EDF India announced it has completed the installation of 1 lakh (100,000) smart meters in India under a contract with Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) a joint venture of PSUs under the power ministry.

The company marked this as the completion of the first stage of the contract and the beginning of the commercial roll-out of 5 million smart meters installation across India, nearly half of which will be installed in Bihar.

The contract was awarded to EDF in association with Accenture Solutions Private Limited (India) in 2019. It covers the design of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), installation of 5 million smart meters across India, integration of the smart meters with the existing billing system of electricity distribution companies as well as operation and maintenance of the whole system for a period of six-and-a-half years.

The company said the execution of the contract will enable the integration of an increasing volume of renewable energy into the network, thus supporting India’s climate goals.

“Smart meters will improve the financial position of DISCOMS by helping them contribute to the balance between production and consumption and ultimately help the economy and environment move towards sustainability,” Harmanjit Nagi, Director and Country Head, EDF India, said.

In January 2021, a consortium led by EDF and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) was awarded the consulting mandate to plan India’s global electricity grid including a technical and financial proposal for the ‘One Sun One World One Grid’ (OSOWOG) project.

OSOWOG is an electricity grid project that aims to transfer solar power produced in India across its borders and is an important part of India’s push for renewables.