Asian Development Bank (ADB) is planning to scale up a satellite-based smart meters project, implemented in a village in Uttar Pradesh, as it finds it to be a win-win solution for several stakeholders, including the consumers as well as discoms.
As part of its USD 200 million loan for Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) to implement various demand-side energy efficiency projects in India, the ADB assisted pilot is running in a village in Varanasi where as many as 5,000 households have got smart meters with satellite communication technology installed by EESL.
ADB is considering scaling up this project through a proposed second plan, ADB's Yongping Zhai said in a blog.
Zhai, who is the chief of energy sector group, sustainable development and climate department, said: "We have observed that smart meters bring benefits to four key stakeholders."