Indigenous Energy Firm Seeks Partnership with Discos to Meter Customers
Adaobi Rhema Oguejiofor
The Management of Smart Meter Company Limited, an indigenous Nigerian energy firm, has said that collaboration with distribution companies (Discos) across the country will ensure that all Nigerians are metered.
The Managing Director (MD) of the Company, Mallam Ibrahim Babagana, stated that there is a need for an upward review of meters as a result of the economic challenges that faces the nation, especially with the issue of foreign exchange.
Babagana added that 4,000 single and three-phase meters are readily available in their factory. While explaining that the meter coupling process, now comes with a data concentrator.
He noted that the kind of meters they have are called PLC-IS meters and they work with 2G, 3G, and 4G networks, which implies that instead of installing a sim card in every meter, one can just put a sim card in the data concentrator and the meter will speak to the device.
In his own words, “the device will be placed in the transformer by us and the distribution. We found out that it is more cost-effective, it is rugged and it works in different environments and about 100 meters can be attached to the device at a go.”
The MD expressed that the meter, if effectively maintained, can tackle meter bypass by some consumers as the device speaks to the distribution companies directly when it is connected. He assured that the meters go through several checks by quality control officers in order to ensure that they are ready for the market.
According to him, in the assembly line for the single phase meters, there are six components to assemble before it moves to the next stage, which is the pre-quality check and then it goes to the testing and calibration stage for the single and three phase.
He added that there is need for an upward review of meter prices because of the economic challenges being faced, especially with regards to foreign exchange, adding that the government is aware of their challenges and concerns and there are discussions ongoing to address some of the issues, especially price.
