About 500,000 smart meters have been installed across Iran for high-consuming subscribers and the installation program will continue until next summer, a spokesperson for Power Generation, Distribution and Transmission Company (Tavanir) said.
“The initiative is part of the plan to install 4.5 million smart meters with priority accorded to high-consuming subscribers,” Mostafa Rajabi-Mashhadi was also quoted as saying by Bargh News.
High-consuming subscribers use more than 450 kWh of electricity per month.
On the benefits of using smart meters, he said these devices automatically record electricity use and electronically report that information to the utility company at regular intervals.
These meters provide secure data that can show peak usage and prevent outages, he added.
The total number of consumers in four sectors [households, industries, agriculture and commerce] was 37,600 million in 2020, which has now experienced a 2% rise to reach 38,300 million.
According to Rajabi-Mashhadi, household subscribers witnessed the biggest increase (475,000 new meters) and reached 30.4 million, up 7% compared to 2020 when the figure stood at 30.2 million.
There were about 480,000 electricity meters in the agro sector last year, which has now risen by 3%, meaning 14,000 new subscribers have been added to the key sector.
Smart meters automatically record electricity use and electronically report that information to the utility company at regular intervals
The number of consumers in the commercial sector has also experienced a rise of 4%. In other words, 202,000 new users have been added, increasing the number of subscribers in the commercial sector to 5.1 million.
Industrial consumers have increased from 1.7 million to 1.9 million.
Tavanir has installed over 1 million smart electricity meters in the agriculture, commercial and industrial sectors since 2018.
The installation of each smart meter costs $50 and all subscribers in the three key sectors will be equipped with high-tech devices by April.
Thanks to the new gadgets, consumers are informed about daily use so they could adjust their consumption. Utilities in many developed and developing countries are promoting such meters for economic and environmental reasons, especially to reduce cost and consumption.
Of the total 38 million meters in the country, 20 million are digital, of which over 1 million are smart and the rest are old meters that are being replaced gradually.
There are 493,000 authorized wells in Iran, 18% of which are equipped with smart meters and their water extraction and power consumption can be monitored online.
The gadget has helped reduce annual water extraction from the wells by 30% or 15 billion cubic meters because each meter has a weekly extraction level and it will shut down automatically the moment it reaches that level.
Smart wells have sensors and valves installed downhole to allow easy and systematic monitoring.
Close to 50 billion cubic meters of water are withdrawn from the wells across the country annually. The injudicious use and waste of groundwater from legal and illegal wells have emerged as a major problem in Iran's struggle against the water crisis that has gotten worse over the past half century, as precipitation declines and consumption rises.
