Surendra Acharya

Smart Meter to Smart Hubs – AMI Rollout Strategies for India

Senior Solution Manager

Cyan Technology

• The deployment of smart metering technology remains a priority in India• Support utilities to improve financial health• Provide consumers with sustainable, secure and affordable electricity

• Growing political will at Government level in India, including specific initiatives to support Discoms:

• India have a Smart Grid Vision and Roadmap that envisages• Smart Metering: >200 million customers by 2027; 30 million smart meters by 2019

under UDAY • Mandatory Demand Response and Rooftop PVs for certain categories of customers • Smart Microgrids: 1000 by 2017 + 10,000 by 2022 + 20, 000 by 2027• MW scale energy storage solutions, millions of EV• Loss reduction measures

• GoI is committed to providing 24x7 electricity supply to all households in the next 5 years and has recently launched 3 focused programs with initial capital outlay of US$14 billion

• The other ambitious programs are to build 100 Smart Cities on a fast track mode and add 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022!

Indian energy market

AMI -Applications

Smart meter is an important component of an AMI system and helps to achieve following importance required applications -

• Smart Installations• Time-Of-Use metering (Peak Load Management)• Load Limiting (Peak Load Management)• Power outage detection (Reliability of supply)• Theft detection (Revenue assurance)• Net metering and introduction of prosumers (Renewable Generation and Peak

Load Management)• Prepayment and post payment options (Peak Load Management and revenue

assurance)• Two-way communication with consumers- In Home Displays (Peak Load

Management and Energy Management)• Energy accounting• Analytics, dynamic pricing, demand response, load limit and supply reliability

for disciplined consumers.

AMI Architecture

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Chart Title

Series 1 Series 2

Series 3

Roles of components of AMI system

• Meter – provides metrology, tariff, remote connect/ disconnect mechanism, collection of instantaneous and interval data

• Data Concentrator Unit (DCU) – management of meters on the mesh network and the mesh network itself, meter reading collection, data security and authentication, event management, data delivery and bidirectional communications with Head End System

• Head End System (HES) – network management, data and event delivery and security, outage detections, Application Program Interface (API), reporting, SLA, commissioning and maintenance

• Meter Data Acquisition System (MDAS) – to collect data from HES and store in local database

• Meter Data Management System (MDMS) – to collect data from MDAS and provide analytics including verification and estimation, reporting and handover to billing systems.

Challenges- Rollout of AMI system

• Data throughput and payloads versus traditional meter protocol without further compression technology?

• Meter standards and their benefits in term of AMI performance

• Data collection frequency versus parameter support for interval data profile, daily data and billing data versus cost of network traffic and action on data?

• Meter data logged, polled at HES versus usage and actions afterwards?

• Outage and tamper alert versus interval data polling, impact on AMI performance of AMI system and applicable consumers?

• Demand Response/Peak Load Management/Energy Management and Consumer display(IHD) - its value delivery versus complexity and cost of introduction in system with recent Introduction of Android Apps and web portal for use ?

• Bipolar relay for remote disconnection versus complex tamper features(Single Wire and Earth Load detection)?

• Remote firmware upgrade versus meter architectural cost?

• Site surveys including roll out schedule, detailed site maps and GPS location

Challenges- Rollout of AMI system

• Cost of smart meter, complexity and reliability of smart meters?• Standards and their relevance in Indian context ?• Network bandwidth for RF mesh network versus target volume

of India rollout program?• Distributed Intelligence of Smart devices versus over

dependency and load on back haul?(Peak Load Management, Network Cost, Demand Response)

• Analytics (MDMS/MDAS) with availability of near real time monitoring of interval data with tamper flags versus complex tamper feature (ESD, Magnet influence) and implied cost?

• Smart meter installations, Site survey and Planning?• Logistics and maintenance.• Service levels for each smart business use case?

Decision Making- Rollout of AMI system

• Business case and cost per point-should not be based on compliance basis ?

• Customer engagement and criterion of consumers(Demand Response)

• IHDs vs apps. Apps would be better more cost effective solution (Demand Response)

• Prefer established ecosystems (Front and back end components)

• Monitor smart metering objectives during and after it is done

• Advantages of self forming / self healing mesh

• mandatory provision for mesh and minimum range for radio

• Benefits of prepayment and application in smart metering.

Key Considerations – Rollout of AMI system

• Selection of communication technology

• Site surveys- detailed site maps and GPS location for AMI components.

• Planning for enterprise hardware and software-Data centre infrastructure (including servers and storage system)

• Integration of AMI component and their responsibilities(Smart meter, DCU, HES, MDAS/MDM, Billing, OMS, CIS etc.)

• Deployment and commissioning of AMI network

• Post deployment process considerations

Selection of Communication technology

Comparing sub 1GHz RF against ZigBee 2.4GHz and PLC

• Sub GHz uses low power RF – offering superior range and penetration in medium and high density areas

• Achieves distances greater than 60m, between meters, across floors and through substantial barriers

• Enables fast, cost-effective deployments as no infrastructure is required.

2.4GHz

Importance of a comprehensive site survey

• Identifies potential challenges such as • The environment and landscape

• Geography of consumer spread(Rural, Urban, buildings and row houses)

• RF challenges (interferences , noise sources, etc.)

• Planning meter distribution including maps and GPS location data

• Assessment of backhaul coverage

• Identification of suitable DCU locations

• Estimation of required number of DCUs.

Enterprise hardware and software

• It performs a critical role in the AMI system – a system for the utility to Retrieve consumer information's, store and deliver analytics for decision making.

• MDMS- responsible for validation, editing and estimation of data and single interface for field end and back office systems.

• MDAS – an interface between the network and the MDMS

• Infrastructure and hardware components :• Data centre infrastructure – the building hosting the system and all auxiliary

systems

• Servers

• Storage systems

• Data base system

• Virtualisation system

• Fail safe system

Integration of AMI Component

Integrating the components of an AMI system requires comprehensive project management:

• Capture requirements of each component

• Define roles and responsibilities of each component

• Document system design

• Collaborative working between stakeholders design teams

Deployment and commissioning

In-depth planning of the deployment and commissioning of the AMI system will result in the safe installation of meters with minimum errors, customer issues and delays

• Customer notification

• Update customer record• Meter serial number

• GPS location

• New meter reading

• Update MDMS with new credentials

Commissioning process connects each meter to the backhaul IT Centre (HES/MDMS), including:

• Commission DCUs and meters on the HES

• Network corrections and fine tuning

Post deployment process considerations

• Utilities operational processes and maintenance model, could include:• Metering Services

• Customer Services

• Field Operations

• IT Services

• Revenue Protection

Summary

• Utilities and consumers can benefit from the deployment of AMI systems

• Clear understanding of the objectives of deploying an AMI solution including data and functionality required

• Sub GHz low power RF is proven in the Indian market

• Identifying the roles and responsibilities of the system’s components is fundamental to deploying a scalable solution

• Detailed plans will support trouble-free installation and commissioning

• Changing operational processes to facilitate the new system

Cyan overview

• End-to-end solution provider

• Enabling technology that connects devices with Enterprise software

• Focus on energy, lighting and emerging applications in the wider ‘Internet of Things’

• Developed smart metering and lighting solutions for emerging markets

• Cyan’s enabling technology is delivered through its eco-system of partners

• Award winning technology proven by commercial deployments

“THANK YOU”