The BSES discoms have issued tenders to replace their 50 lakh existing electricity meters in Delhi with smart meters at a capital outlay of up to ₹4,000 crore.
A BSES spokesperson described it as “the fastest and largest” private sector smart meter installation project in the country.
Detailing the benefits of the smart meters, the spokesperson said that through the installation of smart meters, several value-added services will be offered to the consumers.
Value added services
For instance, a consumer could monitor and analyse their power consumption through data fed by the new meters.
The BSES spokesperson added that upon the installation of the smart meters, the consumers will also get alerts in cases of power outages.
At the same time, the discoms could offer energy-saving tips to group housing societies.
“While there are no drawbacks in the existing electricity meter, its potential is limited when compared to a smart meter,” said a BSES spokesperson.
The meters will also allow the discoms to detect power theft by parsing data in real-time while also helping the discoms in load forecasting, scheduling and integrating renewable and EV charging, among other benefits, the BSES official said.
The tender for the project was floated on June 17.
The BSES has planned to set up the smart meters from October this year and expects to complete it by March 2025.
Three-year deadline
Smart-meters rollout programmes, both in India and abroad, have typically been executed between five to eight years, the BSES spokesperson said adding that the smart meter project in Delhi targets the installation of 50 lakh smart meters within just two to three years.
“BSES’s rollout program is a first-of-its-kind prestigious smart-meter programme on many fronts. Almost 5 million smart meters will be deployed in a single location utility, making it one of the largest such exercises anywhere in the country, including any metro city,” the spokesperson added.
The BSES official said that the BSES smart meter project in Delhi is much larger than similar smart meter projects being carried out in several other states, such as Uttar Pradesh (11.54 lakh meters), Bihar (8.7 lakh) and Rajasthan (5.5 lakh), Haryana (4.52 lakh), Assam (2.83 lakh).
