Meralco sets smart grid investment

Meralco sets smart grid investment

By MYRNA M. VELASCO

June 2, 2011, 1:47am


MANILA, Philippines — Smart grid invasion in the electricity system is always hobbled by questions whether the technology or the business trend must come first, but in the investment blueprint being prepared by power utility giant Manila Electric Company (Meralco), it wants to address both side-by-side.

Meralco president and chief executive officer Manuel V. Pangilinan noted that they are working on a rational business model for their smart grid investment – in the sense that the technology can provide convenience and efficiency in usage and that the customer would also want or patronize it.

Advancing into a modern system from an analog grid, according to the company chief executive, forms a key part of their next round of capital outlays.

“We are preparing for the introduction of smart grid…we will have fairly significant capex (capital expenditure) for it,” Pangilinan added, noting that the end-goal would be to have a smart grid system that would work ably both for the utility and the customer service end of the business.

Meralco senior vice president and corporate marketing head Alfredo Panlilio said the company’s venture into smart grid has been envisioned to stimulate Filipino consumers’ awareness on smart homes, automated home systems, intelligent metering and more efficient service that can be made available by their power utility. But he enthused that the utility company must also deal first with the economic realities of setting up a more complex system into its network.

“For the smart meters, we can build a sophisticated system, but what if nobody buys it? So we want to see adoption by customers in economic terms,” he stressed.

Intelligent meters may properly apprise a particular customer on its volume of consumption and which of its appliances are power-intensive; hence, giving the end-user the leeway to plan on the mode and pattern of electricity usage. In terms of monitoring power interruptions, ‘smart grid’ technologies also have innate capabilities to track down affected areas through the installation of a sensor system, thus customer concerns and complaints can be better addressed.

The project blueprint cast by Meralco would also include prepaid metering system; and eventually the integration of electric vehicles into its network. In other countries, smart grids also serve as viable technology support for distributed generation and on the integration of renewable energy into the system.

Having been an affiliate company of the country’s telecommunications giant (Philippine Long Distance Company), Meralco expects beneficial synergy that they can employ for their smart grid project, especially in the area of pursuing “online interface” between the utility and the customer.

Beyond installing the smart meters in homes or establishments, typical features of smart grid delve on having greater automation to make the power system more efficient and the deployment of digital technology to provide customers more information about their usage of electricity

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