As the South African energy sector undergoes a profound shift from traditional, centralised power generation to a more decentralised but interconnected one, digitally integrated systems can optimise production, strengthen grid management, improve efficiency and enable real-time decision-making, consultancy EY said this week.

EY senior specialist consultant Rashid Khan unpacked the value that digital technologies could bring to electricity systems that were more demanding on the grid and required smart balancing for stability.

He discussed solutions such as advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and how it could contribute to grid stability, operational efficiency and consumer engagement during a webinar hosted by Creamer Media on October 16, which was sponsored by the South African-German Energy Partnership.

Khan mentioned that the global energy sector was becoming more interconnected through digital technologies, with power and data flowing in both directions.

"Worldwide, smart grids are enabling the evolution towards bi-directional flows through advanced communication and sensor networks that support real-time energy management."

In South Africa's case, the country has set out to modernise an aging power system, expand access to affordable electricity and integrate the rapidly growing renewable energy generation capacity.

"Digital transformation is reshaping how energy systems operate, as the electricity market becomes more open and accessible to operators, traders, independent power producers and distributors of all kinds," Khan stated.

For context, he said South Africa's electricity system became liberalised through various legislative reforms and the lifting of licensing requirements to enable private power generation over the past three years.

Soon the country will experience a new electricity market with different offtakers and distributors, each needing to comply with sustainability targets.

However, utilities, municipalities and large property companies have to enable this energy transition while maintaining network safety, stability and quality.

Smart metering was the key underlining technology that allowed for the grid to communicate with consumers and utilities, Khan pointed out.

To this end, AMI is an integrated system of smart meters, communication networks and data management systems that enable this two-way communication between utilities and consumers.

"A successful AMI programme hinges on the seamless deployment of smart meters at a customer's premises for remote meter reading, outage monitoring and tamper detection.

"It is also required that a communication network connects smart meters to head-end systems effectively, which manage data communications between smart meters and other information systems such as master data management systems, order management systems and document management systems."

Khan suggested an updated meter data management system was needed to provide a platform for validation and distribution of the meter data to other applications. "A successful AMI deployment should ultimately have a well-executed communications plan for the customer. The customer must be able to receive outage notifications, meter readings and billing reports."

AMI BENEFITS

AMI can be used to detect anomalies such as meter tampering or energy theft, which ensures accurate billing and reduced financial losses for utilities and municipalities.

It can also provide accurate data for revenue collection and load management, while increasing grid resilience and reducing blackouts owing to load reduction requests that can be sent out early by distributors to smart meter customers.

AMI further allows the transmission operator to monitor renewable-energy input at high voltage and balance supply and demand using AMI data to maintain grid reliability.

Moreover, distributors can roll out real-time pricing tariffs, enabling customers to reduce energy costs by shifting consumption to low-demand periods.

Additionally, aggregato...