Victoria's Smart Meter Rollout Update

 

by Energy Matters

Electricity distributor SP AusNet yesterday announced its partners in the rollout of more than 680,000 'smart meters' to homes and small businesses across eastern and north eastern Victoria.

Smart meters are considered a key step towards more efficient electricity grids and to better manage new energy flows as increasing amounts of renewable energy is supplied to the grid - whether from residential solar power systems, or from large solar farms.

According to the SP AusNet web site, smart meters will empower electricity customers to better manage their energy needs, cut carbon emissions and will help increase retail competition.

SP AusNet’s smart meter rollout is expected to commence over the coming months, which will see over 680,000 meters installed in Victorian homes by December 2013; with roughly 40,000 meters to be installed by the end of June next year.

Independent analysis performed for the Victorian Department of Primary Industries has shown that the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) program will deliver net benefits to Victoria of up to $700 million over the next 20 years.

Partnering with SP AusNet in the AMI program are: Landis+Gyr, GE and GridNet, UXC Limited, Electrix, Motorola, Unwired, eMeter, Logica, Accenture, Enterprise Business Services, and Geomatic Technologies.

WiMAX technology will be used to communicate electricity consumption from the smart meters back to SP Ausnet. WiMAX, (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access), is a telecommunications technology that provides wireless transmission of data at speeds of up to 10 Mbit/s without the need for cables.

More on Victoria's Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) program

 

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