Energy Meters

INTERNSHIP REPORTPAK ELEKTRON LIMITED (PEL)

RAO SAIM ZAFAR (NUST-PNEC)

Contents1. Introduction......................................................................................................................52. History of the Energy Meters:...........................................................................................5

a) Electromechanical Meters.............................................................................................5i. Working Mechanism..................................................................................................6ii. Measuring Mechanism...............................................................................................6iii. Problem.....................................................................................................................7

b) Static Meter..................................................................................................................7i. Working Mechanism..................................................................................................7ii. Protection Mechanism...............................................................................................8iii. Backup Power............................................................................................................8iv. Multi-rate Meters.......................................................................................................9v. Problem.....................................................................................................................9

3. Components of an AMI (Advance Metering Infrastructure)................................................9a) Smart Meters................................................................................................................9b) Head End System........................................................................................................10c) DCU............................................................................................................................10d) HHU (Head End System).............................................................................................10e) MDC (Meter Data Management)..................................................................................10f) MDM (Meter Data Management).................................................................................10g) Customer Display Unit................................................................................................11h) Utility Admin Module...................................................................................................11i) CIS (Consumer Information System)...........................................................................12

4. Types of Meter................................................................................................................125. Automatic Meter Reading:..............................................................................................12

a) Intelligent terminal:....................................................................................................13b) Management center:...................................................................................................13c) Communication medium:............................................................................................13d) Advantages of the AMR system:.................................................................................14

6. Advanced Metering Infrastructure...................................................................................15a) Working Principle of AMI.............................................................................................16b) The Mesh Network......................................................................................................17c) Communication Methods Employed in AMI.................................................................17

d) Home Area Networks in AMI........................................................................................18e) Meter Data Management System:...............................................................................18f) Simulation Software for AMI plan and Implementation0.............................................19

i. Simulation Software................................................................................................19ii. RCI - Residential, Commercial and Industrial...........................................................19iii. Communication Network Simulation Softwares.......................................................22

7. Prospects of Smart Metering or Advanced Metering Infrastructure in Pakistan...............248. Smart Energy Meter........................................................................................................259. Communication technologies in AMR and AMI................................................................25

a) Infrared Technology (IR):............................................................................................25b) RF Technology:...........................................................................................................26c) Two way RF Technology:.............................................................................................26d) One way RF Technology:.............................................................................................26Alternative Solutions to ZigBee..........................................................................................27ZigBee Logical Device Network..........................................................................................27f) GSM............................................................................................................................29GSM application in AMR.....................................................................................................29g) PLC (Power line communication).................................................................................29Technologies of PLC:..........................................................................................................30Comparison between PRIME & G3......................................................................................30Advantages:.......................................................................................................................31Disadvantages:..................................................................................................................32Comparison of Technologies..............................................................................................32

10. Global deployment......................................................................................................33Itron...................................................................................................................................33Landis+Gyr........................................................................................................................33Sensus...............................................................................................................................33Elster..................................................................................................................................33GE (AMR modules):............................................................................................................34ISKRAEMECO......................................................................................................................34

11. Local Deployment.......................................................................................................34Smart Grid Implementation Project K-Electric, Karachi, Pakistan.......................................35

12. REFERENCES...............................................................................................................35

1. IntroductionThe purpose of this report is to study the Electricity Energy Meters and their importance, their various types and the different methods &technologies being used for taking the efficient as well as precise readings of Energy meters.

An electricity meter, electric meter, or energy meter is a device that measures the amount of electric energy consumed by a residence, business, or an electrically powered device. Electric utilities use electric meters installed at customer’s premises to measure electric energy delivered to their customers for billing purposes. They are typically calibrated in billingunits, the most common one being the kilowatthour [kWh]. They are usually read once each billing period. The supplier of electrical raises the bill on the basis of reading shown by this meter. The producer of electricity sales the electricity to the electricity boards and boards have to sale this energy to the consumer. Consumer needs to pay the amount against the bill raised by the supplier.

The data generated is the base to raise the bill by power supplier by the energy meter. Because of massive rural and urban electrification programs of Government, there is a good demand for this product. Energy Meters are available in single phase and three phases at different current rating as per customer's requirement. Though, newly developed electronic energy meter is also available in the market but in view of simple technology involved to manufacture this product and for replacement of spare parts, the present demand and future prospect of this product is reasonably good.

2. History of the Energy Meters:In early days after the advent of the electricity and its installment in the urban areas, the energy consumption was measured by the number of lamps or other loads present in the household or industry and billed accordingly. No measurement of the exact amount of energy consumption was done. Later on as the electricity network expanded, more consumers emerged, and the necessity of the time changed. It became necessary to measure the exact amount of energy consumed per household, and thus for that purpose energy meters were developed. The first most energy meter to appear was the electromechanical type, more manual type than the ones we are currently using.

a) Electromechanical Meters

The idea behind the electrochemical meters emerged from the existing gas meters as the commercial use of the electricity expanded. It measures the energy via

electromechanicalinduction in terms of watt-hours. These meters work by counting the number of revolutions of an electrically conductive, metal disc that rotates a speed directly related to the power passing through the meter. Hence the number of revolutions is directly the measure of the energy consumed. The other parts include

A voltagecoil, well insulated, and connected in parallel with the load Currentcoil, connected in series with the load Stator that concentrates and confines the magnetic field Aluminumrotordisc Display dials

The voltage coil consumes a very little amount of power, mostly 2 watts, which is not recorded by the meter, and is thus neglected. Similarly the current coil consumes also very less power, and is almost negligible as compared to the square of the current flowing through the meter, which is basically the original current consumed by the loads in the household.

i. Working Mechanism

The two coils act as to form a twophaseinductionmotor with the disc in between. They are connected such that one coil produces magnetic flux in proportion to the voltage, thus voltage coil, whereas the other produces the flux in proportional to the current, thus current coil. Voltage coil field is displaced by 90° from the field of the current. This causes eddy currents in the disc, and the effect is such that a force is exerted on the disc which is directly proportional to the instantaneouscurrent, voltage, and phaseangle which is the power factor between current and voltage.

There exists a permanent magnet which also exerts force on the rotating disc. An equilibrium is achieved, and now the disc rotates only at the speed which is the rate at which the power is being consumed, thus measures the energy consumption. The disc then drives the counting mechanism, which counts and shows the revolutions the disc has made.

ii. Measuring Mechanism

The disc is horizontal and is visible in the center of the meter. It is supported on a spindle which has a worm gear that drives the register. Register is a seriesofdials used to record the energy used. The dial turns on each revolution and each digit of the dial is visible out of the dial, and can be read.

The amount of energy as represented by the one revolution of the disc is denoted by the symbol of Kh, which basically denotes energy in watt hours per revolution. Most of such meters are needed to be read manually by meter reader, the representative of the company providing electricity.

For threephase AC meters, additional voltage and current coils were used. And these types of meters were used for 100A, 240/415V supply.

iii. Problem

In these type of the meters, creep is a common phenomenon to effect the accuracy of the meter. It occurs when the disc rotates continuously with potential applied and the load terminals are open circuit. The test for the error due to creep is called creep test.

b) Static Meter

This is the electronic energy meter, and is mostly used for domestic purposes now. Its components are basically as follows

PCB(Printed Circuit Board) Microcontroller EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) ADC (Analog to Digital Converter) Metal Oxide Varister Regulators and Capacitors Battery Current Transformer Buttons Covering LCD for Display

i. Working Mechanism

The circuit of the static meters is printed on the circuit board and the components are mounted, either manually or by Surface Mounting Technology. Current and Power transformers are, however mounted manually. Microcontroller is a small chip, which includes the main firmware that runs the static energy meter. The software is fed into it that makes all the calculations and sends its output towards the display.

Current Transformer senses and measures the current, which is later fed into the microcontroller. ADC are used to convert the analog signal to the digital signal for microcontroller. Energy is then calculated by the formulas and methods fed into the microcontroller.

EEPROM is a memory which remembers all the data of the static meter. The data of the energy measurement of meter of all the previous months will be stored in it.

As it’s an electronic meter, depending upon the sensors present and microcontroller firmware, it can measure more than just the energy consumption in kilo watt hours. It can measure reactive power, active power, power factor, instantaneous power, and many other parameters. To switch between these parameters, buttons are there on the face of the meter.

The whole assembly is packed into a polycarbonate covering, which is sealed with ultrasonic welding, so the tampering can be avoided, and detected.

ii. Protection Mechanism

Metal Oxide Varister is a device that is used for the protection. When the suddenspikes of current appears, its resistance becomes zero and then the current is returned before it enters the meter, and thus meter is protected from the damage.

iii. Backup Power

A battery is also there, to power the meter whenever the main supply is cut. The battery gives service time of almost five years. It usually powers the display. A supercapacitor is also used to power the microcontroller and EEPROM. The special characteristic of super capacitor is that it’s chargingtime is very less, almost instantaneous, whereas its dischargingtime is very slow, e.g. 14 days etc., thus it can power the small components whenever the main supply is out.

A simple Seven Segment Display is used to show the energy consumption on the face of the meter.

iv. Multi-rate Meters.

These are the multipletariffmeters. Depending upon the cost of generation, transmission and the demand, some electricity retailers may charge more during the times when consumption is high, and low at the other times. Thus they automatically take into account the “TimeofDay” feature, which is very important part of these meters. Thus another module is added in static meters to account for TOD, so that real time is not disturbed, and stays synchronized and tariff changes automatically.

v. ProblemThe static meter assembly is a node wise assembly, and tampering can be still done without the awareness of the power company. Thus it was necessary to create a network, so that tampering in any one of the meter can be detected by the power company. Thus the concept of AMR (Automatic Meter Reading) emerged, which is a mesh network.

3. Components of an AMI (Advance Metering Infrastructure)

The infrastructure houses all the components necessary for bi-directional communication. The major components are

Smart Meters HES DCU MDC HHU MDM Communication medium

a) Smart Meters

Smart meters are electronically operated devices. They measure and record the consumption of electricity within an hour or sometimes even less and transfers the data to the Hand End System for billing purposes. They are used for remote data transfer. Smart meters are two way

communication medium. They can send as well as receive information and act accordingly. They are automatic and can be controlled by the programmers on the power company end.

b) Head End System

The Head End System are used to directly communicate with the meters. They receive the data from the meters and accumulate them, and can also send commands to the meters. HES is for bi-directional communication. This system are located at a place where a common man cannot approach them, to avoid any sort of tampering and damage.

c) DCU

Data Concentrator unit concentrates the signals sent form the smart meters via some communication medium. It request data from the meters on a regular basis and stores the data which can later be accessed by the substation server. It sends the data to the server at central stations in real time. It also notifies of the server of any tampering from consumer side. It is basically a Single Board Computer running on an Embedded Linux operating system.

d) HHU (Head End System)

Hand Held Unit is a device that collects the data from the meters via some wireless communication medium like IR, Far Infrared, or GPRS etc. It collects the meter serial number along with the data its sending for the billing purposes.

e) MDC (Meter Data Management)

Meter Data Collection Unit collects the data from either Data concentrator, or Hand Held units, or directly from the meters. It then sorts all the data according to serial numbers of the meters and their location, arrange all the information in form a hierarchy where each user information is maintained. This is present at the Central Station side of the Power Company. It further comprises of many parts like

Servers Data Base Web Server

Because at this stage, most of the work is done via internet and a graphical user interface. The data from here can then be used for generating bills of the particular areas.

f) MDM (Meter Data Management)

It is the very key component of the Advanced Metering Infrastructure. As the name indicates, it manages all the data related to the meter. It is the integration platform which addresses many

interfaces all at once. It is a central data management solution that provides the complete 360 picture of the all the operational data and reports.

Even the billing system is integrated into it. It performs long term data storages and manages vast quantity of data delivered by the meters on a very large scale. It also records all the important events happening with the meters.

It imports the data, validates it from the parameters as described by the company, and then process it further for the billing. Using the data, other analysis are also made possible. Like Load analysis, to see the difference between demand and supply. These sort of analysis can help look for the new solutions and problems of load shedding may also get reduced.

It is not only a portal that provides the complete summary of all the meters but also allows shareholders to access such information that may be useful for them. It performs data integration and very critical data validation, estimation and editing, time of use, load profiling, loss analysis, and data storage and management.

It uses a web based dashboard, thus allows the power company look at the data from various angles and think if the new solutions and improvements. And all is done on a PC’s comfortable environment. The graphical user interface used for MDM are fully configurable, and displaying parameters can be changed as per the necessity. MDM dashboards also records and show the important events like tampering events, or some error of any sort in the whole network. Those specific problems and meters can then be addressed via MDM portals, and problem may get solved via the same server by issuing the necessary commands to kill the bugs and errors.

MDM also shows the notification regarding high/low voltage conditions, over loading, mute meters, tampering and others.

g) Customer Display Unit

The Customer Display Unit (CDU) is an interface between the Customer and the Utility. The Utility can send messages displaying Power Outage notices, Payment Status, Present Tariff, etc. to the customer. The CDU can also display Present Meter Readings, custom messages, (ex: new tariff plans or last date for payment).

h) Utility Admin Module

Utility Admin Module is a web based application service which provides an end to end solution for the Admin User. Using this application admin users can add new consumers, new meters,

new connections, interface units, TOU billing, tariff plans. Admin can also use this panel to view and track information.

From the data received from this panel, various types of analysis can be made and reported to the higher authority for improvements and solutions.

i) CIS (Consumer Information System)The CIS module helps a consumer to create profile, update it, track consumption details, pay bills and view the report of their activities. The Major functionalities that will be a built in order to achieve the target of the CIS module are listed as follows:

Registration Personal Profile (Account section), change password, Update Profile Bill Details, Bill Summary, Bill History, Unbilled Usage Tariff Plans, Request for Change of Tariff Plans and Consumption Details Payment Details, Make Payment and Payment History Usage History Add Connection

4. Types of Meter

Meters are classified into the following major categories:

1. Electrostatic meters

2. Electromechanical meters

Different types of classification in the above mentioned categories are of the following type:

1. Single Phase Direct Online Meters

2. Three Phase Direct Online Meters

3. CT Operated Meters

4. CT-PT Operated Meters

5. Automatic Meter Reading: The AMR metering is the concept that established its foothold in a relatively shorter time period. The AMR metering introduced the much need concept of elimination of the use of meter readers. It automaticallyrecords and transmits the data to the centraldatabase for billing, troubleshooting and analyzing. AMR doesn’t require physical access or visual inspection rather information is transferred through different technologies like RF, PLC, ZigBee, and GSM/GPRS. The previously technology of the Electrostatic meters was improved upon to provide the much needed insight into the Electrical Distribution network. The AMR meters were designed to pro-actively deals with some of the major issues such as power theft, excessive use of man-power for billing/meter reading, etc. The AMR advancements were adopted world-wide but the realization for their limitations as to their capabilities was realized. The AMR system can be divided further into separate features:

Intelligent meters Management center Communication medium

The separate features of the AMR are defined below:

a) Intelligent terminal:

AMR interface alternatively known as intelligent terminal consists of a hardware assembly, used for collection of data from a single meter or an aggregate of meters. The assembly in cooperates power supply, meter sensors, inbuilt electronicsequipment etc.

b) Management center:

Management system consists of an assemblyofcomputer which deals with the collection and management of data obtained from the AMR interface.

c) Communication medium:

A communication medium provides a channel for allowing communication between the AMRinterface and the managementcenter. The data transmission can occur through various mediums including the telephonic system, infrared (IR), radio frequency (RF), power line carrier (PLC), or through the television cable network.

Main Features of AMR Architecture are:

GSM Based Communication:

It is a singlestage communication between meter and the system through a GSM modem.

Hybrid Communication:

It comprises of two stages of communication between meter and the system.

1. Meters and Data Concentrator Unit (DCU):

Communication channel used between meters and DCU is power line.

2. DCU and Host Central Station (HCS):

Communication channel used between DCU and HCS is the standard GSM, CDMS, RF Network.

d) Advantages of the AMR system:

Elimination of Human Erroro The elimination of the meter readers reduces the human errors in the process of

meter reading collection. Accurate Billing

o Reduced thefts and automatic meter reading allows for the increased accuracy in the billing system

Time Savingo The removal of the time consuming method of manual meter reading allows

timely billing procedure as well as the task being less labor intensive.

Cost Effectiveo The AMR meters may be expensive as compared to the standard

electromechanical meters, but the long term benefits compared to the short term initial cost are quite huge. The AMR meters reduces the cost of the meter readers, requires less maintenance, allows for remote communication, remote tariff structure alteration and etc., which incase of electromechanical meters would require excessive man-power as well as deployment of resources for the tasks which now can be performed remotely.

Remote Communicationo Doesn’t require physical communication hardware for communication purposes

Easy and improved troubleshootingo Computerized softwares and test benches make it viable for fast troubleshooting

usually without having the need to open the meter box. Improved Service

o Digital Displays with multiple factor calculations along with remote communication allows for the greater ease of administration of once cumbersome procedure

Remotely Programmableo In case of any order from the authority on changing of tariffs or updating the

software, there is no need of visiting each meter and making changes manually. Rather changes can be made online.

Remote Monitoringo The working of the energy meters can be monitored and any unlawful act may

be spotted immediately. Theft of electricity can also be reduced. Moreover, it is quite difficult to tamper with the digital meters as compare to the electromechanical meters

6. Advanced Metering Infrastructure The introduction of the SmartGrid concept around the world introduced the concept of

a computerized and interactivePowerGrid with ability to modify itself and respond to different condition and circumstances preemptively and pro-actively. The Smart Grid had many different sub-categories and the concept of Advanced Metering Infrastructure was introduced. Balancing generation and demand at a very granular scale requires the integration of additional protection and control technologies that ensure grid stability. The concept of smart grid has emerged, along with the need for meters that provides information to the utility on the energy consumption so that the utility can act according to the demands placed on it. This has led to the concept of smart meters that enables the communication between the utility and the consumer, otherwise known as the Two Way Communication of Smart Meters. Traditional

Meters only measure total consumption and so provides no additional information on how much energy is being consumed at a particular time. Whereas the Smart Meters or Advanced Metering Infrastructure is strategies for optimization and saving of energy both combined and independently from the overall Smart Grid project.

It is an electronic device providing two waycommunications between the utility and your home, which involves realtimesensors that work by recording the energy consumption in intervals of hours or minutes and conveying that data back to the utility for monitoring and billing. This data allow utilities to introduce different charges for consumption based on different times of the day.

Two way communication of smart meters can benefit consumers by allowing utility companies to hand over the control to the consumer by placing a display outside of their homes providing real time, minute-by-minute updated information of their electricity consumption and letting the consumer manage and optimize their energy use according to different times of the day. Electricity can be charged differently with respect to its generation. In particular, if the generation bottlenecks the consumption of electricity, it would result in an increment in prices. Charging the consumers higher at peak times is an implication as well as an encouragement or motivation for them to use their electricity in a more efficient manner, thereby reducing their overall cost and ultimately saving energy. Conversely, utilities can alert their consumers at off peak times when rates are comparatively low, which would allow consumers to reap the benefit of it by selling electricity back to the grid.

a) Working Principle of AMI

A smart meter eliminates the need for a meter reader to visit every house just to note their electricity consumption. However, for testing and maintenance purposes meter readers may need to visit and observe occasionally. The main purpose of the Smart Meter is to record the electricity consumption and perform a two way communication between the utility and the consumer by sending the data to the utility as well as the consumer. The voltage and current sensors measure the RMS values of voltage and current and feed them to microcontroller, where calculations for active and reactive power are performed. In Smart Energy Meter we used sensors to measure voltage and current instead of current and voltage transformers. A major feature of Smart Energy Meter is that utility company can cut off and reconnect the connection of energy of any user with the help of SMS without sending the person to perform the task manually. It can be utilized in case when the utility company needs to disconnect a consumer due to nonpayment of bills or some other reasons. Another major feature of Smart energy meter is that it gives alarm when the consumer load is exceeding the upper limit for which he got the utility connection. In case consumer does not reduce his load meter automatically cut off the consumer connection.

Smart meter monitors and records data in intervals of hours or minutes and periodicallytransmits back to the utility via a dedicated radio frequency network. Every smart meter is equipped with a networkradio, which transmits data to an electric network access point. The system uses radio frequency mesh technology allowing the meters to route data from the meters within its vicinity, thus creating a mesh of network coverage. In case of Pakistan, NEPRAhas introduced that for the AMR and AMI meters, the data profiles are taken after the 15 minute intervals and the billing profiles are taken at the 30 minutes interval.

As already specified AMI system is a merger of different technologies which provides full functionality to the consumer.

Following are the technologies integrated in an AMI system:

Smart Meters Communication Infrastructure Meter Data Management Systems Operational Gateways Local area networks

b) The Mesh Network

The electric network access point is responsible for the aggregation of data from nearby meters and periodicallytransmitting that data back to the utility via a secure cellular network. In a mesh of network coverage, each device (Meters or Relays) is connected to several others, which function as signal repeaters, passing the data on to the access point for being transmitted back to the utility. To ensure the integrity of the communication, the network allows continuity in connections by reconfiguring itself around broken paths, using self-healingalgorithms. These algorithms allow the network to continue operation when a node breaks down by selecting an alternateroute between a source and a destination, thereby boosting its reliability. The mesh network is able to transmit data reliably over a largespan of area.

c) Communication Methods Employed in AMI

There are several contemporary methods of communication that can be employed in the Communication Network of the AMI the technologies are mentioned and described below:

Infrared(IR)

Radio frequency (RF)

GSM/GPRS

PowerLine Carrier (PLC)

Broadband over power lines (BPL)

Copper or optical fiber

Internet (GPRS, 3G or 4G services)

ZigBee

d) Home Area Networks in AMI

Home area networks provide a connection between several home appliances and such as displays, load control devices and smart appliances etc. These networks provide smartconnectivity between devices for better energy management and least power dissipation. Some of its advantages include:

Regulation of supplied energy in accordance to the band provided to the user

Real time access to energy consumption

In-home display, for providing constant update to user about energy consumption

Consumer over-ride capability

It can simply be described as a consumer portal that can be present in any of the system device e.g. inside the meter, data collection unit, a stand-alone unit supplied gateway etc.

e) Meter Data Management System:

A Meter Data Management System (MDMS) is a database which is inclusive of the meter data collectors and stores and processes the data obtained through the smart metering system. An MDMS provide application programming interfaces (APIs) between the MDMS and the multiple destinations that rely on meter data.

Following are some its applications:

Consumer Information System (CIS), billing systems, and website of service provider

Outage Management System (OMS)

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) power quality management and load forecasting systems

Mobile Workforce Management (MWM)

Transformer Load Management (TLM)

Business Intelligence system (BI) for generation of reports for helping in forecasting and future planning.

The main application of MDMS in regard to AMI system is to check the validity of the data and ensuring accurate information despite of fluctuations and disturbances.

f) Simulation Software for AMI plan and Implementation0i. Simulation Software

Smart-Grid simulation and Data management softwares are readily available in the market and there are also many off the shelf solutions for the Smart Grid Network. The major softwares that are available in the market are discussed below. The software discussion is based on the IEEE COMMUNICATION SURVEYS TUTORIALS SPECIAL ISSUE ON ENERGY AND SMART GRID

article on Combining Power and Communication Network Simulation for Cost-Effective Smart Grid Analysis.

ii. RCI - Residential, Commercial and Industrial

The description and usage of the above softwares is mentioned below:

1. PSCAD/EMTDC: It is a commercial simulation software tool for the Power System Computer Aided Design and Electromagnetic Transients for DC. An example of the PSCAD/EMTDC simulation with ability to integrate micro-grid energy storage, as well as advanced level matrix calculation in Matlab for network based protection scheme for the power distribution grid.

2. Dig Silent - Power Factory: It is complete softwares that allow the extensive modeling of the all the power sub systems, let it be generation, transmission, distribution and industrial grid and their mutual interaction analysis. It provides Load flow, electromechanical, RMS fluctuations and electromagnetic transient events simulation. It allows the study of the transient grid fault and long term power quality and control issues. It is used in the evaluation of the power supply continuity using the comparative methods of the probabilistic load flow and stochastic load flow, along with the transient stability of a micro-grid supplied by multiple distributed generators. Models of voltage controllers, generators, motors, dynamic and passive loads, transformers, etc. are part of DigSilents built in electrical components library, but the algorithms inside these models are not accessible. However, users can create models using the DigSilent Simulation Language (DSL).

3. Siemens PSS: The Power Systems Simulator (PSSR) product suite includes several software solutions targeting different domains and time scales. Among others, PSS includes PSS SINCAL and PSS E. PSS SINCAL targets utility distribution system analysis: it is a commercial network planning and analysis tool with capability to perform, among others, power flow, load balancing, load flow optimization and optimal branching simulations. PSS SINCALs COM-server interface facilitates the integration into existing IT architectures. The COM interfaces can be exploited in Smart Grid simulations, where PSS SINCAL can be used in the analysis of distributed generation and smart meter data. The study of the integrating photo voltaic panels on the utility grid in terms of harmonic distortion, voltage fluctuation and load rejection issues can also be studied using the PSS software. PSS SINCAL allows users to link each Smart Grid equipment model (e.g., e-cars, micro-turbine, smart meter, etc.) with their correspondent generation and load profiles

4. EMTP - RV: EMTP-RV is commercial software for simulations of electromagnetic, electromechanical and control systems transients in multiphase electric power systems. its uses involve transient modeling MV feeder response to indirect lightning strokes, studies in insulation coordination, switching surges, capacitor bank switching, motor starting, etc. user can develop customized modules and interface them using Dynamic Link Library (DLL)

functionality. 5. Power World: Power World Simulator is an interactive, visual-approach, power system simulation package designed to simulate high voltage power system operation on a time frame ranging from several minutes to several days. Power Worlds add-on Sim-Auto allows controlling the simulator from external applications. Sim-Auto acts as a Component Object Model (COM) object for interfacing with external tools, such as Matlab or Visual Basic. Power World interfaced with an external Artificial Intelligence (AI) system decision making tool has been used to realize smart grid simulations by studying feeder recognition, and large scale demand response management.

6. ETAP PSMS: ETAP PSMS is a real time power management system. ETAP software has more than 40 modules for load flow analysis, short- circuit analysis, device coordination analysis, motor starting analysis, transient stability analysis, harmonic analysis, etc.

7. Cymdist: Cymdist is designed for planning studies and simulating the behavior of electrical distribution networks under different operating conditions and scenarios. It offers a full network editor and it is suitable for unbalanced load flow and load balancing studies. The software workspace is fully customizable. The graphical representation of network components, results and reports can be built and modified to supply the level of detail needed. Furthermore, the CYME COM module allows different environments to communicate with the CYMDIST software for accessing different pre-defined functions and calculations.

8. Euro Stag: Euro Stag is a power systems dynamics simulator developed by Tractebel Engineering GDF SUEZ and RTE (electricity system operator of France). It allows a range of transient and stability studies. Supplementary tools, such as Smart Flow, enable load flow calculations.

9. HOMER: HOMER is a power generation simulator. It can be used for designing hybrid power systems containing a mix of energy sources: conventional generators, combined heat and power, wind turbines, photo-voltaic, batteries, etc. Both grids tied or standalone systems can be simulated. In addition, green house calculations are also possible.

10. Open DSS: Open DSS is an open-source distribution system simulator developed and maintained by EPRI. It is designed to support power distribution planning analysis associated with the interconnection of distributed generation to the utility system. Other targeted applications include harmonic studies, neutral-earth voltage studies, Volt-VAR control studies, etc. Co-simulation interfaces (e.g., COM and scripting interfaces) are provided and users can design their own models. Open DSS is considered a suitable platform for smart grid research as it supports the analysis of intermittent and stochastic processes associated with renewable energy sources.

11. Object Stab: Object Stab is an open source power system library with capabilities to perform power system transient simulations. It is based on Modelica; a general purpose object oriented

modeling language. It can be used for High Voltage DC (HVDC) power transmission systems and for optimized power system models for variable speed and wind turbine machines with HVDC link for the grid interconnection. The electrical performance of a system is checked, validated, verified via Object Stab.

12. HITACHI SMART GRID SOLUTIONS: HITACHI has developed a whole range of the shelf smart grid solutions for Customer Side Solutions, that includes separate modules for Home Energy Management Solution, Factory Energy Management Solution and Electric Vehicle Charging solution, as well as Demand Response Management, Demand Response Calculation, Advanced Metering Infrastructure, Demand Management System, Smart Grid Simulator, Distribution Network Stabilization solution, and Distribution Grid Voltage Stabilization Function.

13. Oracle Utilities: OUNMS, OUMDM, OUBI are some of the major off the shelf solutions being applied worldwide. OUMDM is designed specifically for the purpose of the meter data management and billing application.

iii. Communication Network Simulation SoftwaresSimilarly, as we have listed and defined the simulation softwares for Electrical Simulation and Data Management, we are now defining the Communication Network Simulation Softwares that have been previously known to have been used in the Smart-Grid applications, simulations or designing in research and development or other capacities. The Simulators are as follows:

1. ns-2/ns-3

2. OMNeT++

3. NeSSi

4. OPNET Modeler

It is also found out that MATLAB has also been applied to study communication network in context to Smart-Grid Networks.

1. Network Simulator (ns-2 and ns-3) The Network Simulator version 2 (ns-2) is a widely used open source discrete event network simulator created for research and educational purposes. It is targeted at networking re-search, with a strong focus on internet systems. Therefore, it includes a rich library of network models to support simulation of IP based applications (such as TCP, UDP, etc.), routing, multicast protocols, wired and wireless networks. One of the major advantages of ns-2 is that ns-2 core is written in C++ language, and user can create new network models or protocols using C++ language. Simulation scripts to control the simulation and configure aspects such as the network topology are created using the OTcl (object oriented extension of Tcl) language interface. As a result users can create and modify simulations without having to resort to C++ programming and recompiling ns-2. Development of ns-3, the

successor to ns-2, is ongoing: new features include support for the Python programming language as a scripting interface (instead of OTcl), improved scalability, more attention to realism, better software integration, etc. when selecting a specific version of ns, it is important to consider that ns-3 is not backwards compatible with ns-2: i.e., existing ns-2 simulation models must implemented again for ns-3. Both are widely used for networking research in general and unsurprisingly also in a smart grid context both ns-2 and ns-3 is adopted in e.g., a co-simulation approach. In a suite of software modules for simulation of PLC networks using ns-3 is presented and source codes are also available. The mentioned simulation models for PLCs require prior knowledge of the transmission line theory (TLT), which relies on the knowledge of topologies, wires and load characteristics of the power grid underlying the PLC system. 2. OMNeT++ The open-source OMNeT++ discrete event simulation environment has been designed for the simulation of communication networks (wired and wireless) and distributed systems in general. The simulation environment has a general design (i.e., it is not limited to simulating communication networks) and therefore has been used in various domains, such as wireless network simulations, business process simulation and peer-to-peer networking. However, OMNeT++ is mostly applied in the domain of communication network simulation. A comprehensive set of internet based protocols is provided by means of the INET framework extension which includes support for IPv4, IPv6, TCP, UDP, Ethernet, and many other protocols. Other extensions provide simulation support for mobility scenarios (e.g., VNS), ad-hoc wireless networks (e.g., INET-MANET), wireless sensor networks (e.g., MiXiM, Castalia), etc. Distributed parallel simulation is supported to enable simulation of large scale networks. Additionally, federation support based on the High-Level Architecture (HLA) standard is provided in OMNEST, the commercial version of OMNeT++. An OMNeT++ simulation model consists of simple modules implemented in C++. Compound modules consist of other simple or compound modules, and are defined using the OMNeT++ Network Description Language (NED). Modules communicate by passing messages via gates, which are the input and output interfaces of the modules that are linked to each other by so-called connections forming communication links between modules. Apart from the networking community, OMNeT++ has also received substantial attention from the smart grid community for developing smart grid simulators.

3. NeSSiNeSSi (Network Security Simulator) is an open source discrete event network simulator developed at DAI-Labor (Distributed Artificial Intelligence Laboratory) and sponsored by Deutsche Telekom Laboratories. We include NeSSI because the primary focus of the tool is on network security related scenarios in IP networks. Features described to support security related scenarios are attack modeling, attack detection, security metrics, etc. Distributed simulation is supported to enable simulation of large scale networks. Example uses in the smart grid domain include a security analysis of a smart measuring scenario through federated simulation and to use an integrated approach for evaluating and optimizing an agent-based smart grid management system.

4. OPNET Modeler OPNET Modeler is a powerful commercial discrete event network simulator with built-in, validated models including LTE, WIMAX, UMTS, Zig-Bee, Wi-Fi, etc. It enables modeling of various kinds of communication networks, incorporating terrain, mobility, and path-loss characteristics in the simulation models. OPNET Modeler has a visual high-level user interface offering access to a large library of C and C++ source code blocks, representing the different models and functions. It comes with an open interface for integrating external object _les, libraries, other simulators (co-simulation) and even hardware-in-the-loop. The Smart Grid Communications Assessment Tool (SGCAT) is a simulation, modeling and analysis platform, targeted to utilities that want to develop a holistic smart grid communications strategy. It has been developed to assess the performance of different smart grid applications under various terrains, asset topologies, technologies and application configurations. SG-CAT has been built on top of OPNET Modeler, taking advantage of OPNETs modular design, which allows the exchange and customization of applications, communication technologies, terrain profiles and path-loss models. It also allows development of the heterogeneous WiMAX-WLAN network architecture for the Smart Grid Communication as compared to the pure WLAN network architecture.

7. Prospects of Smart Metering or Advanced Metering Infrastructure in Pakistan

In Pakistan, utilities are still using traditionalmethods for electricity monitoring and billing, which involves using a traditionalmeter to record a consumers electricity consumption and a meter reader to note and convey that data to the utility by visiting every house on the list.

A smart meter is a device that eliminates the need for a meter reader and sets him free of his tedious job by recording data for the consumption of electric energy in intervals of hours and conveying that data to the utility for monitoring and billing. It grants customer the ability to check his/her electricity consumption status anytime and anywhere just via a short messaging system (SMS).

Furthermore, in case of a defaulter, the utility has the option of cutting the electricity supply and then reconnecting the supply once the defaulter clears his/her bills by just using a short messaging service (SMS). In this system, the smart meters make use of ZigBee to convey the data to the utility and from the utility to the consumer, hence maintaining a two way communication between the utility and the consumer. Other methods of conveyance include PLC (Power Line Communication), but its high interference and noise that it possesses makes it an unbefitting option to be considered. Metering information can also be transmitted via GSM, but its limited range and cost ineffective solution does not make it a worthy option to be considered either, however, the ZigBee offers a much efficient method for conveyance as it is

able to transmit data over long distances by passing data through a mesh network of intermediate devices to reach more distant ones.

Smart Meters rectifies many of the obstacles and flaws which are otherwise found with the traditional methods of billing. Some human mistakes may also occur in manual billing. Analyzing the conventional billing, some of the common observed errors and mistakes are:

Its time consuming procedure There is always a chance of human error while taking the manual meter reading There is no check and balance and verification procedure of this meter reading There is always a chance of theft and corruption Extra human power is required Consumer is not updated of his usage Consumer may not get the bill slip within due date

8. Smart Energy MeterThe Smart Energy Meter allow for more in depth reading of the electricity consumption and is designed to measure voltage and load current readings with the use voltage and current sensors, instead of potential and current transformers. The readings recorded by the sensors are fed into power factor controller IC and energy metering IC, which then converts these readings into real power consumed by the load. Power factor is measured by measuring the phase shift between voltage and load current. Microcontroller used to perform the calculations related to power and energy consumed shows the reading on LCD and also convey these readings of Smart Energy Meter to the utility or the consumer with the help of GSM modem. Active power, reactive power, voltage, load current, power factor and units (kWh) are measured and displayed successfully. Two-way communication is done by smart energy meter between the meter and utility administration as well as between meter and customer so that customer is able to check the status of his consumed energy units and can manage his load accordingly to reduce his bill. The main features of smart energy meter are listed as follows;

Get automatic reading of Energy Meter and sent it to consumer as well as to utility. In reading it measures Voltage, Load Current, Real power, Reactive power, Power factor

and units consumed. Utility is able to cutout/restore the supply of the defaulter through SMS. Measuring energy meter reading any time we want through the use of SMS i.e. energy

meter responds to the message and send u reading whenever it is asked. Consumer is able to check the status of his load from anywhere in the world by SMS.

9. Communication technologies in AMR and AMIa) Infrared Technology (IR):

In this technology the data is transmitted using infrared rays. The working of infrared technology has same steps in process reading, processing and billing but the difference lies in communication step. The difference is that transmission is carried out using infrared rays.

Types:

Handheld Mobile Satellite

b) RF Technology:

Radio frequency based AMR can take many forms. The more common ones are handheld, mobile, satellite and fixed network solutions. There are both two-way RF communication systems and one-way RF communication systems in use that use both licensed and unlicensed RF bands.

Working:

The working of an RF automatic meter reader (AMR) includes four steps. The procedure from collecting data from meter to billing has four steps. These steps are given below.

Reading data Unit Communication Unit Processing Unit Billing Unit

c) Two way RF Technology:

In a two-way or "wake up" system, a radio trans receiver normally sends a signal to a particular transmitter serial number, telling it to wake up from a resting state and transmit its data. The meter attached transceiver and the reading transceiver both send and receive radio signals and data. In two way communication data is collected from meter to server’s end. The instructions can also be given from server’s end to customer’s end. This includes immediate power failure alerts, recharging of pre-payment metering etc. The cost of two way RF communications is more than one way RF communication.

d) One way RF Technology:

In one-way continuous broadcast type system, the transmitter sends readings continuously every few seconds. This means the reading device can be a receiver only, and the meter AMR device a transmitter only. Data travel one way, from the meter AMR transmitter to the meter reading receive. The cost of one way RF communication is less than the cost of two way RF communication system.

Types of RF AMR:

Handheld Mobile Satellitee) ZigBee

Zigbee is wireless technology, which is used as a communication medium integrating sensors, instruments and control systems. It is an internationally accepted standard which provides a cost-effective solution for communication between sensors in low-data rate wireless networks. It facilitates a full wireless mesh networking with low power-dissipation.

Zigbee is basically a modified wireless communication module. Wireless communication also occurs efficaciously through the use of the wireless local area network (WLAN) and Wi-Fi, but the limitations such as large power dissipation, short distance, complexity and small scale networking makes Zigbee a more suitable wireless technology. It is regarded as global sensor network standard and can connect widest range of devices in any control network. Its core advantages include

Low power consumption Cost-effective, having longer battery life and easy installation Mesh-network management, handling massive sensor and control arrays Simple and Interoperable AES- encryption to protect data Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum

Alternative Solutions to ZigBee

Wi-FI and Bluetooth are one of the alternative solutions available for the ZigBee technology and their usage is also applied due to their capacity and capability for high data-rate transfer applications such as media files, whereas, ZigBee module is specificall designed to operate to fields with low-data transfer with simple structures e.g. data from sensors. It is a modified version of the low power radio based IEEE 802.15.4 - 2003 Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN). Modifications include

Network and Security Layers

Application Framework

ZigBee Logical Device NetworkZigbee Logical Device Network:

Zigbee logical device network explains various types of nodes present in a Zigbee Network Tree:

Coordinator Root Node

Router Intermediate Node

End Devices Leaf Node

Coordinator:

Coordinator is unique and acts as the identification parameter for zigbee network. It is the key element to form a mesh by bridging with other network. It selects the network parameters such as radio frequency etc. It serves as a bank for securing encryption code and other information.

Router:

Router has the capability of establishing connections with the existent network and communicating with other devices through transmission of data. It can also accept connections from unknown devices and can serve as re-transmitters.

End Devices:

End Devices are battery –powered devices, which extract information from the sensors. They transfer information to router or coordinator, but unlike other nodes cannot relay data from secondary devices. This helps us achieve the objective of cost-effective low-power networking.

ZigBee consists of two devices:

Full Function Device (FFD) Reduced Function Device (RFD)

Full Function Device:

Full function Device provides complete functionality of Coordination, Routing and End Devices. The role it plays depends on the requirement of the particular application.

Reduced Function Device:

Reduced function device lacks routing capability and is often used in combination with the FFD.

Operating Modes:

Two multiple access modes in ZigBee are beacon or non-beacon networks. For beacon networks Personal Area Network (PAN) coordinator must be used as it provides guaranteed time slots (GTS) during which beacon-enabled network can transmit data. For non-beacon network PAN coordinator is not required as it can transfer data when channel is free.

Process:

ZigBee makes use of the radio frequency for establishing communication among devices. Zigbee network consists of a network coordinator. The network makes use of FFD and RFD which are used simultaneously. FFD provide all the functionalities i.e. coordination, routing and end devices, whereas RFD is only used to develop a communication linkage with the physical world. ZigBee support several topologies such as star, mesh, and cluster tree. The network used depends on the requirement of the application e.g. star topology is best suited to facilitate a close distance system where several end devices can establish a link with a single router. Router might be an intermediate node a massive mesh network which finally connects to a network coordinator and executes the task at hand.

f) GSMGSM based Meter Reading is an automated system which provides an efficient way of collecting consumption and status data from different utility meters, establishing connections between the load and the utility provider for analysis of the requisite data, billing, troubleshooting etc. The communication medium for developing interaction between the consumer end and the utility center is GSM.

GSM application in AMRThe AMR system provides the centralized Power Monitoring and Control for the electricity department and easy bill payment for the customers. The Energy Management System leads to savings in the overall cost. These savings may be due to resource management, tampering detection and time-efficient for both for the customers and the utility providers. Global System for Mobile communication is an efficient medium of communication to establish a work-compatible mode between the management system and the AMR interface. It is used for high rate data transfer. It is used as a transmission module. Some of its key features which give it a clear advantage over other technologies are:

Low cost alternative of Short message Service (SMS) Service Provider cryptographic algorithms for security e.g. Universal subscriber Identity

module (USIM) Low Power Consumption Wide Network Coverage Cost Effectiveness

Reliability

g) PLC (Power line communication)

PLC system uses the same High Voltage transmission line connecting two sub-stations for telecommunication purpose too.PLC is used in all power utilities as a primary communication service to transmit speech, telemetry and protection tripping commands. This is economic and reliable for inter-grid message transfer as well as low bit rate RTU signals.The voice/data are mixed with radio frequency carrier (40-500 kHz), amplified to a level of 10-80W RF power and injected in to high voltage power line using a suitable coupling capacitor. The power line as arigid long conductor parallel to ground, guides the carrier waves to travel along the transmission line. Point to point communication takes place between two SSB transceivers at both ends.The PLC system consists of:

Meter Built-in PLC Module Meter communication with Concentrator Concentrator communication with Master Station

Technologies of PLC: PRIME:

In 2009, a group of vendors formed the Power line Intelligent Metering Evolution (PRIME) alliance. As delivered, the physical layer is OFDM, sampled at 250 kHz, with 512 differential phase shift keying channels from 42–89 kHz. Its fastest transmission rate is 128.6 kilobits/second, while its most robust is 5.4 Kbit/s. It uses a convolutional code for error detection and correction. The upper layer is usually IPv4.

G3:In 2011, several companies including distribution network operators (ERDF, Enexis), meter vendors (Sagemcom, Landis&Gyr) and chip vendors (Maxim Integrated, Texas Instruments, STMicroelectronics) founded the G3-PLC Allianceto promote G3-PLC technology. G3-PLC is the low layer protocol to enable large scale infrastructure on the electrical grid. G3-PLC may operate on CENELEC A band (35 kHz to 91 kHz) or CENELEC B band (98 kHz to 122 kHz) in Europe, on ARIB band (155 kHz to 403 kHz) in Japan and on FCC (155 kHz to 487 kHz) for the US and the rest of the world. The technology used is OFDM sampled at 400 kHz with adaptive modulation and tone mapping. Error detection and correction is made by both a convolutional code and Reed-Solomon error correction. The required media access control is taken from IEEE 802.15.4, a radio standard. In the protocol, 6loWPAN has been chosen to adapt IPv6 an internet network layer to constrained environments which is Power line communications. 6loWPAN integrates routing, based on the mesh network Loading, header compression, fragmentation and security. G3-PLC has been designed for extremely robust

communication based on reliable and highly secured connections between devices, including crossing Medium Voltage to Low Voltage transformers. With the use of IPv6, G3-PLC enables communication between meters, grid actuators as well as smart objects. frequency division multiplexing power line communication transceivers for G3-PLC networks.

Comparison between PRIME & G3

1. CHINA:Power-line communication is allowing some of China’s biggest cities to hold LED Street lighting and controls.The technology allows lights to be controlled using signals sent over existing power lines .so no new wiring or antennas are required.Over the last few years Guangdong Rongwen Lighting Co, working with US controls provider level, has installed more than 130,000 ‘smart’ streetlights in Guangdong Province (China’s most densely populated area)Foshan, a city of around seven million people in central Guangdong Province, is currently installing 50,000 LED lights, while Dongguan in the Pearl River Delta, part of an urban area that is home to 25 million people, is also using the technology.Rongwen says PLC system has a larger installed base in China than any other single lighting solution.The system can control individual luminaries in real time, enabling big savings in energy consumption.Controllers for a segment of streetlights can be placed within one of the luminaries or at the bottom of a column for easy access.

2. AUSTRALIAFuture Engineering & Communication Pvt Ltd is an Australian based organization that specializes in design, supply and installation of Power line Infrastructure, Lattice Towers, Steel Monopoles, Guyed Masts and custom designed structures.

Parameters G3 PRIMEFrequency range 35-91 KHz 42-89 KHzSubcarrier spacing 1.5625 KHz 0.488 KHzFFT size 256 512Windowing yes noNo.of carriers used 36 97Max.demand rate 33.4 Kbps 128.6 KbpsInterleaving Per data packet Per OFDMModulation DBSK,DQPSK DBSK,DQPSK,D8PSK

Advantages:

Low cost: No separate wires are needed for communication purposes. The power lines themselves carry power as well as communication signals. Hence the cost is less.

High mechanical strength: Power lines have appreciably higher mechanical strength compared with ordinary lines. They would normally remain unaffected under the conditions.

Shortest route: Power lines usually provide the shortest route between the power stations.

Low resistance: Power lines have large cross-sectional area resulting in very low resistance per unit length..

No leakage current: Power lines are well insulated to provide only negligible leakage between conductors and ground even in adverse weather conditions

Less attenuation: Carrier signals suffer much less attenuation than when they travel on telephone lines of equal lengths Largest spacing between conductors reduces capacitance, which results in smaller attenuation at high frequencies. The large spacing also reduces the cross talk to a considerable extent

Disadvantages:

More staff required: Proper care has to be taken to guard carrier equipment and personnel using them against high voltages and currents on the lines.

Noise issues: Noise introduced by power lines is far more than that of telephone lines. This is due to the noise generated by discharge across insulators and switching processes.

High frequencies needed: Current lines designed @ 50-60 Hz to 400 Hz. Legal restrictions on frequency bands limit data rates.

Unreliable: Contaminated because of noise Power Loss: P=I2R Decreased amplitude: Amplitude of electrical signal has been decreased on reaching the

database.

Comparison of Technologies

PARAMETERS IR RF PLC GSM

Reachability 80% 90% 95% 97%

Capital Cost Low Low medium Low

Operational Cost Low Low low medium

Operation Own own own Mobile

Addressability Via Concentrator

Via Concentrator

Via concentrator directly

Suitability (bandwidth)

Function with Function with Function with low BW

Function with high BW

Suitability for real time application

Yes Yes yes No

Flexibility Medium Medium Medium High

Reliability Low Low high Very high

10. Global deployment

Itron It is reputed to be the largest manufacturer of smart meters in the world. It is also one of the largest independent smart grid companies in the world with 8,000 utilities as its customers, revenues of US$ 2.26 billion (in 2010) and has a global operation having 9,000 employees. The company sells smart distribution solutions and end-to-end smart grid solutions to water, gas and electric utilities worldwide. Currently working areas are Romania, North America, North Miami,Jordan,Brazil,Germany,Spain.

Landis+Gyr  It is leading private company in the European market and has started to penetrate the US market as well. The company is based in Zug, Switzerland and has installed over 300 million electricity meters, mostly in Europe. It considered as one of the top 5 smart meter manufacturer in the world. Its sales of US$ 1.3 billion has recently made it a potential target for acquisition by companies like ABB, Toshiba, GE and other private equity companies.Currently working areas are Netherland, Finland, Japan, and Holland.

Sensus  It is a leading US company that provides grid optimization solutions to public electric utilities, investor owned utilities and other utilities. It also manufactures smart meters as part of the company’s smart grid component vision. Part of the service offering is smart metering, grid management software and utility communication networks.Currently working area is NorthAmerica

Elster It is a US based private company with 170 years of experience. Elster is another leading manufacturer of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) and offers utilization solutions to various industries, like the gas, water and electricity industry. Elster electricity meters both support AMI systems and Automated Meter Reading (AMR) systems. Currently working areas are Florida, Mexico, and Netherland.

GE (AMR modules):It is also a US based company that may not be known for its smart meters. GE is best known as the biggest player in the global Green Industry. It has generated US$ 18 billion in revenues. It has a strong presence in the Smart Grid market and in the Energy Efficiency market. Like other huge industrial conglomerates it is considered a low risk player in certain areas of the Green Investment sector. Currently working areas are California United states, Canada.

ISKRAEMECO Like other major market player in the AMI metering systems, Iskraemeco is one of the major companies that are providing AMI solutions across the world with their HQ in Slovenia but their presence is currently in more than 100 countries world-wide. Iskraemeco is also one of the major suppliers of the K-Electric, Pakistan for Smart Meter Systems in Smart Grid implementation project in Karachi.

11. Local Deployment Micro-tech industries (Pvt) Ltd

Multan Electric Power Company and Peshawar Electric Supply Company will install a total of 45, 200 GPRS-enabled smart meters to residential, agricultural, small industrial and public sector consumers.The AMI installation is believed to be the largest in the South Asian country.

Pakistan smart metering company Micro-Tech Industries (MTI) has won a contract to deliver turnkey solutions to the project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).The time line for the project is between August 21, 2014 and August 15, 2015, MTI confirmed.

End to end AMI solution

MTI has manufactured the smart electricity meters and developed the head-end software.The company will also install the units and maintain them for three years after deployment.

Commenting on the metering rollout, Ali Mohsin, assistant manager business development at MTI, said the proposed solution included features that are unique to the energy sector in Pakistan such as demand side load management, energy auditing, customized reporting and improvement in income collection.

Smart Grid Implementation Project K-Electric, Karachi, Pakistan

Lahore, InfoTech Group, a leading technology software solutions provider, has recently signed an agreement with K-Electric Limited (KE) to implement Automated Meter Reading system in Karachi, Pakistan. According to the agreement InfoTech will install the solution in the areas that have been selected by K-electric on the basis of their data analysis.This solution will enable KE to maximize its Advance Metering Infrastructure (AMI) capability with proper network management that can help the power distribution company in improving monitoring of the overall electrical network. As a result with this solution K- Electric Limited intends to reduce energy losses, manage recoveries, proactively address network performance issues, enhance distribution planning capability, and improve outage management.In the initial phase of the project KE will implement smart meters for approximately 10,000 customers across a few specific areas of Karachi within a year, and then continuously roll out across a major portion of the city. InfoTech is also working other DISCOs on various technology projects in Pakistan.

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