RK Singh, Union Minister of State (IC) for Power and New & Renewable Energy announced the completion of the project to replace 50,000 conventional electricity meters with smart meters in the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) area here today. Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a Super Energy Service Company (ESCO) under Ministry of Power has implemented this project. With this, NDMC has become the first distribution company (DISCOM) in India to implement 100 per cent smart metering solution. The adoption of smart meters will enhance consumer convenience and rationalise electricity consumption.Speaking on the occasion, Shri RK Singh said, “India is making rapid strides in providing universal access to affordable power. The Government of India is accelerating the adoption of smart meters to ensure efficient management of electricity by checking data-entry errors, billing inefficiencies, and cutting the costs of manual meter reading through web-based monitoring system. Smart Meters will revolutionise the power sector through their vast cascade of benefits including reduced AT&C losses, better health of DISCOMs, incentivisation of energy conservation and ease of bill payments. Further, this move will generate skilled employment for the youth. I congratulate EESL on implementing the programme successfully.”The occasion was graced by Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister of State (I/C) for Housing and Urban Affairs, Shri Anil Baijal, Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Shri Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Secretary, Ministry of Power, Govt. of India and Shri Naresh Kumar, Chairman, NDMC EESL and NDMC also signed an MoU to install public e-charging stations. The initiative is undertaken to collaborate on promoting Electric Vehicles (including two wheelers) in the NDMC area.The event also included the launch of smart meter feature on NDMC 311 mobile application enabling the consumers to access various services at the tap of a finger. The smart meter tab has been added to NDMC app’s home screen. Through this convenient and easy-to-use app, consumers can now get complete clarity on their energy habits and consumption through detailed and personalised insights.Within a short duration, 50,000 smart meters have been installed and integrated with the NDMC IT legacy system. The adoption of Smart Meters will lead to total annual savings of Rs. 12.47 crores to NDMC which include revenue due to improvement in billing efficiency. The AT&C losses are estimated to be 12.63 percent (Source: DERC Tariff Order FY2018-19).
Smart meters are part of the overall Advanced Metering Infrastructure solution (AMI) that measures and records consumers’ electricity usage at different times of the day and sends this information to the energy supplier through over-the-air communication technology. This gives consumers better access to information and enables them to make more informed decisions on the use of electricity in their homes, leading to reduced power wastage, and providing long-term carbon and financial savings.NDMC will benefit from enhanced consumer satisfaction level resulting from better complaint management, faster restoration of outages, awareness of optimised consumption pattern, and improvement in system stability, reliability and transparency.Commenting on the feat, Shri Naresh Kumar, Chairman, NDMC said, “NDMC has adopted the Smart Meters Programme as a part of aligning with the Government’s plan to upgrade our national energy system. We aim to play a vital role in India’s journey towards becoming a lower-carbon economy and an energy-secure nation. We are glad to lead the way in India’s smart meter revolution.”Speaking at the occasion, Shri Rajeev Sharma, Chairman, EESL said, “We are pleased to support NDMC in their pursuit of energy sustainability and adoption of future-ready technologies like Smart Meters. Thrust on such efficient systems is critical for consumption and growth in a sustainable manner enabling the consumers to make informed decisions about their energy behaviour.”
About the project:
EESL has funded and built the Smart Metering (AMI) Solution in the project area. It will also operate and manage the system enabling NDMC to benefit from smart meters with zero upfront financial investment. NDMC’s repayment to EESL will be through the monetisation of energy savings, resulting from enhanced billing accuracy, avoided meter reading costs and other efficiencies. This includes the immediate elimination of the cost of manual meter readings. These savings further enable NDMC to invest in value-added services for its consumers.NMDC’s large-scale adoption of smart meters is a significant measure towards future-ready technologies. Smart meters pave the way for the smart grid as they enable two-way real-time communication between DISCOMs and consumers through GPRS technology.Implementing smart meters is one of the operational performance parameters under the Government of India’s Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY). The scheme would help in reducing AT&C losses. It will also help in monitoring round-the-clock power supply eventually leading to greater efficiency and a pathway to meeting the government’s vision of 24X7 Power for All. Under its Smart Meters National Programme, EESL aims to replace 25 crore conventional meters with smart meters in India.