Cyprus Mail
Main

Smart meter installation date delayed

smart meter
File photo

The electricity authority (EAC) will not be in a position to install smart meters for its residential customers according to the timeframe it announced to parliament in December, sources reported on Tuesday.

The installation of remote smart-metering systems appears to be mired in tendering process delays, according to daily Philenews, and is highly unlikely to start until March at the earliest.

The transmission and distribution operators recently stated that smart metering and a remote (ripple) control mechanism were primary technical prerequisites for securing stability and safety of the grid and would enable them to disconnect users whenever a critical limit in renewable energy absorption gets reached.

In a letter to the ministry, the operators requested a halt on the approval of new permits for residential photovoltaics (PVs) until an updated subsidy plan was announced requiring PVs and smart meters to be installed in tandem.

A 2018 decision of the energy regulatory authority (CERA) required installation of 400,000 meters, and the first installation, of 57,143 meters, was to have been completed by January 2021. By January this current year, almost 180,000 smart meters should have been installed with a budget of €17 million granted to EAC for this phase of the project.

Follow the Cyprus Mail on Google News

Related Posts

Bomb goes off in Strovolos

Staff Reporter

Hamas arrives in Cairo for ceasefire talks with deal ‘on the table’

Court voids asylum seeker’s access to classified documents

Elias Hazou

Israel broadening its operation as Lebanon’s Baalbek hit for first time since start of Gaza war

Reuters News Service

Putin says Russia will push further into Ukraine

Reuters News Service

Forestry department bolstered with new equipment

Jean Christou