Utilities focus: smart metering

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“The flexibility and scalability of our smart grid software, as well as Oracle’s broad software offering, enable both immediate benefits now and an easier transition to a full smart grid architecture in the future,” said Quentin Grady, senior vice president and general manager, Oracle Utilities, in a statement.

In this region the benefits may come from helping people realise how much power and water they consume, by turning real-time data into actionable information. DEWA is in the midst of a smart metering pilot programme and is anticipating an eventual phased roll out of smart technology across the emirate.

“DEWA desires to automate processes and upgrade metering systems to the latest state of the art technology,” said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, CEO of DEWA at the smart metering conference. “We instigated a pilot to look at the possibility of metering automation, as well as remote reading, disconnection and reconnection.”

As the authority moves to the first phase of smart metering, its attention is focused on verification and scaleability, creating a system compatible with a number of metering manufacturers’ products. Different means of system communication will be tested and connection load monitoring, demand-side management and power quality monitoring are some of the applications that will be implemented, according to Al Tayer.

“Various regional utilities are watching this initiative with great interest,” he said.

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“From a strategic point of view we have the reliability of the system and customer service. We actually envisage that this system will improve customer service tremendously.”

Al Tayer also expects that smart metering will help with controlling load for district cooling. Power conservation and optimised load growth could be other potential benefits to the system.

“There are many benefits,” he said. “The feasibility is still under study. We will install 4500 meters and we need some time to evaluate [how they are working]. We have to study the pros and cons. This metering will help us start the drive toward a reduction of consumption, one of the objectives of DEWA.”

Al Tayer is also anticipating savings through a reduction in line losses. DEWA currently has an estimated line loss of 3.4%, but this could go as low as 2%, which, in Al Tayer’s words ‘makes it a good investment for DEWA’.

Widespread roll out will be handled internally by the authority, which has ordered about 20000 meters. It is believed that 2010 will be a year of evaluation, with Al Tayer being clear that the meters have to operate successfully through the peak summer period and then, based on the summer performance, a plan for full phased replacement of meters will be developed off the back of that.

Although a fully active smart grid  may be years away, the meter reader’s days are definitely numbered.

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