Islamabad Electric Supply Company Limited

IESCO
“Advanced Metering Infrastructure December 2016"
1. Lecture Name
Rational of Advance Metering Infrastructure in Pakistan

2. Prepared By
Name: Muhammad Ibrar (TE), IESCO
Contact: [email protected]
Phone: 03453971985

3. Lecture Description(Detailed Contents of the Course)

Lecture Comprises of 8 Questions and there Detailed answers.

Question 1. What is AMI?

Question 2. What are the technology options for AMI?
Question 3. Why should AMI be implemented?
Question 4. What does AMI do?
Question 5. Will it Cost any Security Issues?
Question 6. What are the benefits of AMI?
Question 7. What barriers impact successful deployment of
AMI?
Question 8. What are some experiences with AMI to date?

Summary

AMI is not a single technology, but rather an integration of many technologies that provides an
intelligent connection between consumers and system operators. The principal problem affecting
Pakistan’s power sector is the fact that power generation capacity has not been able to assimilate
the demand growth causing shortages in electricity supply and the transmission grid is not up to that
level to deliver. Management of both entities is very need of the time. Implementation of AMI is not
going to increase generation capacity but it is only making the current transmission grid smart so that
we can Manage the technical and non-technical losses. Smart meters provide continuous information
about the state of different points in the network, which allows detecting technical and non-technical
losses reducing the level of it. According to feasibility report which was conducted by international
consultants, “it is necessary to note that 1% of losses reduction can be estimated as 60 million
USD$”. For now Utility is facing main non-technical loss is theft, collection etc and technical losses
are system overloads and imbalanced loads on distribution transformers etc. so the smart meter is
very effective tool to overcome the problems for long terms. The architecture is five layer architecture
and most of the communication Technology is covered by PLC and remaining is GPRS. Utility is now
working to make it better for consumers due to rapid evaluation of technology. This document is brief
discussion about technical elements which together delivers the purpose of AMI.
What is AMI?

Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) refers to systems that measure, collect and analyze energy
usage, from advanced devices such as electricity meters, gas meters, and water meters through various
communication media.
AMI is not a single technology implementation, but rather a fully configured infrastructure that must
be integrated into existing and new utility processes and applications. Infrastructure system includes
following Elements
 Smart Meters
 In-house Display
 Communications PLC, Fibre Optics or xDSL, RF and Public N/W etc
 Data Concentrator Unit –DCU or Routers.
 Head End System –HES
 Meter Data Management System –MDMS
 Databases.
 Time synchronization system.
 Interfaces between MDMS and other company’s systems (Billing System, CIS, etc.)
 Firewalls.
 Billing and Customer Information Systems. In the case of Pakistan, this is part of the scope.
Additionally, AMI provides a very “intelligent” step toward modernizing the entire power system. At
the consumer level, smart meters communicate consumption data to both the user and the service
provider. Smart meters communicate with in home displays (IHD) to make consumers more aware of
their energy usage. Infrastructure process the AMI retrieved data in ways that enable more intelligent
energy consumption decisions, even providing interactive services like prepayment. The utility employs
enhanced or new back office systems that collect and analyze AMI data to help optimize operations,
economics and consumer service. For example, AMI provides immediate feedback on consumer
outages and power quality, enabling the service provider to rapidly address grid deficiencies. The vast
amount of new data flowing from AMI allows improved management of utility assets as well as better
planning of asset maintenance, additions and replacements. The resulting more efficient and reliable
grid is one of AMI’s many benefits.

What are the technology options for AMI?

As discussed earlier that AMI is not a single technology implementation, but it is combination of few
technology which together delivers the propose of deployment. Those few technologies are given and
discussed here.

 Smart meters
 Wide-area comms.
 Home area networks (HANs)
 Meter Data Management Systems (MDMS)
 Operational Gateways

Smart Meters
Current Digital Meter just served as measuring devices, the consumed power is recorded and displayed
so that meter readers can collect the readings. And in contrary the New Smart Meters features many
functions, which includes
 1. Automatic or on Demand Collection of 2. Power Quality Analysis
Power Data
3. Demand Side Management 4. Use of Flexible Tariffs
5. Internal Memory 6. Automatic Change of Seasonable Timetable
7. Disconnect Element 8. Interoperability
9. Comms. 10. Anti-Tampering and Registration of events and Alarms
11. Data Security 12. Internal Diagnosis
13. Firmware Upgrade 14. Meter Repeater
15. Integration with Future Smart Grids 16. Plug and Play
17. Prepayment Information Display

Comms:
Features mentioned earlier requires continues connection between utility and customer. Most of major
deployment over the world focused and Used the PLC. But other options are also available which can
we used to suit our issues. Few of them are listed below.
 Power Line Carrier (PLC)
 Broadband over power lines (BPL)
 Copper or optical fiber
 Wireless (Radio frequency), either centralized or a distributed mesh
 Internet
 and some of utilities uses Combinations of the above.

HOME AREA NETWORKS (HAN):

Management is issue with both customer and utility. Overcoming needs two way connection between
Utility and Customer. So to cover management issue the following elements has been added to Current
deployment of AMI,
 In Home Displays (IHD): consumer always knows what energy is being used and what it is
costing.
 Set points that limit utility or local control actions to a consumer specified band :Demand Side
Management
 Control of loads without continuing consumer involvement.
So the HAN provides smart interface b/w utility and consumer and acts as Agent. Can be used for
security.

METER DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (MDMS)

One of the primary functions of an MDMS is to perform validation, editing and estimation (VEE) on
the AMI data to ensure that despite disruptions in the communications network or at customer premises,
the data flowing to the systems described above is complete and accurate.
Workable Features assigned to MDMS are,
 Data Preliminary Check: Fetched Data from meter will be compared to Previous
Consumer Records to avoid errors(if any) by Comms.
 User Management: The user management should ensure that authorized persons
have access to the system only.
 Device or Asset Management: Master Data synchronized b/w HES, MDMS and Billing Sys.
 HES Management: MDMS access devices through HES.
 Meter Data Storage: Data stored and segmented so that access is provided to
certain data segments.
 Time Series Processing: Broken entity might send malfunctioned data. Corrected by
check meter or once again transferring of the same data.
 Balances or Loss calculation: Comparison of Feed energy to Grid Station and how much
energy is consumed.
 Disconn./Reconnection: Pay your Bills on time.
 Event and Alarm Processing: Abnormal Situations are detected and followed by
appropriate action. MDMS is responsible for actions taken.
Why should AMI be implemented? / Rational for AMI in Pakistan

Issues faced by Consumer and Utility, are listed and addressed below.
 Energy Supply: High Load shedding and Eventual Voltage Problems in some feeders.
 Commercial services: Accuracy of Bills and Level of Service because of lack of Info.
 AT&C losses: Improvements in the past years but trend is still not appreciable.
 O&M: Any improvements will be welcomed.
Based on mentioned main problems, targets are envisaged within development of technical solutions
for AMI implementation on Pakistan.
 Energy Losses Reduction
 Demand side management
 Information collection for assets management
 Information collection for planning
 Sanctioned demand Control
 O&M cost reduction

What does AMI do?

In short,
 Enables a two-way flow of information between consumers and utilities
 Enables proliferation of demand response
 Allows service provider to control consumers’ electricity usage (load control)
 Facilitates Smart Grid deployment and distributed generation

Will it Cost any Security Issues?

1. Privacy 2. Unethical customers

3. Exposure to cyber terrorism 4. Overly intrusive meter data management agency
5. Curious eavesdroppers 6. Active attackers
7. Motivated eavesdroppers 8. Publicity seekers

The meter and the entire system must have integrated security of transmitted data against
unauthorized access, for example, authentication, unauthorized reading, unauthorized command
generating, and the malicious delivery of false data, as well as against spying out the line of
communication. The exchange of data between the meters and the metering data management system
shall be encrypted.
Smart meters deal with private customer information, which require assured security measures
against the threats of illegal access, leaks or alteration of information and so on. The smart meter shall
have a programmable facility to restrict access to the information recorded. Thus there are few
measures taken to avoid such events.

*Privacy: Can determine if someone is home and Can determine usage patterns.

What are the benefits of AMI?

So the discussion concludes that the Investment program will have four O/P's which in turn brings four
major reforms to utility. Following table addresses both.

Investment Outputs Improvements

 AMI & Communication Equipment Installation Metering accuracy & Reliability
MDMS Developed & Operational. Anti-Tampering & fault detection.
Billing & CIS installed & Operational Tariff Collection and billing efficiency
Loss Reduction strategy & Monitoring Load monitoring and management
Procedures.

WHAT BARRIERS IMPACT SUCCESSFUL DEPLOYMENT OF AMI?

Implementation of AMI is not without obstacles, brief discussion has been made here to address each
problem,

 The Meter reading staff could pose threat to project through social unrest and protests.
 Consumers involved in illegal practices in the old system may attempt to disrupt the AMI
operations to escape controls and theft detection.
 Social unrest due to lack of understanding of the new AMI concept, a general awareness
campaign needs to be launched by DISCOs to avoid it.
 It is a challenge to “fix a moving train.” Utilities cannot turn off the power for a year or two
while they install upgrades.

What are some experiences with AMI to date?

Some utilities have been moving in the direction of AMI for a number of years. As their experience
has grown, so has their insight into the advantages of moving beyond AMR to AMI and eventually to
smart AMI systems. The following are AMI deployments and evolution of technology our years. This
strongly suggests that AMI systems that have the flexibility to readily accommodate new Applications
will prove to be the best long-term investments. Close Coordination and cooperation between state
regulators and utilities is a key To a smooth, successful AMI deployment.

Internationally, there are a number of AMI installations, as described in the following list
 Italy’s Enel has installed over 27 million communicating solid-state meters. (completed in
2006 – 4 year ROI)
 Sweden’s Vattenfall is in middle of rolling out 600,000 advanced meters and E.ON Sweden is
in the early stages of rolling out 370,000 advanced meters.
 The Netherlands government has announced its intent to replace all 7.5 million electric meters
in the country by the end of 2012.
 In Austria, Linz STROM recently announced plans to deploy advanced meters to 75,000 of its
customers.
 In Canada, Hydro One has begun installation of smart meters in southern Ontario and expects
to complete the installation of 1.3 million throughout its service territory by 2010.
 Norway recently announced a smart meter roll-out to 2.6 million customers by 2013.
 Australia/United Kingdom and others.