POWER PATHWAYS: Importance of smart metering in energy transition and key requisites going forward
Considering the importance of smart metering in distribution sector reforms, Ministry of Power has very recently issued draft guidelines for a reforms-linked result-based distribution sector scheme having an outlay of over INR 3 lakh crore, of which about INR 1.5 lakh crore has been provisioned for smart metering. This has further provided impetus to large scale smart metering rollout in India and could be a game changer for the distribution sector as the result evaluation matrix envisaged under this scheme would link the performance of DISCOMs with proposed reforms.
The Indian smart metering journey has seen many trailblazing initiatives such as the release of national standards for smart meters, functional requirements of Advanced Metering Infrastructure by the Central Electricity Authority and the announcement by the Ministry of Power to rollout 250 million smart prepaid meters in the near future. While these initiatives have provided a strong foundation for implementing smart metering, many requisites are still needed to be taken up in order to further this journey of energy transition at pan-India level in an effective manner.
With solar roof top proliferating, the role of smart meters in accurate and remote billing of net-energy consumed will gain importance. Carbon footprint is bound to reduce owing to reduced patrolling for outage detection and remote operations such as meter reading, supply disconnection or re-connection etc. Furthermore, smart metering will play a huge role in enabling retail competition and offering consumers a choice for selection of energy retailer. Such industry trends not only underscore the importance of smart metering in energy transition but urge us to further implement reforms in this domain.
On the technology side, although a strong foundation has been established by the Bureau of Indian Standards and the Central Electricity Authority, large number of DISCOMs are planning to undertake smart metering projects in the near future, hence more testing laboratories are required to upgrade their facilities to be capable of testing smart meters, leading to faster certification and deployment of meters. As the Indian smart metering industry matures, there would be a need to set up testing laboratories for interoperability testing at Network Interface Card level as well, thereby alleviating vendor lock-in.
