A worker at HCM City Power Corporation checks electronic meters. — Photo www.sggp.org.vn

HCM CITY — The HCM City Power Corporation (EVNHCMC) plans to complete the installation of electronic meters connected to a remote data collection system for all customers in the city next year.

Under the Government's direction on the use of information technology, EVNHCMC is installing smart meters for Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) with the aim of having an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI).

As of September, the corporation had installed nearly 1.5 million electronic meters with the function of transmitting telemetry data, accounting for 56.7 per cent of the total number of customers.

Bùi Trung Kiên, deputy general director of the corporation, said the free replacement of existing meters aims to improve the quality of infrastructure and customer services.

The electronic meters provide higher accuracy and can help monitor power consumption, resulting in power savings. They are also integrated with communication technologies to support remote automatic meter reading.

Data collection by this method helps to monitor the operation status of substations and cables, and improves grid safety.

“It will also improve labour productivity and reduce labour costs and risks of human errors,” Kiên said. Workers' accidents on the job are also expected to be reduced.

Nguyễn Thị Hồng Liên, a customer in District 10, said she now pays her electricity bill through customer service software on mobile phones.

“It's convenient because my husband and I are really busy with work, and often go abroad for a long time, so no one is at home to make direct payments to EVNHCMC employees,” she said.

Trịnh Minh Long, a customer in Tân Phú District, said: “Through online payment, I can directly pay my electricity bills through internet banking."

Ensuring meter quality

All electronic meters were bought by EVNHCMC through competitive bidding and are in compliance with current bidding regulations, according to Kiên.

The technical specifications for the procurement of meters were determined in compliance with EVN requirements, international electrical technical standards IEC: 62052-11 and IEC: 62053-21, and Việt Nam’s technical regulations on measurement management.

Before installation, the meters are approved based on qualified samples and inspected under procedures issued by the Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality under the Ministry of Science and Technology.

“The electricity sector only installs meters with satisfactory testing results in order to ensure accurate operation and use,” Kiên said.

Customers can directly call EVN’s customer care centre if they have questions. The centre will notify the power company and send employees to the customer's house to handle any failure within a day or less.

Customers can also monitor their power consumption anytime and anywhere through a customer care application installed on their phone or other digital devices. This can help customers adjust their power consumption.

“The electronic meters also improve data transparency and communication with customers,” Kiên said.

Through online data tracking, the electricity sector will be able to promptly detect incidents and solve them as promptly as possible.

Đà Nẵng Power Company has installed electronic meters applying the remote data transmission system to all of its customers. The company was the first unit under EVN's Central Power Corporation (EVNCPC) to apply daily electricity data lookup software and provide a trial use for customers.

This system automatically sends alerts on power consumption through the telemetry system, and automatically sends alerts about consumption exceeding the threshold set by the customer, sending the information to the customer via email and SMS. — VNS