The Indian energy demand has been witnessing steady growth enabled by the government’s roll out of various congenial pro-business policies for achievement of affordable and accessible 24*7 power for all. According to Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a joint venture of PSUs under the Ministry of Power, India’s power demand is expected to surge by 79 per cent in the next decade. The government has implemented various progressive initiatives to maximise the power generation capacity and improve distribution. Over 13 crore people have been connected to the power grid since 2013 and initiatives have to be taken to deliver 24×7 power to all households by March 2019.
According to a market report, India is projected to invest USD 44.9 billion in smart metering, distribution automation, battery storage and other smart grid market segments over the next decade. This investment will help to reduce the country’s staggering 22.7 per cent transmission and distribution loss. Moreover, the government’s initiatives for achievement of 100 per cent metering such as the Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY), the Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS), the Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti
Yojana, the Saubhagya scheme and smart cities mission have generated
a spurt in demand in energy meters.
The Indian Energy Metering sector has been witnessing rapid transition from manual meter reading to automated meter reading.
What’s on the cards
The metering industry is undergoing transformation due to adoption of technology and innovation. With the advent of Internet of Things (IoT) and a surge of power-consuming connected devices, grid edge technologies are paving the way towards a new energy system that will deliver major economic and societal benefits.
Utilities are exploring the use of smart meters for applications ranging from grid reliability to theft detection. IoT is redefining the power grid and using the synergy, there is convergence between smart metering and distribution automation.
According to Venkatesh Dwivedi, Director (Projects), EESL, India’s DISCOMs sector must participate in this new era of energy accountability that will enhance citizens’ access to sustainable and reliable energy. The smart meter technology is critical to India’s ongoing power sector reforms.
“With the government’s vision of providing universal access to affordable power, it becomes important to eliminate the challenges faced by the state-owned distribution companies (DISCOMs). To overcome roadblocks of billing inefficiencies and unauthorised power consumption that contribute to DISCOMs’ financial woes, the push by the government towards implementation of smart meters in the next few years, the DISCOMs will experience the benefit of the technology, improvement in their financial health. Further, this will also enhance consumer convenience and rationalise electricity consumption,” he adds.
Smart metering is one of the most comprehensive tools in the Indian distribution sector’s arsenal to usher in a new milieu of energy measurability. EESL’s Smart Meter National Programme aims to replace 25 crore conventional meters with smart variants, which will lead to significant improvement in billing efficiency. EESL is supporting DISCOMs in the pursuit of energy sustainability and accountability, with the adoption of future-ready technologies. Push for such efficient systems is critical for consumption and growth in a sustainable manner while enhancing consumer experience through improved service delivery.
EESL has successfully completed the installation of over 5,00,000 smart meters in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. UP has the highest number of smart meters installed in India with 4,00,000 smart meters till date, which will enable DISCOMs to save Rs 8,000 crore over eight years. After deploying smart meters, Kanpur Electricity Supply Company (KESCO) witnessed a 11.2 per cent increase in average revenue per unit (Through Rate) during the January to April 2019 period over 2018 revenues. Similarly, Paschimanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited, a DISCOM in Meerut, has witnessed a 21 per cent increase in their average monthly revenue.
The benefits of smart meters are profound and long-ranging and easily accessible for consumers, it is a simple one-time installation of a compact appliance. In return, it is an unparalleled degree of transparency and trust in their DISCOMs, and reliable electricity supply.
“By making the grid flexible and responsive, smart meters can enable DISCOMs to participate in integrating the 175 GW of targeted renewable energy into the grid connectivity,” informs Venkatesh Dwivedi. Further, the development of smart cities has also created potential for smart meters. India, unlike the developed countries of the world, is one of the few countries which is a great greenfield site for developing futuristic smart cities. “While smart grid will act as the backbone of the smart cities project, smart meters will be the building blocks for the same. There will be continued smart meter deployment with focus on prepayment, application and integration with renewal sources of energy,” states Ashish Tandon, Director- Sales and Marketing, Landis+Gyr, India.
Feasible Growth
The Power sector is expected to flourish with the support from initiatives like 24×7 power, power to all households by March 2019 and UDAY, which is improving the ability of DISCOMs to buy more power and consequently, serve more customers, further adding to the sector’s growth.
Tandon from Landis+Gyr envisages a feasible spurt in demand for smart meter through real-time monitoring of grids and efficient distribution by power companies. “The development and large-scale use of renewables, energy management technologies, and efficiency measures are expected to contribute to the projected smart meter market growth,” he adds.
According to Venkatesh Dwivedi, following initiatives by the Government of India that will boost the Indian power sector:
• As of September 2018, a draft amendment to the Electricity Act, 2003 has been introduced. It discusses separation of content and carriage, direct benefit transfer of subsidy, 24*7 power supply is an obligation, penalisation on violation of PPA, setting up smart meter and prepaid meters along with regulations related to the same.
• Ujwal Discoms Assurance Yojana (UDAY) was launched by the Government of India to encourage operational and financial turnaround of State-owned Power Distribution Companies (DISCOMS), with an aim to reduce Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses to 15 per cent by FY19.
• As of August 2018, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy set solar power tariff caps at Rs 2.50 (US$ 0.04) and Rs 2.68 (US$ 0.04) unit for developers using domestic and imported solar cells and modules, respectively.
Preparedness
The industry is taking judicious steps towards fulfilling the Ministry of Power’s vision of replacing all the existing meters by smart prepaid meters by 2022. To support this vision, Landis+Gyr has all the in-house capabilities in India along with a variety of customised operating and financial models designed to benefit the key stakeholders.
“Landis+Gyr’s three growth platforms – smart metering, grid edge intelligence and smart infrastructure help to maintain and grow our market leading position and to manage energy better,” informs Ashish Tandon.
The financial health of the DISCOMs continue to be a cause of concern on account of high AT&C losses. The Ministry of Power has issued a ministerial guidance to all states to change the entire metering system to be shifted to smart meters on pre-paid mode in the next few years. “This will not only nable DISCOMs experience the benefit of the technology, leading to improvement in their financial health but will also enhance consumer behaviour towards efficient usage,” informs Dwivedi.
EESL has ensured the proper readiness of the ecosystem, the capacity building of DISCOMs and objective specific Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) solution to DISCOMs. According to Dwivedi, EESL’s business model will undertake all the capital and operational expenditure with zero upfront investment from states and utilities. EESL will receive a nominal Internal Rate of Return. The increased adoption of smart meters will create bulk demand and facilitate economies of scale, which will lower the manufacturing costs. EESL envisages the aggregation of demand from various states, a trend that has already resulted in reducing the prices of smart meters by 20 per cent in the second phase of distribution.
Through these smart meters, consumers will have access to a prepaid billing model as it enables the consumers to pay in accordance with their ability, convenience and usage.
Smart meters with Advanced Metering Infrastructure solution (AMI), will help consumers monitor and record electricity usage at different times of the day and sends the information to energy supplier through GPRS technology. These meters also eliminate the task of monthly manual meter reading and therefore, inadequate billing will become a thing of the past, further contributing to revenues. By using remote disconnection, DISCOMs can instantly stem power theft. Consumers gets better access to information and enables them to make more informed decisions on the use of electricity in their homes and thus avail monetary savings, adds Dwivedi.
Conclusion
The future of the metering sector is in implementation of smart meter program in order to help utilities bringing down AT&C losses and real time monitoring of power consumption.
