More than 1.2 million smart electricity meters installed in Rawalpindi
In Rawalpindi, Pakistan, the electricity supply company Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) has installed more than 1.2 million Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) meters. The company says the digital system helps detect tampering with metering devices, technical malfunctions and electricity losses in the grid.
As Dawn reports, the meters were installed in the Rawalpindi City Circle, Rawalpindi Cantonment Circle and Taxila Division areas. The system covers residential, commercial and industrial consumers and enables monitoring of data from customer meters, transformers and medium-voltage feeders.
Centralized control
A centralized monitoring system has been created in Rawalpindi that receives data from AMI meters and records information about tampering and other malfunctions. The data are transmitted to the dispatch center via Power Line Communication technology, which provides communication through the electricity grid.
AMI project director Mohsin Raza Gillani said that due to continuous monitoring, cases of meter tampering among approximately 1.2 million installed devices have decreased to a few. According to him, consumers can check their hourly electricity consumption, while Iesco can monitor fluctuations in the grid and promptly address problems.
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Project supported by the ADB
The project is financed by the Asian Development Bank, which allocated $160 million for the AMI system in 2016. The contract was signed in 2022, and work began in January 2023. Industrial enterprises and consumers using more than 500 kW of electricity were switched to the AMI system.
According to Gillani, the physical implementation of the project has reached 99%. The main Head End System data collection system is already operating, while integration and development of the billing system have largely been completed. A data processing center was also established in Gujar Khan to restore information in the event of a malfunction.
Iesco spokesperson Raja Asim said that losses in the company's service region had decreased to 7.6%, the lowest figure in the country. He linked the reduction in losses to the introduction of AMI meters and announced plans to expand the system to other areas.
