a similar service over 3G and 4G networks. However, when we narrowed down the functions to a minimum, the amount of data transmitted is, in fact, tiny. This made Sigfox’s low power consumption, small payload and inexpensive connectivity the obvious answer.” – Yuki Matsuda, Executive Officer of Information Technology Division, Energy Business Headquarters NICIGAS.
RETURN ON INVESTMENT
NICIGAS first presented “Space Hotaru” with basic features in a hand-sketched, futuristic-looking product.
The R&D and Design team from UnaBiz Taiwan took the sketch and started designing and engineering a prototype.
From material casing to electronics components, and communication protocol to firmware, UnaBiz delivered an industrialised and tested hardware solution within the year.
The final NCU is 3X smaller than the original prototype and still enjoys a long battery life thanks to UnaBiz’s mechanical design and firmware optimisation expertise.
The 0G Network is a low-cost, long-range and energy-efficient wireless network designed to send or receive small messages between IoT devices without the hassle of installing gateways or SIM cards. 0G solutions are simple to implement, easy to manage and highly scalable for massive IoT applications.
THE SPACE HOTARU CAN BE DEPLOYED IN LESS THAN 5 MINUTES
To turn around the ambitious project within a short time, speed of deployment is key. The Space Hotaru is designed to be fixed onto the gas pipe quickly with a binding band. The sleek round shape allows the binding to be done in 2 minutes, and the entire installation within 5 minutes.
SORACOM further accelerated the deployment of the NCU with an app that allows deployment staff to test the NCU’s communication success rate with a specific protocol analyser in the field.
NICIGAS is currently deploying thousands of meters per day.
“Remote meter reading is just the first step in NICIGAS’s Digital Transformation efforts. The realisation of business optimisation involving the entire energy industry is next.” – Shinji Wada, President & CEO of NICIGAS.
THE NEXT PHASE: EXPANSION
The Space Hotarus are already drawing the attention of NICIGAS’s rivals and the public sector. According to the company’s president, the NCU can potentially be fitted on all 24 million residential LP gas meter in Japan, as well as in public utility infrastructures to manage water and electricity consumption.
The gas operator is also developing the Space Hotaru under different communication standard such as LTE-M as they plan to resell the solution to other gas providers. The LTE-M Space Hotaru will allow NICIGAS to switch off the valves within 30 minutes in the event of an emergency.
NICIGAS also plans to introduce Space Hotaru to its 410,000 city gas user. Within a few years, the Space Hotarus will be collecting data from over 1 million users to NICIGAS.
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