Made to measure
Automatic meter reading will help GCC utility providers keep track of consumption
The rate of real estate development in the Middle East today is placing utilities under increasing pressure to monitor energy consumption in a cost-efficient way.
The rate of real estate development in the Middle East today is placing utilities under increasing pressure to monitor energy consumption
in a cost-efficient way.
Traditional mechanical meters pose a series of problems. They can only be read periodically - and with the consent of the proprietor of the premises.
If a tenant or company does not allow the operator to enter the premises and take the reading, the utility has no way of finding out how much has been consumed.
"Nowadays they are building cities upwards," says Ali Mouslmani, regional director of metering systems manufacturer Elster Electricity. "A building has an average of at least 30 floors and maybe 5 meter units on each floor.
That is 150 units to measure in one building. Multiply this by the number of buildings being built in the whole region and you can imagine the number
of meters required."
It will be increasingly difficult and time-consuming for a meter reader to visit each floor of a 30-floor building in order to carry out the readings.
On top of this, as DMC International general manager Mamoun Shahin points out, mechanical meters are subject to tampering, lose 5-8% of their accuracy after ten years, and do not allow for effective load management, whereby utility companies can encourage or discourage usage at peak and off-peak times.
"Government utilities are looking to track consumption and customer profiles closely in an effective, easily manageable process," says Shahin.
Remote readings
Fortunately, life for utility providers is becoming easier thanks to the emergence of automatic meter reading (AMR) systems. These allow all a utility's meters to be read remotely, through a number of different methods, and transfer the data to a central database for billing. This greatly improves accuracy, and means a customer can be billed based on actual consumption rather than mere estimates.
Electronic meters are used instead of mechanical ones, and are fitted with a communication module. Readings may be taken of each meter using a hand-held terminal with an antenna. An operator can walk or drive around the area while the device collects the information on radio frequency, with each meter having its own ID. Once all the readings are in, the operator can dock the terminal at a central computer and load the information on to it.
Alternatively, the meters might be linked to each other in a network, with or without wires. This mesh network sees the meters linked internally and acting as repeaters, which keep passing the data on until it reaches the central computer. The central computer can be linked to the meters as long as it is located in the same building.
If not, a concentrator is used to collect the data, which is then transmitted to the central computer via a fibre-optic network, or via GSM or GPRS. In this case, distance is of no consequence. The utility can be in full control of its meters via GSM and not a single person is required to be in the field to collect the information - something Shahin describes as a significant cost saving.
In the case of electric meters, data can be transmitted over power lines back to a computer. This is known as a power line carrier (PLC) system. Meters are connected to the power distribution lines within a building and can be read by a remote meter unit (RMU), which sends the information over low-voltage power lines to a gateway, an industrial PC, in a medium to low-voltage substation.
"Essentially this means that regular electricity cables are used to transfer the data, and as such no additional infrastructure or costs are required," says Shahin.
"The meters transfer data to a concentrator located at the transformer substation. Then, telephone lines, PSTN (public switched telephone network), GSM or wireless media can be used to send the data from the concentrator to the control station."
Cash register
But being able to read meters remotely is far from a mere convenience.
"At the end of the day, the meter is the cash register of the utility,"
says Mouslmani.
Certainly, the quicker process is good news for utilities. The sooner they
can make the readings and get the information, the sooner they can start invoicing and collecting payment.
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“Energy prices are going up, even in this area, so the Hans Peter Kyk |
Hans Peter Kyk, general manager of Kamstrup Middle East, also believes utilities need to act. "If you go years back, even electricity was part of your rent so the tenant did not even think about his energy consumption," says Kyk.
"Today it is completely different. Energy prices are going up, even in this area, so the utilities have to be a lot more focused on getting the revenue back. With automatic meter reading the utility can make sure it is paid for
the energy consumption."
Kamstrup, which set up shop in Dubai last year, is primarily active on the region's district cooling market, having experience with the similar concept
of district heating in Scandinavia.
"We measure the flow, the amount of water going into the building, and in addition we measure the temperature of the water going in and the temperature of the water coming out of the building," Kyk explains. "The amount of water going in and the temperature difference gives us the amount of energy consumed in the building."
Utilities can also cut down on what Mouslmani terms ‘non-technical losses' due to non-paying customers. A one-way AMR system only allows for a reading to be taken. A two-way system means the utility can monitor and control every distribution device out in the field.
"Many of the Middle Eastern countries are facing problems with regard to bad debt and payment collection issues," says Shahin. "Our AMR system addresses these issues by providing automatic and remote shut-off facilities to customers that have large outstanding dues. It also allows utility providers to track any leakages or thefts and minimise the loss of potential revenue."
With mechanical meters, this process would normally cost much more, since personnel must be sent out to disconnect and reconnect manually. Mouslmani estimates that non-technical losses due to non-paying customers have dropped 30-40% with the implementation of such two-way systems.
Losses due to tampering will also become a thing of the past. Electronic meters cannot be slowed down and cutting the wires will only trigger an alarm in the system. In addition, the possibility of human error during meter-reading is eliminated.
Taking all the benefits into account, Shahin suggests "the minimum saving and additional income expected from implementing an AMR system is 17.6% of gross sales."
Historical data
Going beyond taking a reading and the remote connect-disconnect facility, historical data for a particular customer can be accessed and analysed using advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), essentially combining the technology with data management software to help a utility plan for the future implementation of tariffs.
"The data is stored for up to 15 years," Kyk points out, "so we can go back
in case there is a dispute with a customer about his energy consumption."
There are benefits for customers too, however. Commercial or industrial users may need to do their own energy consumption forecasting or implement energy management systems. Customers can purchase the historical data from the meter from the utility on a monthly or annual basis - another way for a utility to recover its investment.
For Mouslmani, such value added services, which maximise the system's potential, are essential to persuade utility providers to adapt the new technologies.
"The stronger we make the financial business case to the utility, the better it is," he says. "If we look into the meter reading functionality alone, today it becomes quite difficult to justify a system with such a complex infrastructure. It does require a high investment."
Utilities are trying pilot systems to see how feasible the new technology is. The Abu Dhabi Distribution Company (ADDC) has gone a step further, having already placed an order for 50000 meters and due to hold another tender this year.
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Elster Electricity’s Ali Mouslmani says a strong financial case must be presented to utilities.
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"In the UAE it is already taking off," says Mouslmani. "They just want to feel comfortable with it and make sure it is going to give them what they need."
Kyk also believes it will only take 1-2 years for the technology to be adopted and has already installed automatic meter reading systems for district cooling in Dubai Investment Park and the Falcon Tower on Sheikh Zayed Road. Many new real estate projects are going with automatic district cooling meters from the outset.
"To retrofit a building with meters is more costly but I am sure it will come," he says.
"There are projects coming up now to replace mechanical meters with electronic meters. The mechanical meter has the same interface. It is just a matter of putting a new device into the pipe but because of the money required it will take some time."
Automatic reading is not yet the international norm. European companies are pioneering the technology and, in terms of implementation, Sweden is setting the pace. All of its electricity meters will have to be read automatically by 2009.
Though the initial expenditure might be off-putting, utility providers will soon see the financial benefits of an AMR system and opt to implement it for the good of their balance sheets.
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Financial benefits of automatic meter reading
DMC International's Mamoun Shahin estimates that the minimum savings and additional income from a typical AMR system to be 17.6% of gross sales. This is thanks to: • elimination of bad debt • elimination of 2-3% of payment processing costs • elimination of 1-2% of billing costs • elimination of meter reader salaries • elimination of tampering and theft • accurate calculation rather than estimates or averages |
Source: arabianbusiness.com
