There are seven candidates for the ‘smart’ meters of HEDNO

Seven companies expressed interest in participating in the HEDNO tender for the installation of smart electricity meters in all consumers in the country. According to the information from HEDNO, the bids will be unsealed tomorrow, Tuesday, in order to start the evaluation procedures.

The installation of smart meters brings major changes in the functioning of the energy market and in customer service. As noted on smart meters:

– There will be the possibility of applying different tariffs during the 24 hours, depending on the variation of the cost of electricity (currently there is the possibility only for low night charging with a separate meter) with consequent better management of peak load that facilitates smooth penetration of electricity and benefits the operation of the network.

– The “against” accounts are abolished.

Disconnections and reconnections as well as consumption measurement will be done remotely. This reduces the operating costs of the Administrator.

– Conditions are created to reduce power theft, which also burdens consumers.

– The market opening and the process of changing the supplier are significantly facilitated.

– Power outage times are reduced, due to better supervision of the network by the Administrator. “Given that 90% of the Network in Greece is airborne and therefore vulnerable to the escalation of the phenomenon of climate change that we are experiencing in recent years, this advantage is extremely important because it enables the Administrator to detect faults remotely and intervene immediately in order to repair the damage to the Network, achieving much faster re-electrification times “, notes HEDNO.

– By accessing the data of current and previous measurements via home screen or the internet, the consumer is given the opportunity to better manage his loads and save electricity.

The process of replacing the consumption meters with “smart” ones started 8 years ago, however the tender that was announced at that time was not completed due to court engagements. The new process started by the current HEDNO administration is estimated to lead to the replacement of all existing cash registers with smart ones, gradually, with a horizon of completion in 2030.

According to HEDNO, the participants in the competition and their profile is as follows:

– ITRON, a leading company in the field of metering systems based in the USA, with a clientele that includes 8,000 customers-SGI (Utilities) internationally ITRON is considered the leading company in the world in the field of metering systems. ITRON has a manufacturing plant in Europe with major reference projects in France, Sweden, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom. The Company submitted a file with its subsidiary ITRON SPAIN.

– Landis + Gyr, based in Switzerland, one of the largest manufacturers of smart cash in the world. He has implemented large projects in France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Austria, the Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries, while he has a cash production unit in Greece.

– Elster, which is now a company of the international industrial group Honeywell. The group entered the measurement industry in 2016 through the acquisition of Elster. Elster has implemented similar projects in the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands and Spain. Elster has production plants in Romania and has submitted a dossier with its Romanian subsidiary Elster Rometrics.

– PROTASIS is a Greek company operating in Greece representing the French company Sagemcom, the largest supplier of Enedis in France with similar projects in Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and Lithuania. Its production is located in Europe.

– Iskraemeco, a manufacturer of electricity meters and related products, software and communications services based in Slovenia. With over 100 million meters installed in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. Iskraemeco has production lines in Europe.

– Gridspertise, founded in 2021 by the Italian group Enel in order to commercialize the group’s smart grid technology. The company brings together the Enel Group’s in-depth know-how with digitization projects around the world, including the development of more than 44 million smart meters in eight countries.

– Intrasoft International, which provides integrated high quality IT solutions, products and services in the European Union and which strategically focuses on energy and Utilities by offering a wide range of applications including smart cash systems. It is noted that from 2021 Intrasoft International became a member of the IT Group Netcompany, based in Denmark.

After the opening of the bids, the control of the conditions of participation will follow and then the second phase of the tender, with the notification of the detailed process document with negotiation to the economic operators that have been pre-selected in the first phase.