Future Prospective of Smart Meters, Net Metering and Electricity Market for Power Distribution companies in Pakistan

Abstract

Due to technological advancement, modern life style, rural electrification and rapid urbanization, Electricity demand is also increasing in Pakistan from last decade. The country is facing demand and supply deficit in order to meet its electricity demand. Though the country has installed generation capacity of 43775 MW, but still the country could not meet demand of 29000 MW during peak summer season of 2022. Due to non-expansion of transmission network, non-up gradation of distribution network and mismanagement of energy mix, the public is facing load shedding of 8 to 12 hours in urban and rural areas. In 1998 Unbundling of WAPDA, formation of DISCOs and NTDC was aimed to end the monopoly in the power sector and to introduce the competition in order to provide better services to the end users which could not be achieved in true spirit. Net metering, installation of smart meters and AMI infrastructure is also introducing innovation in distribution networks of Pakistan, which could help to meet the energy crisis and reduce the demand & supply deficit. Net metering system has motivated the users to install rooftop solar system and supply excessive generated power to grid. NEPRA has approved a CTBCM model recently in 2022, which would lead to open Electricity market in power sector in near future. This model will not only help to bring the competition among the electricity suppliers but will also allow bulk power consumers to directly purchase electricity from generators. The research work elaborates how the installation of smart meters, net metering and introducing AMI infrastructure could help the DISCOs to counter the challenges like electricity theft problems, load management, load forecasting and improving their performance.