Thousands of modern, remotely read water and heat meters delivered to Silkeborg Forsyning

Today, Silkeborg Forsyning has around 20,000 water meters and 16,000 heat meters, of which a large part has soon served their time. Therefore, they need to be replaced with new, modern meters which are connected to a wireless network so Silkeborg Forsyning can remotely read all relevant data.

The delivery of the many meters and the access to the communication network and collection system have just been finalised with the conclusion of a contract between Silkeborg Forsyning and the Danish technology company Kamstrup, which is one of the world’s leading suppliers of intelligent metering solutions.

Future-proof reading

With the combination of new meters and the new communication network, Silkeborg Forsyning future-proves the reading of heat and water consumption for many years to come. Silkeborg Forsyning buys the many meters from Kamstrup but will not own the communication network, which will transfer data from the meters to the collection system. Instead, Silkeborg Forsyning pays a licence fee for using the existing network owned by Kamstrup.

This is a great advantage since communication technology evolves constantly. With this agreement, Silkeborg Forsyning will benefit from the improvements. The actual physical meters are expected to have an average lifetime of approximately 16 years. There are many good experiences with the chosen meters’ accuracy after many years of operation at other utilities.

The water and heat meters that have recently been installed and will be installed during the winter season and in spring can also be used in the new system. The many meters which need to be replaced are disassembled, and the materials are recycled.

Regarding the contracting, the following spokespeople say:

Head of Data and Digitalisation at Silkeborg Forsyning, Laura Møller.

“The contract with Kamstrup ensures us and the customers a future-proof and robust system for many years to come. We lease the communication technology and can, thus, utilise future technological advantages on this front. We have also made high demands for the performance and quality of data.

And we ask for more data than what we can use right now. That is on purpose, as it gives us a platform for innovation and an opportunity to utilise data we do not know today. We do this with a dual focus. We can partly use data to optimise our production and, for instance, produce more sustainably.

But just as importantly, we want to ensure that we, based on data, develop the right services for our customers in the future.”

Director at Silkeborg Forsyning, Jens Bastrup.

“We are pleased with the contract with Kamstrup, whom we know very well. Together with one of the world’s leading – and at the same time local – suppliers in the field, we are taking a huge step in the work with secure supply and towards the development of new services to the customers.

With the new meters and the communication network, we can develop exciting new business opportunities which benefit the environment, the climate, and the customers.”

Senior Vice President at Kamstrup, Tommy Hansen.

“We are incredibly proud of the collaboration with Silkeborg Forsyning, whom we experience has an innovative approach to what the utility of the future looks like. For many years we have worked with intelligent solutions and simultaneously develop new solutions and services where it is possible to gain even greater benefits from the data from the network.

Therefore, we also look very much forward to creating value and future-proof solutions through digitalisation and data in close collaboration with Silkeborg Forsyning.”