KfW, in collaboration with Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) and PwC India, organised a 1-day workshop on ‘‘Adoption of Smart Meters in off-grid renewable energy sector’ on 2 November 2021. The workshop was organised as part of KfW-IREDA ‘Access to Energy’ (A2E) line of credit which focuses on improving the supply and use of sustainable clean energy services in rural areas through improved access to financing for project developers. Being first of its kind, with incentives, the line has attracted attention from different categories of players such as honed private sector Companies, start-ups in the sector, NBFCs, MFIs, etc. for veteran and new technology solutions and services to be implemented in the rural areas.

The workshop was organised for off-grid renewable energy (RE) sector organisations active in India and was attended by over 30 participants. The workshop provided hands-on training to IREDA’s potential and existing sub-borrowers on various opportunities and challenges of smart metering rollout in India including insights on investments, cybersecurity and innovations whilst highlighting the way forward for companies to become smarter in the sector. The workshop was delivered by Dr. Ashok Das, Founder CEO of SunMoksha and Mr. Sreedhar Rao, Head-Business Development at SunMoksha.

Topics covered during the workshop

• Smart meter compatibility in A2E sector
• Techniques to integrate smart meters in A2E operations
• Primary requirements for smart meter deployment
• Potential benefits of using smart meters
• Challenges in the rollout of smart meters
• Managing cybersecurity challenges arising from smart meter adoption
• Case study analysis

The first session focused on presenting an overview of smart meters and providing an understanding to the audience members around how they are different from conventional meters. The session also focused on developing an understanding of where smart meters fit in the A2E context and what are primary requirements for installing such meters and the associated costs.

The second session of the workshop focused on the best practices in the successful implementation of smart meters with an analysis of how companies in the A2E sector have done it and what has been the impact. This session also presented the critical challenges associated with the deployment of smart meters and how they can be mitigated. Additionally, the session focused on the key security and data protection challenges that the use of smart meters presents and the related mitigation measures.

A third session was also delivered which focused on presenting a case study analysis of the use of smart meters by Husk Power in India. In the end, a Q&A session was organised to take up the audience’s questions.

The key discussion points included:

• Key institutional mechanisms required to facilitate smart metering in the A2E sector in terms of policy support
• How smart meters help in reducing operating expenses for a company
• Checks and balances to be followed to safely implement the installation of smart meters
• Insights on the acceptance level of consumers around smart meters

For more information please contact Ms. Snekalatha Krishnaraju, Snekalatha.Krishnaraju(at)kfw.de.