Nomination European Utility Awards 2007 - The garbage truck model

Vice President Jan Strømvig and Technician Svend Erik Nørby from Fjernvarme Fyn A/S are happy and proud to be nominated.

Fjernvarme Fyn has been nominated in the innovation category to receive the European Utility Award. The Award Ceremony is taking place during the Metering and Billing Conference in Vienna. 

Fjernvarme Fyn A/S has qualified to this nomination by taking energy saving a step further - combining innovative thinking and environmental awareness. When introducing AMR they have decided that the process of meter reading should be carried out, by using an existing logistical network – the local municipal sanitation service.

The garbage trucks that operate in the local area have been mounted with meter reading equipment. They now retrieve the meter data and thus replace the personnel from the district heating company who previously drove around in the area collecting the data.

By combining new technology and using existing resources the costs for meter reading such as personnel and means for transportation are substantially minimised. This has a positive effect on the local environment and leaves the personnel free to focus on more important tasks. 

The immediate results and benefits are economic as the utility optimise their costs for the meter reading process. Further benefits can be found in an improved image in the local society as the utility by undertaking this project shows environmentally responsible behaviour.

In future there can be found multi-utility benefits as the system is laid out to handle both electricity and water consumption. Also the system is fully scalable, meaning that the number of measuring points can be extended infinitely.