HIGH PRIORITY MARKET - SMART GRID
Planned rollout of AMI
2017 |
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Customers with connected load over 20 kW |
2022 |
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Roll out AMI for all three-phase connections |
2027 |
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Full scale nationwide roll out of AMI-based smart grid |
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Full rollout of pilot projects based on results |
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Domestic / residential consumers to be key |
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Transition from AMR to AMI – the opportunity in industrial consumer segment
The scope
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Industrial consumer segment accounts for roughly 45 % of total energy sale in a given year . This segment holds considerable significance in utilities ’ revenue o Over the years , utilities have been losing industrial consumers to captive power , due to lack of reliability ( loadshedding , poor quality ) and high tariffs ( cross subsidisation for domestic and agriculture ) o Industrial consumers are willing to pay premium for reliability – this particularly holds true for functionalities such as demand response ( time-of-day tariffs ), peak load management , etc . which smart grid systems enable
Opportunity
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The industrial consumer segment is presently covered by automated meter reading ( AMR ) systems – these can be gradually shifted to an AMI-based system o In absolute terms , the number of industrial consumers is about 11 % of total consumer base – this translates to about 40 million customersin India based on the estimated consumer base in 2013-14
Assuming average capex per consumer of $ 300 ( based on global AMI projects and ongoing Indian pilot projects ), just 20 % of industrial consumers shifting to AMI each year works to investments worth $ 2.5-3.0 billion
Demand for smart metering – expected to grow from present negligible levels
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India ’ s installed metering base ( 200-220 million ) varies from electromechanical to automated meter reading ( AMR ) systems o Electromechanical meters are part of the legacy metering systems in utilities ’ network o AMRs have been installed mostly for industrial consumer segment ( being high-value customers )
Comprehensive metering is yet to be achieved o Significant share of rural consumers remain unmetered o Most of the installed distribution transformers ( DT ) are unmetered
Cost is an important criteria o Cost of new metering systems deters utilities / consumers o The cost of smart meters could be thrice ( or more ) depending on functionalities chosen
Key factors expected to drive smart meter adoption in India
Indigenous low cost smart meter
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Indigenous smart meter costing $ 15-25 in the works Several technology suppliers in the fray for developing / customizing Bulk ordering of the indigenous smart meter could follow soon
Spotlight on Indian Electronics 2016 | 148