SMARD Energy Platform
German electricity visualized and explained
SMARD – the electricity market data platform of the German Federal Network Agency – is online since 3 July 2017. The new transparency platform deciphers the German electricity system for all interested citizens. Easily comprehensible graphics visualizes the most important information regarding electricity in Germany – such as planned and actual production from the wind, solar or other sources, wholesale prices or national consumption. Background articles explain effects and correlations in an understandable language.
The platform in detail
SMARD consists of four major areas: Electricity market news, Visualize market data, Overview of Germany, and Electricity market explained.
Electricity market news contains some news stories on selected trends of the German electricity market as a pillar of our supply chain. New articles are added constantly.
In the area Visualize market data, you can graphically plunge into different data categories, such as electricity production and consumption, electricity trading and system stability. One advantage: You are able to open different graphics in parallel in order to better comprehend correlations and to compare numbers. The data you see there comes from the platform of the European grid operators association ENTSO-E. First, they get checked whether they are correct and complete, then treated and conditioned, and finally published on SMARD. This process assures a correct data presentation near real time.
Overview of Germany renders data visible on a map of the German market area. This map allows a geographical overview of the power production landscape: Where are the most power plants, which energy sources dominate in which region? There is also information about the real-time electricity feed-in for power plants with more than 100 Megawatt per generating unit.
Electricity market explained is the contextualizing part of SMARD – and is a unique feature of the platform. Interested citizens can read intelligible background information about the functioning and the technical terms of the electricity market. This editorial accompaniment distinguishes SMARD from most existing pure data platforms.
A log-in area lets you personalize SMARD. Graphics created with SMARD can be stored here; in so doing, users can easily return later and find it again with just some clicks. Same applies to articles from the areas Electricity market news and Electricity market explained.
A platform for the general public – and for experts
Germany’s electricity landscape is in full transformation. This change requires explanation – renewable energies are gaining in importance, networks are being expanded, and power plants are being decommissioned. People keep asking questions. SMARD fills this gap. It is addressed to the general public as well as to energy experts and analysts. People interested in the electricity market can dive deeply into the matter.
The website is developed by the digital experts of EWERK and xitee, two companies with profound knowledge from the energy and data sector. Both are a long-standing IT partners of several exchanges and energy suppliers in Germany and Europe. On behalf of the Federal Network Agency, the teams of both companies are now developing together a digital, interactive world of energy facts with a clear design and smooth data flows. The website will be further developed continuously.
Technologies: Java 1.8, Spring, Hibernate, Vaadin 7, RabbitMQ, Apache POI, TomCat, SQL, PostgreSQL, Power Shell, Windows Server
