The fate of the smart metering project appears to be uncertain, as the power distribution companies (Discos) have halted the project midway.
The project was designed to reduce line losses and power theft, and the Asian Development (ADB) had approved a soft loan of more than $1.2 billion for the purpose, of which $460 million had been released in the first phase.
The loan was meant for the installation of 2.2 million smart meters in the Lahore and Islamabad Electric Supply Companies’ jurisdiction, but it has been left unutilized.
“The Discos have halted implementation of the project and have begun work on an alternative plan,” The Express Tribune reported quoting official sources.
Despite the non-utilization of the loan, the Discos paid over Rs. 400 million in consultancy and other charges before halting the project.
As per the report, a lobby in the Discos’ board of directors had proposed an alternative project under which only high-revenue connections would be shifted to smart metering.
However, the source said that such connections are already constantly monitored by officers of the distribution companies.
“Under the ADB-funded project model, the system was to be upgraded after obtaining data of users, transformers, and feeders along with reducing power theft and technical line losses,” it added.
On the flip side, Discos of Gujranwala, Multan, and Peshawar have released tenders worth over Rs. 3 billion for smart meters.
The tender documents include a clause that states that meters can only be purchased from a company having products compatibility with the Universal Data Integration Layer (UDIL) software of a USAID-assisted meter data management system.
The sources said that smart meters across the country would be centrally controlled.
“The system would be able to turn off or restore power supply to any meter. Only meters compatible with the UDIL software can be part of the smart metering system,” the source said.
Meanwhile, CEO Power Information Technology Company, Imtiaz Ahmed, told Express Tribune that the UDIL gateway was the global standard.
“Our system is completely secure and has a firewall installed,” he added.
He also said that a team of the company gives UDIL certification to meter manufacturing firms.
