AMI AND SMART METERING ELECTROMECHANICAL METERS PASSÉ? PREPAYMENT AND SMART METERS MAKING STRONG INROADS IN THE ASEAN REGION By Avanthika Satheesh, Frost & Sullivan Briefly put: The Southeast Asia electricity meters market is developing rapidy, with major investments into replacing electromechanical meters along with new installations driven by residential segment growth and government targets. There is a boost in prepaid meter sales particularly from the Philippines and Indonesia. Major challenges include resistance to new technologies, lack of skilled labour and financial constraints. The ASEAN electricity metering industry is transforming rapidly with unit shipments growing at a rate of 25% between 2011 and 2013. Ongoing and new electrification projects, aggressive meter replacement projects and smart grid trials aid this tremendous pace of installation. There is a drastic technology shift happening in the ASEAN region. The traditionally installed electromechanical meters are being replaced by electronic and prepayment meters. This shift will phase out the eletromechanical meters from the ASEAN-6 (Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam) countries by 2025. Market Value Technology trends: traditional to modern switchover The Southeast Asian utilities were thought to have a laid-back attitude towards adopting new metering technologies. But recently the region has witnessed drastic steps being taken by powerful decision makers in the utilities of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. As electromechanical meters become more and more obsolete, the way will be paved for the rapid adoption of prepayment and smart meters, attracting major investments in this sector during the next 5 years. Electromechanical meters were the most popular type of electricity meters in the region until 2008. Since then, however, demand for these meters has continued to decline except in countries such as Vietnam and the Philippines where a percentage of the new installations will continue to be of this type until 2018. The prepayment meter market saw uplift between 2011 and 2013. During this period, Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) in Indonesia and Meralco in the Philippines Electronic Prepayment Smart Meters Time Growth METERING INTERNATIONAL ISSUE - 3 | 2014 Maturity Electronic meters will be the biggest segment in the electricity meters market. The majority of new installations in the commercial and industrial segment and around 50% of residential meters installed across the region are of this type. For instance, the power utility of Malaysia, Tenaga Nasional Berhad, has initiated an aggressive meter replacement programme for 2011-2015 where residential electromechanical meters aged 15+ years are being replaced by electronic meters. Additionally, all new installations in the country will be of the electronic type. Smart meters may be the latest buzzword in the global metering market; however, the ASEAN region has been slow in the race for smart grid implementation. Smart meter trials are currently ongoing in Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines. The much awaited Thailand smart meter trial was finally launched in 2014. In Vietnam, the commercial and high end residential sectors are being installed with smart meters, while in the Philippines (backed by USTDA support), a 10 000 smart meter installation was initiated in 2014. Smart meter rollouts have also been initiated in Singapore in 2013. Electromechanical Development started investing in replacing old meters with prepayment meters. This initiative turned out to be a tremendous boon to the Indonesian utility as electricity pilferage was reduced by 40% and there was a significant cut in OPEX (operational expenditure) for meter readings. 90% of the residential meter market in the country will be prepayment by the end of 2014. Between 2014 and 2020, PLN will be installing at least 30 million units of prepayment meters in the country. In the Philippines, Meralco plans the completion of prepayment meter installations in 40 000 houses by 2014, and another 5 million homes will be fitted within the next 4 years. Decline Regulatory trends become deciding factors Southeast Asia, though united under ASEAN cooperation, is diverse in its local 17