AS4 in the schedule process

AS4 is mandatory in the schedule process as of December 2024

Schedule management between balance responsible parties (BRPs) and transmission system operators (TSOs) will be switched to the new AS4 transmission channel on a mandatory basis.

Parallel operation will begin on October 1, 2024. By December 1, 2024 at the latest, Germany’s Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur, BNetzA) will require all market partners to be able to communicate smoothly via AS4. Emails may then only be used in emergencies.

Z1 Energy for secure data exchange in the schedule process

AS4 certificates in the schedule process

For the schedule process, the same AS4 certificate triple is used as for market communication. You can order AS4 certificate triples directly via Zertificon in conjunction with our Z1 Energy solution. We offer certificates issued by the registered sub-CA DARZ.CA. You benefit from attractive conditions and a smooth process for procuring and renewing the certificates. Zertificon also takes care of the entire AS4 certificate management for you. This includes administration, search, and storage of certificates.

Identification of market partners via Energy Identification Code (EIC)

When registering scheduled energy deliveries, the communication partners are identified via their Energy Identification Code (EIC). This contrasts with electricity market communication (“MaKo Strom”), where the market partner ID (MP ID) is used for the same purpose. Z1 Energy supports both, EIC and MP ID.

Prioritized transmission of schedule data

Schedule data is time-critical and therefore has priority in communication. We ensure that the schedule data is transmitted timely and correctly in accordance with the guidelines.

Email is retained as a fallback in the schedule process

In schedule management, encrypted email communication is retained as a fallback for emergencies, i.e. if AS4 communication fails. The AS4 solution ensures that in such cases, communication takes place via S/MIME-encrypted/signed emails.

Connecting to your ERP/B2B application or several of them

Our solution offers seamless integration with specialist applications (ERP, B2B) via a REST API or an email interface. This enables simple integration into existing processes. Outgoing data from the ERP/B2B application is processed depending on the data type (for example, electricity market communication, gas market communication, schedule management, Redispatch 2.0). The same applies to data that comes in via email or AS4 interfaces.

Several ERP/B2B applications can be connected, for example, if you use different applications for different processes.