South Cairo for Electricity Distribution Co is set to complete its studies of technical tenders for supplying 50,000 smart electricity metres within weeks. An official at the company said that five companies presented their offers in accordance with the terms and conditions predetermined before launching the tender. The offer should include a company that manufactures metres, a communications company and an electronic system company. The companies that presented their offers were Elsewedy Electric, Global, Siemens, Huawei and Chinese company ZTE. All these companies cooperate with Vodafone, Etisalat, Mobinil, IBM, the Arab Organization for Industrialization (AOI), and the Banha Al Moaasra and Escra factories. The official said the smart electricity metres are part of the smart networks. They are set to improve, supervise and transfer information through the distribution network. They will help improve the efficiency of energy use. In cases of shortages in the electrical capacity, instead of a power cut in an entire area, electric power could be available to satisfy the consumer's basic needs without any cut-offs. He pointed out that the smart metres system could be applied to benefit consumers whose usage exceeds 300 KW, and even those who exceed 1,000 KW. The number of these consumers is 3 million subscribers, and their consumption represents approximately 50% of the total electricity consumption. He added that many countries started to install smart metres, such as France, which set a five-year plan, two years ago, to install 35m electronic metres. He concluded that the advantage of the prepaid metres resides in their ability to monitor and rationalise consumption. Power is cut off only if the deposit for the period between 5 PM and 10 AM is finished. Metres allow the consumer to determine the amount of electricity they would like to purchase in accordance with their abilities.
