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Good evening Chianti,

Thank you for the update. Is there any indication of a short-list of System Integrator's, for the EESL tender in question?

LTI.

Good morning all,

There was/is a reference in the January 2018 Trading Statement, that may be relevant and may go some-way to qualifying what Multi has said.

Under " Outlook":-

" The continued positive momentum, in the pipeline, has been aided by re-alignment of key employees to create a world class team, over the last 12 months, which has enabled the Company to develop and refine, new and existing offerings, such as the launch of Omnimesh IPv6, which has led to a wider spread of meter manufacturers, with which the Company engages. These include Genus and L&T from India and also various Chinese meter manufacturers."

Good luck,

LTI.

Good evening Chianti,

There is certainly an interesting mix of meter manufacturers, coming out of these EESL tenders. But no mention in the report, about a Solution Provider/Systems Integrator? Unless I have missed it?

Maybe tendered separately?

Good luck,

LTI.

Hello Vas,

Thank you for the Cuculus/CyanConnode link Vas. They have some interesting companies within their portfolio. And the Inhemeter connection is intriguing.

Good luck,

LTI.

Sorry,

For links that did not travel well, for what ever reason, please type-in as written, if interested.

LTI.

A Business Standard report, from a week ago, concerning " ....... the second tender held in June ..... " along with some relative information on the Companies involved, where appropriate.

https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/chinese-firms-eye-smart-meters-market-as-govt-wants-to-bring-down-prices-118071001362_1.html

The whole report makes interesting reading. But within the last five paragraphs, it mentions again, a " ..... reverse auction .... " and also mentions the Indian industries reaction to that process.

Companies mentioned in the report:-

Inhemeter also provide an RF solution smart meter. Information on Jay Auto depends on which web site you pick up on. There is more than one, depending on which spelling is used.

http://www.inhemeter.com/
https://www.made-in-china.com/showroom/stephenchoa

Hexing Electrical and Pal Mohan Electronics:-

http://www.cccme.org.cn/shop/cccme12501/index.aspx
https://www.indiamart.com/palmohan-electronics/aboutus.html

It also mentions in the report, about ITI sub-contracting their quota of meters out, which is what I suggested they would have to do, some month's ago, because they do not manufacture there own meters.

An interesting development.

LTI.

Good morning Chianti,

Thank you for that information. As you say, there may be " ...... different levels of smart." If a meter gives more information than the meter before, you could say it is smarter. But whether it is truly " smart " is another thing.

Smart meters have been around for a few years. But the First Generation smart meters, are not as cleaver as their Second Generation cousins.

Or even Third Generation meters that are possibly being developed, as we speak?

Now that's something to look forward too.

Good luck,

LTI.

Hello tonyj,

There does seem to be a change of emphasis, towards " smart " and pre-paid, than there was originally in the first tender for 10 million meters. Not much weight was put behind RF, if my memory serves me correctly, for the first tender. It was leaning more towards GPRS. Maybe GPRS is/was more suitable, for this application in Uttar Pradesh, at the time.

I have reservations over what you say about introducing Retrofit into the meter. Not that it cannot be done, but that it will still need an RF infrastructure in place, to work. Which has always been the discussion point for GPRS by EESL.

Why should we pay for another infrastructure, when we have GPRS connections in place already?

But the short-term pain, of the cost of building/providing an RF infrastructure, gives way to the long-term gains, after 2/3 years, of more competitive running costs. Which is only one of the benefits of using RF.

LTI.

..... pre-paid meters, " smart?"

The reason I ask, is in a report from Mercom, India, from December 15th, 2017, it reports that " ...... 10 million magnetic-or smart card based pre-paid electric meters, in Uttar Pradesh."

And if they are not smart, is there a reason for it?

https://mercomindia.com/eesl-tender-pre-paid-electricity-meters-uttar-pradesh/

During March 2018, a report in the Business Standard, acknowledges that Landis&Gyr, Secure Meters and HPL India, had declined to put in a bid, for the 10 million pre-paid meter tender, " .... because of concerns over product safety and tariff regulations."

Was this because the meters that were/are required, are not " smart?"

https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/tender-for-10-mn-prepaid-meters-attracts-12-bidders-large-players-keep-out-118032100501_1.html

On June 7th, 2018, it was reported in the Economic Times, That " All electricity meters to be smart pre-paid, in three years."

In the June 2018 report, it confirms that, " The government is procuring smart and prepaid meters, to be deployed across the country. State-owned Energy Efficiency Services Limited ( EESL,) has floated two global tenders for procuring a total of 10 million smart meters." ( 2 x 5 million each, I think.)

It then goes on to say about Uttar Pradesh, " Another tender for procuring 10 million standalone prepaid meters is underway. The prepaid meters will be deployed in Uttar Pradesh, as part of the Saubhagya scheme, which aims to electrify over four crore households, in December this year."

It does not refer to the prepaid meters, as " smart." It refers to them as " standalone."

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/energy/power/all-electricity-meters-to-be-smart-prepaid-in-3-years-r-k-singh/articleshow/64493720.cms

I apologize, as I have posted these reports before, but never together and never in the order in which they were released.

Personally, I do not think the 10 million prepaid meter tender, were intended to be " smart " when the tender was released. Which could be down to location. It would seem, from the June 2018 statement, that " All electricity meters to be smart prepaid in 3 years."

Whether there is a proviso in that statement of " location " we will have to wait and see.

Good luck,

LTI.

Hello 2cv,

I think this is the confirmation you may be referring too. From the 2017 Final Results - Under " Outlook " :-

" We continue to work on securing additional funding, that will be required during 2018, especially as we start to deliver on orders, which are expected to require up-front working capital investment."

The shape in which the " ....... securing additional funding ...... " will take, is yet to be finalized. But it does look like it will happen. Maybe.

Good luck,

LTI.

....... with the CyanConnode connection with the UK Telefonica smart meter project, CyanConnode may have some very valuable experiences/ideas to share, that would maybe be beneficial and of interest to some Indian smart meter projects?

And other locations/markets, globally?

LTI.

Multi/Vas,

Some valuable and interesting information gathered/provided yesterday. Thank you for sharing.

Good luck,

LTI.

Good afternoon all,

A few years back, pre-Connode acquisition, I remember reading about a Government " Think Tank " having done extensive work on/with/about the UK Smart Grid roll-out, that they had concluded that it would take years to implement and would be difficult to get off the ground, with all the complications.

I remember posting at the time, that there was a Company in Cambridge that I was aware of, that would possibly be able to help out, as they were beginning to have limited success in India.

While the " Think Tank " representative was probably right, in one way, it is sometimes quite pleasing the way things turn out. Eventually.

Good luck,

LTI.

Good afternoon Chianti,

Thank you for your observations in relation to the latest, EESL 1 million meter tender and the possible links to the original NEDO project, completed in December, 2017. If that is the one you are referring too.

It is appreciated.

Good luck,

LTI.

Good morning Multi and all,

The Swedish/Nordic regions are contributing steadily to the overall revenue of the Company. Which is reassuring in itself.

Well done to all concerned.

Good luck,

LTI.

Hello Chianti,

I would think it would be unusual, but not impossible, because most things are possible, to have a Memorandum of Understanding on 1 million meters, from an original tender for 5 million meters, that has already been awarded.

As I understand it, a MoU is used mostly to allow for pre-contractual discussions/agreements to take place, between interested parties. Getting the ground rules and the guidelines sorted out, so to speak.

It is unusual, if the tender has already been awarded, to then introduce a MoU.

Unless the rules/guidelines for the original tender have changed, for the 1 million meters?

I mentioned yesterday, according to a Business Standard report, during March 2018, that major Indian meter manufacturers, had not taken part in the 10 million prepaid meter tender, because of regulatory and technical specification issues, that concerned them.

I have said it before, but feel there is a long way to go in finalizing the EESL tenders, to most peoples satisfaction. But when you get local ( Indian ) meter manufactures, that do not tender for what I would consider is a significant smart meter contract, by any standards, then I would look at the reasons for their reluctance to put in a bid.

Have a good evening Chianti.

Good luck,

LTI.

Good morning tonyj and jake,

Just passing on available information to interested parties on the bb. As the report says, this is a Memorandum of Understanding, between EESL, UHBVN and DHBVN, for a project in Haryana, " ..... to help the utilities deploy smart meters."

It mentions " ...... GPRS enabled smart meters ......... " But at the end of the day, we will have to see what input the utilities have, with what they want to install, for their individual business case?

But it may be significant that this MoU covers 1 million meters, whereas the other EESL tenders covered 5 and 10 million. A more serviceable number I feel. And the installation period is over 3 years. Also a more serviceable/achievable number, I feel.

Also I would imagine it may be 3 years, from when the official contract is signed. Not from the date the MoU was signed.

No tonyj, I do not know if we have " ..... any connection to this ....... "

And jake, in answer to your question, they are ongoing, as far as I know.

LTI.

......... Memorandum of Understanding, with Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigram ( UHBVN ) and Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigram ( DHBVN,) to help the utilities deploy smart meters.

https://www.metering.com/industry-sectors/smart-meters/eesl-india-uhbvn-smart-meters-dhbvn/

LTI.

........ meter manufacturing companies, that did not take part in the EESL tender for 10 million prepaid meters, were Landis&Gyr, Secure Meters and HPL India.

The reason for their not partaking in the tender, was that there were " .... concerns on product safety and tariff regulations."

From the report from the Business Standard - March 22nd, 2018:-

The companies that have kept out, have expressed concerns over the tariff structure, of a prepaid meter - " A prepaid meter functions on a singular tariff, whereas states like UP, have more than a dozen tariff slabs. The technical specification of a prepaid meter, does not support this."

https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/tender-for-10-mn-prepaid-meters-attracts-12-bidders-large-players-keep-out-118032100501_1.html

There could still be some way to go, before the final, technical specification is agreed, for this/these projects, I feel.

LTI.

....... about the introduction of smart and prepaid meters, solar specialty cables and distribution boxes, and energy efficient lighting products, at the Elecrama 2018 exhibition, during March, 2018.

http://www.eprmagazine.com/elecrama_2018/hpl-to-launch-smart-solutions/

LTI.