Enel’s Romanian subsidiary expects to reach 900.000 customers with installed smart meters by the end of 2020. Romanian subsidiary of Italian Enel Group will install over 170,000 smart meters in 2020, in the areas where it operates. The investment amounts to over 11.5 million euros and the company
In Bucharest, Giurgiu and Ilfov, in 2020, E-Distributie Muntenia has scheduled the installation of approximately 80,000 smart metering systems. Another 41,000 are installed by E-Distributie Dobrogea in the counties of Calarasi, Constanta, Ialomita and Tulcea. According to E-Distributie Banat, approximately 50,000 customers from Arad, Caras-Severin, Hunedoara and Timis counties will benefit from the new technology by the end of this year.
The biggest advantage of smart metering for the end consumer is that, unlike the classic meter that only measures consumption linearly and requires on-site readings, the smart meter can transmit data, in real time, remotely. This means a better control of electricity consumption and, implicitly, of the cost of electricity. Thus, instead of a fixed tariff, electricity suppliers will be able to define offers based on hourly intervals, and the smart meter, integrated in a smart metering system, will be able to allow each household to adjust its consumption in the hourly intervals when electricity is more cheap.
Prosumers, consumers who produce electricity from renewable sources, can measure the energy produced separately. Whether we are talking about wind turbines or solar panels, the smart meter will measure separately the energy that a consumer delivers to the grid and that it absorbs from the grid. The consumer will know exactly when he consumes energy from the grid and when he consumes the renewable energy produced by him.
In Romania, the installation of smart meters is free for the electricity consumer, based on a calendar approved by the National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE).
Since 2015, Enel Group invested over 49 million euros in the installation of smart metering systems in Romania. The amount is part of the Enel Group’s strategy to provide the new technology to the 2.9 million electricity distribution customers in Romania.
