During 2019, CyanConnode maintained an active role in India’s smart grid improvement plans as the country began evolving into the world’s largest smart metering market. The Indian power sector continues its mission to reduce Aggregate Technical and Commercial losses to enable energy security and sustainability. At a recent Smart Grid Division meeting, the Chairman informed members that the Government of India is now committed to rollout 250 million smart prepayment meters in the next three years. Furthermore, in the coming months, it will become mandatory for utilities to buy smart meters only.

Also, the state agency, Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) and the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) have formed a new joint venture, IntelliSmart. The new partnership has been created to fund, install, and operate 250 million smart electric meters across India, enabling Distribution Companies savings of approximately USD 8.6 billion (INR 60,000 crores).

Fast track rollout of smart metering India
Organised by IntelliSmart, CyanConnode was invited to participate in a closed-door roundtable event on 11th and 12th November. The event was held at EESL’s Inspire 2019 event in Mumbai and was attended by meter manufacturers and systems integrators. Participants discussed a collaborative strategy for the fast track rollout of smart metering in India.

Saurabh Kumar, Managing Director at EESL, commented in his opening address that ‘India consumed over 1,300 billion units [of electricity] last year with billing inefficiency at 17%, resulting in 200 billion units of electricity not being billed.’ He continued, ‘This inefficiency equates to over USD 14 billion (INR 1 lac crore) of revenue that utilities are not able to collect. Consequently, AMI is of the utmost importance to address this inefficiency.’

CEO & Managing Director of CyanConnode India, Anil Daulani, and Head of Delivery, Gautam Kumar, attended the roundtable, which consisted of 5 sessions. Anil led the discussion in the session Communication backbone, describing the importance of network communication in AMI and outlining which aspects need to be considered when selecting a suitable solution: network capacity, reach and scale, standards, cost and support.

During this session, CyanConnode was praised for implementation at MPWZ as a successful project demonstrated by the improvement of billing efficiency in Indore.

Supporting government and utilities in India    
Through the Company’s Indian Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers Association (IEEMA) membership, it is a member of the Smart Grid Division group. The group’s members cover the whole spectrum of electricity infrastructure and therefore is uniquely positioned to advise and support the government and utilities in their plans to improve India’s Smart Grid. The division aims to support government and utility initiatives through focus groups in key areas.

During the latest meeting, the chairman informed members that the government is now committed to the rollout of 250 million prepayment meters in the next three years. Members also discussed that the government is exploring private sector involvement for the rollout of smart meters through an OPEX model.

Consultative workshop on national smart prepaid metering
The government of India is now committed to the rollout of 250 million prepayment meters in the next three years and has initiated programs to support this goal. Organised by the Ministry of Power, Government of India, in association with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), CyanConnode was invited to participate in a consultative workshop at the end of November (29^th and 30^th).

The workshop was part of the US-India bi-lateral ‘Smart Power for Advancing Reliability and Connectivity (SPARC) program to modernise electricity distribution utilities to improve operational and financial performance. The two-day event split into sessions, each including an open house discussion as well as short presentations.

CyanConnode’s CTO, Sylvain Vittecoq, presented during the session, ‘Metering, Communication & Interoperability’. The Company’s technology enables a standards-based communication platform, from device to enterprise application software, which provides interoperability at each level.

In summary, the implementation of smart metering will deliver significant benefits to utilities, consumers and government, empowering these stakeholders to manage their energy efficiently. In the combination of technologies required to deploy large AMI rollouts in India, RF mesh plays a pivotal role. The success of projects, such as MPWZ and UGVCL, continues to provide credible customer references that are endorsed by the industry as robust communication infrastructure for smart metering in India.