Smart Metering: To help Indian

utilities address the revenue

challenge

B. S. Babel - President, IEEMA

Indian Electrical & Electronics Mfg. Association

India‟s energy scenario

India is the 3rd largest

producer of electricity in the world

The world loses $89.3 billion

annually through power theft

India loses US$ 10- 15 billion

annually

240 million Indians live without

access to electricity

For generation,

availability of fuel and

renewable energy

infusion has been

addressed. Additional

transmission capacity

and inter regional

capacity is being

addressed .

The distribution

sector is struggling

Indian Power Sector- an Overview

Both central & state govt.

involved in power sector

Discoms accumulated

losses

70Billion$

240 million consumers

Very High losses 23-

25%

Low revenue

/Per capita use ~1010

kWh

Load Growth

6-8%

Peak shortage

1.5%

Energy shortage

1.0%

Energy produced 1200 Twh

Info. need for distribution management

System

Maintenance

Customer

Billing

Energy

Accounting

Disconnections

& Reconnections

Tariff

design

System

Losses

Revenue

Protection

Load

Control

Distribution

Automation

Load

Forecasting

Customer

Relationship

Power

Quality

Transfers &

Vacancies

Managing

Credit

Collecting

Cash

System

Operation

System

Expansion

Information through

smart metering

?

Customers

Profiles

Wires

Readings

Geography

Accounting

& Payments

Assets

Indian discom story Positives: Early adapters of electronic meters for all segments. Meters with high accuracy and tamper detection capability

Could not appreciate

• Changes required in discom processes to convert data to business decisions

• Many did not build computing and IT system and support team

• Indian power system conditions. Surges, spikes, over voltage, high temperature, poor installation

• Social side of power theft

Lagging :Moving in circles on meter data collection

Impact • No details around the drivers and variability of energy loss

• Outcome, no real benefits out of installing electronic meters for several discoms

Metering Industry Status At par with global technological developments. World’s first smart meter jointly developed in India in

1988

World leaders in addressing Tamper & fraud issues

Comprehensive design and manufacturing capability in India : Around 25-30 million per year.

Indian companies are ready with smart meters and have implemented AMI solutions in Developed and Developing economies. Smart meters exported out of India

Around 1/3rd of global “Smart Meter”/Smart technologies design/Engg. is based in India.

Around 700k meters with switches deployed, began a decade ago in the country.

Around 5 million meters with various communication links working. Bulk supply points success.

Discoms experienced mixed success. few really utilised the data. System integration challanges faced

“What is SMART”today and in foreseeable future What do we desire from a Smart meter

An overview

• Which provides desired results in quickest possible time deploying

appropriate technology at affordable cost for today and tomorrow

• Key business drivers today and in foreseeable future

• For Owner/Service provider and for end user

• What does it take to adopt and grow it . Change management issues

• System versus standalone equipment

• Smart meter to AMI to smart grid Journey

Smart meter records consumption in intervals of 30mins or less. communicates information at least daily back to the utility for monitoring and billing. enable two-way communication. Provides on line update to the user through web or in home display to help efficient energy usage and reduce bill. Sensor for smart grid..

24x 7 power supply

Improved customer services

Key Drivers -Smart Metering in India

Value delivery from smart meter

Planning

Operation

efficiency ENGG.

Revenu

e

leakage

Asset

Managem

ent

Custom

er

Service

Demand

Managem

ent

Field Crew

Managem

ent

Meterin

g Billin

g

Ad

din

g c

om

mu

nic

ati

on

an

d c

on

nect/

dis

co

nn

ect

sw

itch

Meteri

ng

Billin

g

Utility operations benefited by

Walk by reading

Utility operations benefitted by adapting Smart

Metering

Data

Analytics

Smart

Grid

Renewable

Integration

Reliability

UDAY, innovative effort to address the problems faced by discoms. It will address the issue of high interest burden and effective power purchase. The elephant in the room is high AT&C losses. Increasing with increased generation “UDAY” has provision for smart metering and related IT support

The key challenge for Indian discoms is reducing AT&C losses

Let‟s talk about

the elephant in

the room

An overview

Understanding the root causes of AT&C losses

Revenue Losses

Non-Technical Losses

Metering Related

Errors & defects

Data Fraud

Tamper

Other

Unmetered supplies

Illegal connections

Commercial Losses

Commercial Practice

Data Flows

Long Cash Cycle

Debt Management

Won’t Pay

Can’t Pay

Technical Losses

Unavoidable Losses

Avoidable Losses

• 2 years back 14 smart grid pilots started.

• Focus more on Smart metering

• RFPs floated for approx. 300k Smart meters

• Orders decided for approx. 150K Smart Meters.

• Unfortunately, revenue could only be recognized for 5k Meters

• Lack of standard specification of meter

• Selection of communication technology

• Regulatory support missing

• SLA not being achieved, field issues etc..

• All are new entrants.

Smart Grid pilots experience

Challenge with utilities:

• Improve revenue and reduce losses : Credit management

• Load / demand side management

• Last mile (Distribution) is a constraint and many Discoms are loss making

Complex meter design

• Support of various revenue protection features: High theft

• Customization based upon utilities specific requirements

• L-1 buying low initial cost expected

Poor electrical system condition due to:

● Geography & age of the network.

● Surges, spikes and voltage variations

High ambient temperature

Dusty and humid in many areas

Poor installation practices

Challenges in Indian Contexts

Technology alone cannot solve problems

Consider value delivered rather than cost alone

People, processes and technology must come together

Results

People

Dedicated IT team

People with good analytical ability

Keeping abreast with technology

Technology

Cost effectiveness

Total cost of ownership

Sociology of technology

Processes

Simple & effective

Transparency in service levels

Creating multiple payment option

Customer education

USA

• Quantity 100 million

• Around 100 USD

United Kingdom

• Quantity 60 million

• Around 100 USD

Australia

• Quantity 2.9 million

• 150-170 USD

France

• Quantity 35 million

• 150-200 Euro

World wide smart metering projects

Cost vs Volume

Key message

An overview

Act on the root causes of losses. Use cost effective, end to end systems /

solutions suitable for Indian conditions

Share experiences of successful implementations by various discoms.

Use best practice examples.

Consider outsourcing metering, billing and collection services where

appropriate

Procurement should be based on quality and cost after assessing the

capability of the vendors. Partner with India based vendors with domain

knowledge.

Before adopting a new technology address issues with people and

processes.

Create an organisation for effective revenue management. Create effective

engineering cells for monitoring, selecting the right technology to solve

the problems. Provide necessary training and exposure.

Launch a mass communication campaign against power theft.

IEEMA is committed to partner

An overview

The solutions are available!

And are

Made in India

• Must be socially and political acceptable by Indians

• Indian utilities must be able to run with the processes

• Must be cost effective

• Will not be instant or there will be no „miracle cures‟.

• “Sociology of technology” is critical.

• We need to communicate with the masses