Robust communication infrastructure is vital for smart meters

During ELECRAMA 2023, CyanConnode will focus on showcasing its innovative Omnimesh RF AMI platform. Our focus will also be on our latest innovation for Indian markets, the Omnimesh Long-Range RF solution, says Ratna Garapati, MD & CEO of CyanConnode India.
This high-powered mesh networking technology enables the communication between energy meters and head-end systems (HES) over long distances. It is specifically designed to reach up to 10 km in semi-urban and rural areas, making it ideal for deployment in hard-to-reach places like valleys, agricultural fields, islands, and cellular nodes. This solution’s key advantages include its unparalleled coverage, reliability, resilience, security, and ease of deployment.
Smart meters installation ratio in rural and semi-urban areas
We understand that a robust communication infrastructure is essential to implement smart meters in rural and semi-urban areas successfully. Our Omnimesh RF solution has been specifically designed to provide coverage in urban, rural, dense, hilly, agricultural, and semi-urban regions while delivering the desired SLAs. We have already achieved a range of 4.2 KM through regular RF nodes in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, and have recently tested our long-range RF solution in India.
CyanConnode’s Omnimesh Long-Range RF solution is a cutting-edge technology that provides a robust, secure, and efficient means of communication for energy meters in remote areas. Its ability to reach long distances, compliance with the smart communication standards, and ease of deployment make it an attractive solution for utilities and energy companies looking to extend their smart grid infrastructure to hard-to-reach areas.
We will continue to invest in RF technology and work with utilities to deploy smart meter infrastructure in rural and semi-urban areas.
DISCOMs reaction to the increasing prominence of smart meters and their associated benefits
Smart meters help DISCOMs to improve the customer experience, automate billing, reduce distribution issues and losses, and manage demand in real-time during peak periods. Additionally, smart meters enable DISCOMs to operate innovative commercial models, which can help to increase revenue and reduce costs.
Below mentioned are some of the projects that benefited DISCOMs:
The first is the Indore smart metering project, which runs on a CyanConnode RF communication system and has become a case study for all the other Discoms in the country. Indore has reaped multiple benefits for DISCOMs and consumers. The benefits range from identifying theft cases and reducing AT&C losses due to improved billing and collection efficiency to the timely determination of defective meters, which was not previously possible through manual reading. But the most significant change witnessed was a nearly 95 percent reduction in cases of bill correction, a stunning figure demonstrating the efficacy of smart meters.

Improving finances with advanced meters and metering technologies
The focus of the central and state governments is now on ensuring that the shift to smart prepaid metering happens within the desired timelines, and the RDSS, as well as the revised Standard Bidding Document (SBD) steps in this direction. The government has envisioned 250 million households adopting prepaid smart meters in the next few years, with the potential to generate savings of about INR 10 trillion in the next decade through reduced billing and collection inefficiencies in the system. RDSS funding will be available only if Discom commits to an agreed-upon loss reduction. This trajectory has pushed Discoms to consider smart meters a powerful tool, as evidenced by the fact that there are currently more than 100 million smart meters on the market. The strong payment mechanism listed in SBD, from the utilities to the AMISPs, has pushed for a larger participation from AMISPs in all these tenders.
Smart meters provide real-time data on energy consumption, enabling utilities to manage demand better and reduce costs. AMI systems offer advanced data management and analysis capabilities, allowing utilities to improve operations and customer service. Net metering allows customers to generate their electricity and sell excess energy back to the grid, which can help reduce costs for utilities and customers.
Features of CyanConnode’s Omnimesh
CyanConnode is planning to build on our existing innovations and projects. One of the planned investments is developing and deploying our latest innovation, the Omnimesh Long-Range RF solution. As alluded to above, this technology provides a robust, secure, and efficient means of communication for energy meters in remote areas and can reach long distances.
Regulatory support required for this sector
I think the Indian government is already doing its bit to ensure the uptake of smart Meters and payment security for the AMI service providers. It just needs to ensure that the measures it has taken are diligently followed.
For more details visit: https://cyanconnode.com/