Meralco pushes smart grid

MANILA, Philippines — Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) continues to push for smart grid as adoption has allowed it to achieve higher efficiency in its network through demand response and accommodation of more solar home systems.

During the Conference of the Electricity Power Supply Industry (CEPSI), Meralco SVP and head of networks Ronnie Aperocho said the company strongly advocates for the adoption of smart grid in the country.

A smart grid utilizes advanced technologies and real-time monitoring and control systems which are all integrated by information and communications technology.

“Digitalization is a key driver of efficiency growth in energy, with the large amount of information in the energy sector. The role of renewable energy, active consumers, demand management, energy accumulation and storage systems will increase over time. Digitalization of networks will be the basis for the future transformation process in the power industry. Thus, digitalization is critical for energy security and solving environmental problems,” Aperocho said.

In pushing for a smart grid program in the country, Meralco said demand response is also a key driver.

“In times when supply is running out in the entire Luzon grid, instead of resorting to the interruptible load program (ILP) which is a cumbersome and a very manual process, and not effective at all, we have tech available in other jurisdictions where loads to be dropped or shed are already set whenever there is a problem in the supply and when the prices in the market is already on the high side,” Aperocho said.

He said customers willing to reduce consumption would be compensated but the whole customer base would benefit since demand is managed not to cause a spike in the wholesale electricity spot market (WESM).

So far, the country’s smart grid journey has been a long one given the economic and cost benefit issues in adopting a smart grid.

“As a regulated entity, every major project we propose to be implemented must go through the regulatory process,” Aperocho said.

Case in point, Meralco introduced smart grid way back in 2012. It rolled out the advanced distribution management system (ADMS) in 2016 which allowed it to have a great level of visibility of its network and to minimize the impact of outages through re-routing power.

“In terms of grid automation and in terms of putting in more intelligence in the grid, Meralco has been somehow successful in rolling out major tech platforms that have also been adopted by utilities in US and Europe. We have this ADMS, advanced distribution monitoring system 2.0,” Aperocho said.

He said the ADMS has allowed Meralco to accommodate solar home systems in its network since the technology helps in easily computing the effect of solar installations anywhere within its franchise on the reliability and power quality in the grid.

Meralco has also piloted smart meters with the installation of prepaid meters called Kuryente Load program in its franchise area but the rollout has been slow since it requires regulatory approval.

The prepaid meter system allows customers to monitor their electricity consumption, allowing them to budget their consumption and expenses. It will also enable them to monitor their electricity consumption as it happens.

Based on Meralco’s consumer research, customers who shifted from postpaid to prepaid are able to effectively monitor their consumption daily via SMS and as a result, they can save an average of 20 percent on electricity consumption, translating to total savings of around P300 per customer.