Leading Energy Provider In Chile Selects Kamstrup Smart Metering System

Online, April 19, 2012 (Newswire.com) - A first implementation is being carried out in the cities of Buin and Rancagua, close to the capital city of Santiago. CGE has in total 2,3 million electricity customers.

The project is one of the first smart metering-implementations in Chile who is now entering the league of smart utility nations. "We see this project as a vital provision for future business developments including a secure and steady supply of energy. We are proud to be one of the first in the Chilean energy industry to present an intelligent metering system to our customers," says Eduardo Mora, Technology & I+D manager in TECNET (technology partner of the CGE group).

According to Luis Aedo, Loss Control Manager at TECNET, the meter reading results from the pilot project are very promising with 100% success rate. He says: "The new metering system provides us with important features like tamper detection, voltage quality control, power limit control, grid loss control, and the possibility of registering locally produced energy which is being exported to the grid for example by photovoltaic panels. This is a major step towards a faster and more secure meter reading process and a smoother billing system which will allow us to provide a better service and free resources for other business goals."

TECNET selected the solution from Kamstrup among a number of system providers for their technological expertise and convincing references from Europe and Asia. In favor spoke the robustness of both hardware and the wireless communication technology - and not least the simplicity of the system. Eduardo Mora concludes: "Among the system solutions that we studied the one from Kamstrup prevailed in usability and seemed to be the most future proof solution. Kamstrup shows a high degree of flexibility as they are able to customize the solution to our specific requirements."

The wireless smart metering system is one of the most advanced two way-communication systems on the market today allowing flexible tariffs, home automation and multi-utility business.

"A close mapping of the individual customer's energy usage pattern will enable customized tariffs for the benefit of the customer who will experience monthly savings on the energy bill as a result and thus a strong motivation for changing his energy consumer behavior in a more efficient direction", says Luis Aedo.

Furthermore the delivered smart meters enable Home Automation with multiple communication standards like Wireless M-Bus, Zigbee and Z-Wave; and the integrated Multi-Utility Controller (MUC) even allows integration of remote meter reading of water, gas and heat in one and the same metering system using only the same wireless technology. The Multi-Utility Controller opens up for whole new business areas.