PANAJI
The Goa Cabinet gave its nod to the Electricity Department to introduce smart prepaid meters on the DBFOOT mode -- Design, Build, Finance, Own, Operate, and Transfer.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that Department has taken a service provider on board via a tendering process -- Digismart Networks Pvt Ltd -- and the firm will begin installing these prepaid smart meters first for commercial 3-phase consumers and for government institutional consumers only.
The Goan had reported in January that the long-delayed smart metering project of the Electricity Department is set to take off soon with the tendering process attracting two bids -- Digismart which eventually won the contract for bidding lower and Adani Energy Solutions Ltd.
After the bidding process was completed the proposal was sent to the Goa State Works Boards for the final decision on implementing the project in a phased manner over two years for which Rs 467 crore is sanctioned by the Union Power Ministry.
According to the Electricity Department, the smart meters function on a real-time basis and record and store all electrical parameters such as consumption of energy, voltage and current levels, etc.
The data will be used by the department for billing, to monitor power quality, load scheduling, demand management and fault analysis.
Goa is one amongst few States whose progress on smart meters, distribution transformer meters and feeder meters installation is nil. The Ministry has sanctioned smart meters to around 7,41,160 consumers while 8,369 DTM and 827 feeder meters.
