The National Administration of Electric Power Plants and Transmissions (UTE) installed this Friday the smart meter number 1 million in a home in the Malvín neighborhood, in Montevideo. This type of technology allows saving between 15 and 20%according to the Minister of Industry, Energy and Mining, Omar Paganinipresent at the event.
The president of UTE was also present at the ceremony; Silvia Emaldiwho anticipated that the state company plans to continue with the process of gradual substitution until reaching coverage in the 100% of Uruguayan households by 2024.
According to the head of the entity, currently more than 62% of UTE customers have this type of service. Furthermore, he anticipated that from june this year, this service will be extended to small and medium businesses.
The objective of replacing them with the old meters is, as he explained, to offer a more efficient service, since procedures can be carried out remotely and automatically. “It’s an improved service with a reduction in the cost of the fees,” she said.
What are UTE’s smart meters like?
The smart meters were jointly developed by technicians from joint venture and the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining (MIEM).
In addition to allowing savings of between 15 and 20%, as Paganini specified, these meters also enhance the use of electrical networks to Improve the quality of service, issue alerts when the voltage is outside the compromised band and they manage to measure the variations that have occurred.
In this way, they contribute to balance demand and manage consumption peaks.
The progressive replacement of old meters will allow optimization of reconnections, power or rate changes, control of losses and access to remote measurement every 15 minutes, in order to end the problems related to reading estimation.
Antel, another public company provides the connectivity for these meters and the technology needed for their operation. The president of the company, Gabriel Gurmendezalso present at the event, marked the “great satisfaction” which implies for Antel “to be a factor in celebrating the million smart meters in this UTE project”.
Source: Ambito
