HOME / CERTIFICATION
Certification
EEBUS Certification
The EEBUS Certification is the official testing and verification procedure for devices that implement the EEBUS standard. It confirms the standard-compliant, interoperable communication of your product – tested at the EEBUS Living Lab Cologne and issued by EEBUService GmbH.
For manufacturers in the energy market, certification is the direct technical proof of conformity with § 14a EnWG and § 9 EEG – the German grid-control regulations governing controllable loads and the curtailment of generation. This makes certification an increasingly decisive market-access criterion.
What is the EEBUS Certification?
EEBUS Certification is the official procedure for verifying that a device implements the EEBUS standard correctly. Testing is carried out against the official EEBUS test specifications and confirms that the device behaves exactly as specified – both at the protocol level (SHIP and SPINE) and at the application level (the EEBUS use cases).
In practice, this covers three things: the automated commissioning between devices via the SHIP Pairing Service, the relevant control and monitoring use cases, and the manufacturer’s binding declaration that commands received via EEBUS are physically applied in the device. Together, these form the technical basis for grid-supportive control and the transparency required under § 14a EnWG and § 9 EEG.
Certification replaces the previous Pilot Qualification. It is clearly structured, reproducible and designed for the requirements of a growing market. Following successful testing and a complete manufacturer’s declaration, EEBUService GmbH issues the certificate, assigns a unique Cert-ID and enters the product into the public EEBUS database.
What exactly is certified?
EEBUS Certification ensures standardised and secure communication for the grid-supportive control and monitoring of systems. It forms the technical foundation for meeting the legal requirements under § 14a EnWG and § 9 EEG. The Certification verifies the correct and error-free implementation of the EEBUS specifications at both protocol and application level.Â
Mandatory basis: As soon as a power-limitation use case (LPC or LPP) is to be certified, the SHIP Pairing Service – as the basis for automated commissioning – is mandatory and a fixed part of the testing.
Which EEBUS Use Cases can be certified?
Four use cases can be certified – all built on automated commissioning via the SHIP Pairing Service and the SHIP + SPINE protocols:
- LPC (Limitation of Power Consumption) – control of controllable loads under § 14a EnWG
- LPP (Limitation of Power Production) – curtailment of generation under § 9 EEG
- MPC (Monitoring of Power Consumption) – provision of current consumption data
- MGCP (Monitoring of Grid Connection Point) – monitoring at the grid connection point
What the EEBUS Certification stands for
Who is the EEBUS Certification for?
The EEBUS Certification is aimed at manufacturers of distributed energy resources:
The EEBUS Certification process in five steps
Successful certification requires familiarity with the relevant test specifications and a prior review of your own implementation against them. All required documents are available in the download area on eebus.org. EEBUS also provides Implementation Guides (LPC, LPP, SHIP, SPINE, general Use Case IG). For optimal preparation, the EEBUS Tester can be licensed via EEBUService GmbH to simulate the test cases in advance within your own development environment.
The official application is submitted digitally via the web form at the bottom of this page to EEBUService GmbH.Â
The EEBUS Living Lab Cologne coordinates logistics, the exact delivery window and the binding test slot. The manufacturer sends the physical device with the software version to be tested to Cologne. Important: A software-only or simulation solution is not sufficient – the physical device is mandatory.
Testing is carried out strictly against the official test specifications for use cases, the SHIP Pairing Service, SHIP and SPINE. No physical interoperability tests with other real devices are performed.
The Living Lab evaluates the log files and issues the official Test Report. With this report, the applicant returns to EEBUService GmbH (the Issuer). There, the certificate is issued, the Cert-ID including logo is assigned, and the product is entered into the public EEBUS database.
EEBUS Certified Devices
The EEBUS Certification has just launched, so only the very first certified products will appear here so far. More devices are currently being tested and will be added as soon as they are certified. Therefore, it is worth checking back regularly. Every product shown has successfully completed certification, together with the verified scope of its EEBUS communication. Going forward, all certified devices will be available in the EEBUS certification database.
Reach out and apply for Certification
I do NOT have a Living Lab Test Report yet
Contact us to schedule a testing appointment for product certification at the Living Lab Cologne.
I already have a Living Lab Test Report
Contact us to get in touch with the EEBUService GmbH directly for the issuance of the certification.
FAQs
General Questions & Process
Certification in the area of Certified Power Limitation is aimed at all manufacturers of controllable systems (e.g. heat pumps, wallboxes, battery storage) as well as manufacturers of energy management systems (EMS) and control units that want to operate securely and in compliance with § 14a EnWG and § 9 EEG in the German market.
Lead times vary depending on current lab capacity. We recommend submitting the application 4 to 6 weeks before the desired testing period. Applications are scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis and subject to availability. In case of scheduling conflicts, priority is given in the order: members → non-members → retake tests.
The actual testing in the lab usually takes only a few days, provided the device is well prepared. The overall effort from application to final certificate issuance depends heavily on the quality of the manufacturer's preparation. We recommend applying early to secure a lab slot in good time.
Physical device testing takes place at our EEBUS Living Lab Cologne, in Cologne. At EEBus Initiative e.V., Deutz-Mülheimer Str. 183, 51063 Cologne, Germany.
No. After successful scheduling, you send your physical device (DUT) including the necessary configuration data to Cologne. The lab team can carry out the specification tests independently.
The technical review and testing at the EEBUS Living Lab Cologne is entirely free of charge, as part of our non-profit mission. A one-time administrative fee of €1,500 applies, payable to the certification body (Issuer, EEBUService GmbH) for the formal evaluation of the documents, the official issuance of the certificate, and the product's entry into the public certification database.
The procedure does not stop. Thanks to the required developer interface and transparent insight into the runtime signals, our lab team can locate the error in most cases. You receive detailed feedback and the opportunity to improve the software. A retest can be carried out once. If it is not passed, a new application is required.
The process is clearly separated: the EEBUS Living Lab Cologne carries out the tests and issues the technical Test Report. With this report, the applicant turns to EEBUService GmbH – the official certification body (Issuer), which evaluates the documents and issues the certificate.
The Pilot Qualification was an essential first step on the way to a full certification scheme – it validated the approach in practice and laid the groundwork. Building on that experience, EEBUS Certification now provides a more robust and verifiable proof of conformity and secures a higher standard. A pilot qualification is therefore not equivalent to certification. The Pilot Qualification phase has ended; previously pilot-qualified devices remain listed for the time being on livinglabcologne.com for transparency and archival reference.
Scope, Roles & Documents
Only the EEBUS communication is tested; the device under test (DUT) is the EEBUS Communication Unit (EECU). Certification is always granted for a specific product, based on the scope of the tests passed at the Living Lab Cologne.
Yes. The manufacturer accompanies the tests, and the respective products of the distributors can then be certified based on those results.
If a product family uses a structurally identical EECU, the EECU is tested only once. Two cases apply:
The EECU is an integral part of the product: the certificate can be issued for all listed products in the product family.
The EECU is a separate product: the certificate applies to the EECU, and compatible products are listed underneath it (with the remark "only in connection with EECU").
The device under test (DUT) takes on predefined roles depending on device type and intended use:
Control (SPINE level):
LPC (Limitation of Power Consumption) – § 14a EnWG: LPC CS (the controllable end device that receives and applies limits) or LPC EG (the higher-level control system that receives limits and forwards them to consumers)
LPP (Limitation of Power Production) – § 9 EEG: LPP CS (the generation system/storage that can be curtailed) or LPP EG (the control system that coordinates curtailment commands)
Monitoring (MPC / MGCP):
MU (Monitored Unit): the monitored device that provides current measurement data
MA (Monitoring Appliance): the system that receives measurement data and creates transparency
The SHIP Pairing Service eliminates manual configuration effort on site. Instead of manually entering cryptographic keys (SKIs) on both sides, commissioning is based on a one-time, automated exchange via mDNS and DNS-SD. The end device (DevA) securely listens for the encrypted pairing request and validates it cryptographically; the control box (DevZ) sends the authenticated request to establish a lasting trust relationship. For identity verification and the TLS handshake, secure SHA-256 certificate fingerprints are used instead of older SHA-1-based SKIs – in line with current requirements from IT security authorities.
That depends on the device type and the use cases it supports. The two scenarios below show how roles and required documents come together in practice:
Example A – a connected heat pump (§ 14a EnWG + monitoring): processes power limits from the grid and reports consumption data to a higher-level system.
- Roles (DUT): commissioning DevA, control LPC CS, monitoring MPC MU
- Implementation Guides: LPC, SHIP + SPINE
- Test specifications: SHIP, SPINE, LPC, MPC
- Parameter Sheets: LPC (CS), MPC (MU)
- Forms: Manufacturer's Declaration (CS) + Terms & Conditions
Example B – an energy management system / EMS (§ 14a EnWG + § 9 EEG + monitoring): acts as the central control unit of a building – processes commands from the grid operator, throttles consumers, curtails generators and aggregates data.
- Roles (DUT): commissioning DevA; upstream interface LPC CS + LPP CS; downstream interface LPC EG + LPP EG; monitoring hub MPC MA
- Implementation Guides: LPC, LPP, SHIP, SPINE
- Test specifications: SHIP, SPINE, SPS, LPC, LPP, MPC
- Parameter Sheets: LPC (CS and EG), LPP (CS and EG), MPC (MA)
- Forms: Manufacturer's Declaration (CS) + Terms & Conditions
Not sure which roles or documents apply to your product? Just let us know in the contact form when reaching out – we will be happy to help.
Technical Preparation & Requirements
The key to fast certification lies in upfront validation: use the official Implementation Guides (SHIP, SPINE, LPC, LPP) from the download area on eebus.org and validate your implementation in advance using the EEBUS Tester in your own development environment. The EEBUS Tester can be licensed via EEBUService GmbH.
Testing is carried out using the standardised EEBUS Tester at the Living Lab Cologne, strictly against the official test specifications.
No. No physical tests with real third-party devices are carried out. Testing is based purely on the official EEBUS test specifications. We verify whether your device behaves exactly in line with the specification at the protocol and application level.
To conduct the tests independently (which significantly reduces the effort for both sides), we need access to the relevant runtime signals. Example for an LPC CS implementation: lpc:limit, lpc:duration, lpc:isActive, lpc:state, lpc:failsafe:limit, failsafe:duration, visibledevice:heartbeat (timestamp of the last received heartbeat). Without transparency into these signals, it is very difficult to validate communication behaviour effectively. We also need an EEBUS Reset function to reliably return the device to the Init state – a required precondition for many of our tests.
Your device must start the commissioning process with an active DHCP client (for both IPv4 and IPv6). Static IP addresses are not permitted in the lab for the initial connection.
EEBUS devices do not find each other on the network via fixed IP addresses, but dynamically via Multicast DNS (mDNS) and DNS-Based Service Discovery (DNS-SD). The device must broadcast a standardised "SHIP TXT record" containing mandatory entries such as the unique SHIP-ID, the certificate SKI, the brand, the model and the device category (Cat).