A smart meter specification for Africa
Image: AFSEC
A smart meter specification developed by and for utilities in Africa is about to be formally released as the African standard AFSEC 51300-1.
Presenting the specification at Enlit Africa, Desigan Govender, Product Portfolio Manager at Conlog, explained that the standard has emerged from the Association of Power Utilities in Africa (APUA) to meet the emerging needs of African utilities and consumers and the need to deliver a ‘return on investment’.
Not least among these is a plan from the World Bank to electrify at least a further 30 million homes in Africa, with the continent still accounting for the majority of those globally – over 85% – without access.
The specification has been “developed by African utilities for African utilities”, Govender explains.
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He cites a focus on six key elements in its development – interoperability and security, with a range of communication options, metrology, the disconnect device, accounting with for example time-of-use and step tariffing, tamper detection and not least the climatic conditions.
“Meters in Africa face extreme conditions of heat and humidity, sometimes as much as 70oC, and need to maintain their reliability,” he comments.
With the specification, utilities should be able to implement demand management and achieve revenue enhancement, while access to energy is provided through a simple installation process based on interoperability and with a customer-centric approach.
Govender explains that once released the next step in implementation is for utilities to develop an electrification master plan and to adopt the specification and utilise the smart features.
Then it should be possible to achieve the early targets and ultimately universal access.
“All of the functionalities need to be used or else the return on investment will not be achieved,” he warns.
AFSEC is a subsidiary body of the African Energy Commission that was established to support electro-technical standardisation within Africa.
