E-REDES passes 6 million smart meter milestone

Portuguese DSO E-REDES has reported passing the 6 million smart meter milestone, corresponding to 94% penetration across the country’s mainland.

With this, E-REDES is set to meet the final target of 6.4 million smart meters for all customers in mainland Portugal by the end of 2024.

Meeting this target reinforces the company’s commitment to quality of service and the energy transition, a statement says.

“When we provide a distribution network with the capacity to manage energy flows flexibly and obtain information on their status at each location and moment, we create a smart grid, with the potential to make the electricity system more efficient, sustainable and with better quality of service” commented Luís Filipe Pereira, smart grid operations manager at E-REDES.

Have you read?
Portugal’s E-REDES launches smart grid street lighting project
Site visit: Injecting hydrogen into Portugal’s gas network

Alongside the smart meter rollout, E-REDES is also focusing on installing distribution transformer controllers (DTCs) in medium voltage/low voltage transformer stations, which are essential for managing the communication with the meters.

Currently, almost 64,000 DTCs have been installed, which represent more than 95% of the approximately 67,000 unit target set for 2024.

The installation of the smart meters is considered a crucial step in the transformation of the electricity sector in Portugal, allowing for more efficient energy management, promoting better energy habits, helping to reduce the carbon footprint and contributing to the elimination of estimated bills.

E-REDES is installing a number of different single phase and three phase PLC meters from manufacturers including Janz, Kaifa, Landis+Gyr, Sagemcom and Ziv.

With the smart meters installed E-REDES is collecting over 67 billion records annually and estimates 1,300t of CO2 avoided in the year.

Portugal’s National Energy and Climate Plan 2030 foresees a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 45% to 55% compared to 2005 and reduction in primary energy consumption by 35% for better energy efficiency.

By 2026 approximately 80% of the country’s electricity is expected to come from renewables.