Nimbus by Italgas, the most advanced gas meter in the world

On November 29th in Paris I had the honour to present officially to the market Nimbus, the world's most cutting-edge, H2-ready, gas smart meter, developed in-house by Italgas to manage blends of green gases with the aim of reducing carbon emissions.

Nimbus is a strategic milestone for the entire gas distribution industry 

We at Italgas are convinced that there is no single main road capable of achieving the ambitious net zero objective by 2050, much less that the main road could be the total electrification of energy consumptions. This is a scenario that is nowadays excluded even by the main European organizations of the electrical sector.

Instead, we believe that the path towards net zero should be guided by technological neutrality, valuing all forms of energy that can effectively contribute to meeting the targets. And in this regard, gas is and will continue to be an essential resource in the energy mix of Italy, Europe and the entire world.

It is the European Union itself that tells us. With the RepowerEU of 2022 the European Commission has asked all member States for an unprecedented effort to invest in new technologies in the gas sector: fossil and renewable gases, biomethane, hydrogen and synthetic methane.

Italgas is ready to do its part: thanks to the digital transformation path that we have undertaken since 2017 and that will come to a significant phase of completion by 2024, our networks, originally designed for a single type of gas, methane, will become ready to receive and distribute new gas blends, including biomethane, hydrogen and synthetic methane.

This is the concrete contribution that the Italgas Group is ready to offer on the path that will lead the planet to net zero.

And it is clear that, as part of this ambitious transformation program, the launch on the market of a new smart meter ready to receive green gas mixtures represents a strategic milestone. This is why we conceived the new Italgas smart meter, the most innovative and hydrogen ready gas meter in the world.

Its name is Nimbus, Latin for cloud, a name that evokes modernity and technological innovation.

A 2-year development program, from scratch to the commercial product 

Nimbus is the outcome of an initiative launched in 2021 with the ambitious aim of introducing into the market an innovative smart meter that would stand out and serve as an additional enabler for the distribution of green gases, thereby contributing to the decarbonization of energy consumptions.

Italgas is already the largest operator in the world in terms of quantity of smart meters managed, with a proprietary fleet of over 7.5 million meters in Italy, which will soon be extended by including the new Greek meters as well.

With Nimbus Italgas wants to consolidate its worldwide leadership, evolving from a pure operator to a technological product leader.

Our project started with the definition of the technical requirements of the new smart meter by a joint cross-functional team composed by engineers of Italgas Reti and Bludigit, the tech company of Italgas Group. Our team was assigned with the task of developing the detailed design and construction of the prototype of the new meter.

And today - two years after – we are ready to present officially the new product to the market.

What I have presented at Enlit Paris 2023 was not just a mere prototype, but a real commercial product that we intend to launch on the market after a field-testing phase that will keep us engaged throughout 2024.

In fact, between next December and January 2024, we will proceed to install the first 20,000 Nimbus meters on the field at users served by Italgas. Following 10 months of monitoring, we will move to full-scale commercial production in 2025 and launch the new meter into the global market.

A product made in Italy, extensively tested and certified

The new meter was entirely designed in Italy and will be manufactured in Italy using almost exclusively Italian, European and US components.

The main sensors and modems come from Italy and to a lesser extent from Switzerland and the United States, the casing is entirely Italian. The factories that produce Nimbus are located in Northern Italy.

Therefore, we can really define this smart meter as a product made in Italy and we believe that this product inherits the creativity, the technological innovation, the design, the attention to details and the aesthetics which are typical features of made in Italy.

It is indeed an innovative product under many respects - and for this reason we believe that it is the most technologically advanced meter in the world today - to the point that an Italian patent application procedure is currently underway by Italgas, which will be soon followed by an international patent application.

The validity of the product is also demonstrated by the numerous international certifications that we have obtained following an extensive testing phase, including more than 300 successful lab tests: MID certificate for the use of the meter in the European Union, H3 certificate which certifies its resistance to ultraviolet rays coming from the external environment, RED certificate which demonstrates its conformity to the standards of radio equipment, ATEX certificate which allows the installation of the meter in areas prone to the risk of explosion and finally ROHS certificate, which is essential for electronic products and testifies the absence of harmful chemicals elements.

Why is Nimbus really unique ?

Nimbus stands out for its advanced technology for data communication, which is designed to allow a full coverage of the territory through the use of low-power networks. Firstly, two primary communication channels based on Narrow Band-IoT and LoRaWAN technologies. Secondly, a backup channel based on a network mesh that will allow neighboring meters to communicate with each other. In this way, an isolated meter that is unable to connect with the primary Narrow Band-IoT or LoRaWAN networks, will be able to send its data to the nearest meter that is able to communicate with the data network, thus solving the problem of failure connection.

Thanks to this innovative solution, Nimbus will be always-on and capable of transmitting gas readings and other data even from the most difficult installation sites, like underground locations and remote areas.

What’s more, its battery will last 15 years thanks to a sophisticated power management system and the use of low power electronics.

The meter is equipped with an advanced fuel gauge algorithm, capable of measuring the electric charge supplied by the battery and using this data to estimate the remaining life of the battery and perform a self-diagnosis on the correct functioning of the meter. 

And coming to green gases, Nimbus is certified for measuring volumes of gas mixtures containing up to 23% of hydrogen, the highest percentage on the market so far.

As to safety features, Nimbus is equipped with advanced sensors that include gas supply pressure and temperature detection. Temperature detection also allows the detection of any fire near the meter. If this happens, a special solenoid valve automatically interrupts the gas supply to protect the safety of the consumer.

What’s more in terms of safety, Nimbus also has a seismic sensor capable of detecting earthquake shocks. We developed very sophisticated algorithms in collaboration with the EU Center of the University of Pavia, an international center of excellence in anti-seismic studies. These algorithms can command automatically the gas cut-off in the event of a seismic shock.

And in this regard, I am proud to state that, once the current Italgas meters have been replaced with Nimbus, the Country of Italy will be provided with a unique network of millions of seismic sensors distributed across the national territory, capable of constantly monitoring seismic events. And this will be a unique case in the world.

Finally, Nimbus has anti-tampering sensors, which allow Italgas to detect any attempt to break the meter or any unpermitted disconnection from the distribution network in order to prevent fraud manipulation.

Nimbus is a step forward: for consumers, maintenance workers and environment

Nimbus represents a step forward for the consumer: in addition to the superior performance in the transmission of gas readings and the anti-fire and anti-seismic safety provisions, the new meter will offer the consumer a high-resolution display, much more readable than those currently on the market, and will be configurated to be operated in 3 different languages.

Nimbus also represents a step forward for maintenance workers, as it will be able to communicate with field technicians via simple Bluetooth and will not require annoying cable connections.

But above all, Nimbus represents a step forward for the environment: it reduces resource consumption thanks to its much more compact design compared to current meters, which results in less materials and easier transportation and storage. And it has a casing made of recycled polycarbonate.

Nimbus is the pillar of an advanced platform for meter-to-cash offered by Bludigit, the tech company of Italgas Group

Nimbus is today the most advanced gas meter in the world. An Italian product, the brainchild of Italgas and Bludigit. An innovative product at the service of the environment, but also of the entire community: gas distribution operators, gas sales companies and gas consumers.

A product that will be deployed by Italgas for its own gas users and will be made available as well to the national and foreign markets by the sister company Bludigit.

Nimbus represents the advanced platform for a new meter-to-cash service offering addressed to the gas distribution sector. A service capable of covering the end-to-end smart metering process, from reading to billing, easily scalable as it is proved by almost 8 million meters presently managed by Italgas.

The future is now… let’s welcome Nimbus !