EDF reaches 500,000 smart meter milestone in India
EDF has recorded installing 500,000 smart prepaid meters in the state of Bihar in India’s national smart meter rollout.
The deployment of the smart meters in Bihar comes ten months after recording the 100,000 meter milestone, indicating an average daily deployment of around 1,300 units by EDF International Networks.
With the deployment, Bihar’s minister of energy, planning and development Bijendra Prasad Yadav stated Ashiyana Nagar in Patna city as the “first smart division” with 100% installation of smart meters in India.
The milestone marks the completion of the latest phase of what will be a 5 million smart meter deployment by EDF and Accenture in India.
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The contract with the state-owned Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) was launched in October 2018.
EDF says the project is not without its challenges, with the smart meters to be installed in a range of residential, professional and industrial buildings and compatible with the standards of the different distributors and states.
The $70 million contract covers the design of the advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), the installation of the smart meters, their integration with the existing billing system of the electricity distribution companies and operation and maintenance of the system for a period of eight years.
EDF also records developing a complete IT solution featuring a prepaid system as a first of its kind in India.
Other partners in the project are the two state utilities North Bihar Power Distribution Company and South Bihar Power Distribution Company and the state JV Intellismart, which offers a ‘build-own-operate-transfer’ model for the state utilities.
Bihar is a rural state in northeast India with a population of approximately 120 million.
India’s smart meter programme targets the rollout of 250 million meters by 2025. As of currently, EESL records completing the procurement for 15 million smart meters and installing over 1.3 million smart meters in Uttar Pradesh, New Delhi, Haryana and Bihar.
