EESL equips NDMC to become the first distribution company (DISCOM) in India with 100% smart metering solution

• EESL installs 50,000 smart meters enhancing consumer convenience and rationalising electricity consumption in NDMC area
• Smart Meter feature in NDMC’s Mobile App launched
• MoU signed to install public e-charging stations in NDMC Area

New Delhi, January 09th, 2019: Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a Super Energy Service Company (ESCO) under Ministry of Power, today announced completion of the project to replace 50,000 conventional electricity meters with smart meters in the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) area.  With this, NDMC has become the first distribution company (DISCOM) in India to implement 100% smart metering solution. The adoption of smart meters will enhance consumer convenience and rationalise electricity consumption.

Hon’ble Minister for Power, New and Renewable Energy, Shri R K Singh inaugurated NDMC’s smart meter project, in the presence of dignitaries including Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Shri Anil Baijal, Lieutenant Governor of Delhi; Smt Meenakshi Lekhi, MP, New Delhi constituency, Shri A.K. Bhalla, Secretary, Ministry of Power, Shri. Naresh Kumar, Chairman, NDMC, and Shri Rajeev Sharma, Chairman, EESL.

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.

Inaugurating NDMC’s Smart Meter Programme, Shri R K Singh, Hon’ble Minister for Power, New & Renewable Energy, 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.”

Minister of Power interacts media

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. And, as the first municipal body to implement 100 percent smart metering solution, we hope to encourage our counterparts in the rest of the country to follow suit.”

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. Smart meters will enable consumers to monitor their consumption pattern and the corresponding cost, reducing power wastage, providing long-term carbon and financial savings. Smart meter data can ensure faster outage detection and swift restoration of service.  The meters will also provide an accurate and real-time information about energy use, enabling them to make informed decisions about their energy behaviour.”

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.

MoU signing for e-charging stations

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.