Enel Distribuição São Paulo is piloting the manufacture and installation of 300,000 smart meters in the São Paulo metropolitan region.
The first phase of the project will take place in the Pirituba and Perus neighbourhoods in the northwest of the city, with 150,000 devices to be connected in residences and small industrial and business premises by September 2021.
The project is being undertaken within the Brazilian electricity regulatory agency Aneel’s research and development programme with funding of R$121 million (US$22.1 million).
The aim is to support the development of a new local supply chain in Brazil. The smart meters are being produced locally in São Paulo, in plants in Sorocaba and in Vargem Grande Paulista. This is Enel’s first smart meter production in Latin America and incorporates the company’s technology, which has been operating in the market for 20 years.
The solution implemented in Brazil will have its own design and has been developed to meet local needs and the local standards requirements.
“The innovative smart electricity metering solution installed by Enel Distribuição São Paulo will significantly contribute to the technological modernisation of the local distribution network,” said Antonio Cammisecra, Enel’s Head of Global Infrastructure and Networks.
“This ground-breaking digitalisation effort will empower customers, giving them active control of their energy consumption, as well as boosting network efficiency and resiliency, representing a fundamental step to address the challenges posed by the energy transition.”
The smart meters will allow remote reading of consumption data and enable customers to have easier access to their data. Customers will be able to monitor their interval daily consumption through the Enel São Paulo mobile app once the smart metering system and the new functions of the app are fully operational.
In addition, the app will include other functionalities such as the activation of consumption levels alerts and notice of changes in services tax rates.
New advanced energy services and products such as customisable tariff structures are envisaged in the future.
Customers will not be charged for the new meters and are promised a comprehensive information support campaign.
Enel Distribuição São Paulo is the second largest distributor in the country, accounting for 10.3% of all energy distributed in Brazil and serving 7.8 million consumer units in 24 municipalities in the metropolitan region of São Paulo, including the state’s capital city.
Enel counts installation of around 45 million smart meters globally in its operations in Latin America and Europe.
