Story by John Nhandara
THE country is saving millions of dollars and energy through the prepaid smart metering system after close to one million meters were installed countrywide.
The Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) has rolled out its prepared meter upgrade programme to enhance efficiency and enable customers to continue vending on the platform.
Launching the programme in Harare’s Kuwadzana suburb this Friday, ZETDC acting managing director, Engineer Abel Chidzidzi explained the scope of the ongoing project.
“We are upgrading so that the metres will be able to identify tokens generated by our system. We are resetting or giving the meter a new lease of life so that the algorithms within the organisation system and those within the metre should reciprocate. If we do not do that then the metres will be rejecting the tokens. This is in line with international best practices,” said Engineer Chidzidzi.
Engineer Chidzidzi noted that the introduction of prepaid smart meters has saved the country millions of dollars by promoting energy efficiency and reducing electricity transmission and distribution losses.
“We have seen serious savings actually in the region of millions of United States dollars through this exercise of smart metering.”
Since the introduction of the prepaid metre programme in 2012, close to one million metres have been installed countrywide as the government puts in place measures for a smart grid.
