FAQ
General
The "Austrian Coordination Office for Energy Communities" has advisory offices in every province.
You can find more information here: https://energiegemeinschaften.gv.at
You will find the relevant contact details on the website of the respective grid operator.
If you have technical questions for EDA GmbH (e.g. transmission channels)
If you have substantive questions for Oesterreichs Energie (e.g. structure of a message)
The costs are borne by the electricity and gas system operators pursuant to the “Other Market Rules, Chapter 5” (SoMa5) issued by E-Control Austria, as well as by those companies who are not assigned a direct role in the energy industry processes pursuant to law, regulations or SoMa (e.g. service providers to final customer).
For all other market participants, participation is free-of-charge. However, if necessary, appropriate restrictions can be imposed in a transparent manner.
The price sheet for service providers of final customer can be found here.
The energy community decides per community-ID whether the dynamic or static distribution model is applied. No further subdivision of the participating metering points is envisaged.
Each market participant must find another market participant itself for testing purposes.
An IT service provider services other market participants and carries out the energy data exchange for them.
In the case of an e-mail connectivity on or a connection via Communication Endpoint (CEP), the market participant concludes the EDA platform contract with EDA GmbH and authorises the IT service provider to carry out the data exchange for it in the course of performing the EDA platform contract.
Example
An energy community (market participant) outsources the processing of data exchange with the system operator and the billing of the energy community to a service provider. This service provider is an IT service provider.
An Energy Service Provider services final customer and carried out tasks such as energy controlling or optimisation of energy consumption for them.
The Energy Service Provider concludes the EDA platform contract with EDA GmbH via an e-mail connectivity or a connection via CEP.
Example
An Energy Service Provider receives the energy data of individual final customers and optimises their energy consumption. This service provider is an Energy Service Provider.
Each electricity or gas meter corresponds to a metering point. The grid operator uses the metering point to record the amount of electricity consumed or fed into the grid. This means that there can be several metering points in a household, e.g. one metering point for electricity consumption and one metering point for electricity feed-in, e.g. if there is a PV system.
The metering point designation is a 33-digit number that uniquely identifies the metering point.
The metering point designation is structured as follows:
2 digits country code (AT),
6 digits grid operator number (numeric),
5 digits postcode (numeric, can also contain only 5 x 0),
20 digits point of delivery number (alphanumeric, A-Z, 0-9)
The metering point designation can be found on your electricity bill from the grid operator. It can also be requested directly from the grid operator.
Attention: The meter point designation must not be confused with the meter number. The meter number is the serial number of the installed meter and therefore changes when the meter is changed.
The online registration process requires the active consent of the holder of the metering point for participation. In addition, the supplementary agreement to the grid access contract is concluded. The energy community is notified of the consent given by the grid operator (by means of the message ZUSTIMMUNG_ECON).
Please contact your customer support.
User Portal
Direct connection (E-mail connectivity and CEP)
Only the sender and recipient can access the transmitted data.
The data is held decentrally. The EDA infrastructure is the “data highway” between the individual market participants.
It is possible for users to participate in the EDA test system. Please contact EDA GmbH for this purpose.
If it is a joint generation plant (CGF) or a renewable energy community (REC), the allocation of the community-ID is carried out by the grid operator.
In the case In the case of a citizen energy community (CEC), the community-ID must be requested from ebUtilities.
After the owner of the metering point has given his consent to this on the grid portal of the grid operator, the grid operator carries out the subsequent steps required for the allocation of the installation to the energy pool:
- Installation of smart meter or load profile meter, if not already available. Establishment of stable communication and activation of quarter-hourly readout.
Note: According to EAG §16e Para. 1, this process can take up to 2 months. - Allocation of the metering point to the energy community
- The grid operator confirms the allocation of the point of delivery to the energy pool and announces the activation date of the energy pool. From this date, the registered point of delivery is taken into account in the energy allocation and the energy pool should receive the energy data periodically from the grid operator.
It is possible for users to participate in the EDA test system. Please contact EDA GmbH for this purpose.
As IT service providers do not receive an identifier on ebUtilities.at, they cannot be connected to the EDA infrastructure using a participant identifier of their own.
However, a market participant (energy community, supplier, system operator etc.) can outsource its connection to an IT service provider. The market participant concludes the EDA platform contract with EDA GmbH and in the course of contract implementation, the market participant can authorise the IT service provider to perform the data exchange.
In the User Portal, you can use the process monitor to see the current status of the message and whether it has arrived correctly.
With the e-mail connectivity and Communication Endpoint (CEP) you receive an “Acknowledge” confirmation as a reply for each transmitted message and this serves as confirmation to you that the message has arrived at the other Endpoint.
User Portal
We ask for a little patience if you registered your metering points less than a week ago. The data are sent by the grid operator only afterwards and at different intervals.
If you registered your points of delivery more than a week ago, please start the process "Request energy data" in the Process Monitor area. You will find instructions for this on the dashboard.
At https://portal.eda-portal.at, the "Reset password" function can be used at any time and a new automated email can be triggered. With this email, the password can be assigned by the user.
The owner of the metering point must actively agree to participate. To do so, he must log on to the grid portal (smart meter portal) of his grid operator and confirm his participation.
The User Portal is free-of-charge to authorised market participants (operators of community generation facilities, Renewable Energy Communities, Citizen Energy Communities and Energy Service Providers).
This notification can be selected/deselected in the user settings -> Settings -> Email notifications -> Remove addresses.
The grid operator usually sends energy data to the energy community on a daily basis. As a result, data is frequently received in the EDA user portal, for each of which a notification is triggered to the email address entered in the EDA user portal in the Settings area ("DATEN_CRMSG").
If you want to deactivate these automated e-mail notifications, please proceed as follows:
- Select the Settings menu item in the EDA user portal.
- Select the tab "E-mail notifications
- Remove the email address(es) which should no longer receive notifications e.g. in the line "Consumption")
- Finally save
For all CGF, REC and CEC, the steps described in the instructions (Quick Start) must be completed in order to carry out the energy data exchange.
You can find the instructions here https://www.eda.at/anwenderportal
No, it is not possible to control the energy distribution on the EDA User Portal.
No, no real-time data is available on the EDA User Portal.
No. Currently, only "main users" can be registered who have full read and write rights in the EDA User Portal.
No, the distribution model (dynamic or static) is part of the contract with the grid operator for CGF, REC and CEC and is already determined before the community is activated. For a change, a new contract must be concluded with the grid operator. A new community-ID is also assigned in the process.
In the case of an already active community, all participants must be deregistered from the existing community-ID and registered with the new community-ID.
No, persons who manage the master data of the energy community, handle processes and generate energy data reports require a login. A user is the "administrator" of the data in the EDA User Portal.
A metering point can be blocked by a process-related change or an open process in the process monitor. To remove the block, the changed data must first be downloaded in the master data export area (after the corresponding process has been completed) or the open process must be cancelled.
In addition, a change/adjustment of the data is only possible if the metering point has the status "New". If the status of the point of delivery is "Activated" or "Deactivated", the metering point cannot be changed.
Before using the data of the energy data report for further purposes, we advise the following procedure.
- We recommend that you create the energy data report for the previous month only at the end of the current month (e.g. create the energy data report for November only at the end of December).
- Check whether all values for all metering points are completely included in the energy data report.
If values are missing for a metering point, they can be requested for the respective point of delivery using the "Request energy data" process in the process monitor for the period in question. - Check whether the sum of "Own generation" + "Total/surplus generation" = "Total joint generation" in the "Overview" tab.
- If you have problems with the energy data report, please send the affected report to kundenservice@eda-portal.at and describe the problem.
The data is sent by the grid operator in retrospect and at different intervals. Please be patient if you registered your metering points less than a week ago.
If you registered the metering points more than a week ago, please start the "Request energy data" process in the Process Monitor area. You will find instructions for this on the dashboard.
Users = persons who manage master data of the energy community, handle processes and generate energy data reports. A user is the administrator of the data in the EDA user portal.
This person creates the metering points and registers/deregisters them for participation in the energy community, creates energy data reports, etc.
Not every participant of the energy community has to be a user on the EDA User Portal.
The following market participants use the User Portal:
- Operators of Community Generation Facilities
- Renewable Energy Communities
- Citizen Energy Communities
- Energy Service Providers
Energy communities (Community Generation Facilities, renewable energy communities, citizen energy communities) receive the following categories per metering point:
Generation metering points
Generation according to measurement [KWH] (OBIS code: 1-1:2.9.0 G.01)
Description: Measured generated quantity per metering point
Surplus generation [KWH] (OBIS code: 1-1:2.9.0 P.01)
Description: Calculated residual surplus per metering point that was fed into the grid and sold
Consumption metering points
Consumption according to measurement [KWH] (OBIS code: 1-1:1.9.0 G.01)
Description: Measured consumed quantity per metering point
Share of joint generation [KWH] (OBIS code: 1-1:2.9.0 G.02)
Description: Theoretical maximum allocation of generated quantity per metering point
Own generation share [KWH] (OBIS code: 1-1:2.9.0 G.03)
Description: Actual allocation of generated quantity per metering point
In the EDA User Portal under the menu item Report, an Excel report can be created for periods in which generation and consumption data were transmitted. The message "No data available" means that no data has yet been received from the grid operator for the selected period.
Each user can set a notification in the EDA User Portal. In this way, automatically generated notifications can be sent by e-mail when certain messages are received in the EDA User Portal. To activate this notification function, it is necessary to specify the desired email addresses in the "Settings" menu.
In the EDA User Portal under the menu item master data, the status of the metering point after successful registration is: "Activated".
The User Portal is a web platform, allowing market participants who do not have the IT infrastructure required to use the EDA communications platform to connect to the EDA.
Authorised market participants can log into the User Portal via username and password. In the logged-in area, pre-defined energy market messages can be sent and received. In addition, a report generation function (Excel or online) is offered, which can be used to evaluate the energy data received.
EDA platform contract
No, EDA platform contracts may only be concluded with EDA GmbH by participants who have an energy market role of their own and who are registered under that market role.
However, a market participant (energy community, supplier, system operator etc.) can outsource the handling of its connection to an IT service provider. In this case, the market participant concludes the EDA platform contract with EDA GmbH and authorises the IT service provider to exchange data.
Yes, this is possible.
It is the market participant’s responsibility to determine whether they wish to manage the e-mail box provided to them on their own or pass on the user data to an IT service provider.
The EDA platform contract is a contract concluded with EDA GmbH to enable participation in the Energy Data Exchange.
All authorised market participants can conclude an EDA platform contract and thus connect directly to the EDA infrastructure.
If a market participant wishes to outsource the connection to an IT service provider, the market participant must still conclude the EDA platform contract with EDA GmbH. In the course of contract implementation. The market participant authorises an IT service provider to perform data exchange.
Communication Endpoint (CEP)
The communication protocol currently used for transmission is AS4. The proprietary CEP must be able to communicate with the central services using AS4.
The specifications for AS4 may be found under the following link: www.oasis-open.org
Furthermore, messages must be encrypted asynchronically. The partnerships certificates and participant IDs of the other market participants for purposes of encryption may be retrieved from central services via https.
When operating a proprietary connection, users must also take account that the schemes used for market processes are subject to further development by the industry and must be accordingly implemented on an going live and operating basis. Scheme adaptations are the subject of consultation and published on ebUtilities.at. Currently, further developments to schemes are undertaken twice yearly by the industry.
CEP is the abbreviation “Communication Endpoint ". The CEP standard is provided by EDA GmbH and used by the respective market partner.
Yes, several CEPs can be operated in parallel by a single CEP operator.
However, each participant identifier (AT/EP/GC/RC/CC identifier) can only be stored as an end-point for a single CEP.
The CEP PONTON X/P standard will be developed further by PONTON GmbH.
The further developments relate to security-related and technical topics. The further developments will be made available to market participants in the form of software updates, so-called patches, and must be installed independently by the market participant.