Eskoms Research, Testing and Development division has presented new progress in its ongoing multi-vendor smart metering interoperability project, which demonstrates that South Africas local prepayment requirements can be successfully integrated within global smart grid standards.
The initiative, outlined by Senior Advisor Shawn Papi at the CIGR Southern Africa Regional Conference in Pretoria from October 14-17, aligns with the device language message specification and companion specification for energy metering DLMS/COSEM and the standard transfer specification STS101-2 standards.
The interoperability project supports Eskoms broader plan to deploy an advanced metering infrastructure as part of efforts to modernise electricity distribution, reduce non-technical losses and improve demand-side management. The utility reports that the laboratory and testing phase of the project has been completed while national deployment is still under consideration.