Abjayon achieves the remarkable milestone of implementing 10 million smart electricity meters in just 2 months – Read More
Overview
In 2018, Saudi Arabia witnessed a significant surge in electricity generation, and the trend is projected to continue in the coming years. With this changing energy landscape, the demand for smart grids and smart meters has increased from 333 TWh in 2014 to 383 TWh in 2018.
Advanced metering infrastructure or AMI, operates as the cornerstone of smart grids, allowing the use of data analysis techniques to generate realistic consumption forecasts. The key benefit for energy suppliers is the profitable production & consumption ratio and reduction in energy surpluses.
Recognizing the significance of modernizing the power grid and reducing transmission and distribution losses, Saudi Arabia has made substantial investments in pre-metering infrastructure. As part of this ongoing effort, the government-owned electric distributor and retailer based in Riyadh engaged with Abjayon for their expertise in the field of MDM.
The Plan of Action
To execute this big-scale project, team Abjayon closely collaborated with the Oracle support team to outline key challenges in the client’s existing system. The primary complexities of the project included performance tuning and scaling up the systems to handle multiple functionalities. Despite increasing the number of threads, the system failed to scale beyond 70-75% of its potential.
The identification of these critical challenges allowed team Abjayon to progress with the customization of SEC’s existing system and the development of services to streamline the upgrade.
Key Integration Highlights:
- Process Reengineering (M2C)
- SAP-ISU Billing System
- Multiple HES systems (Schneider, NARI)
- Smart Meter Operations Center
- Outage Management System
- Distribution Management System
In an impressive display of efficiency, the installation of these smart meters was completed in just two months. However, as with any large-scale undertaking, several challenges arose. Development and customization issues became apparent, and team Abjayon found themselves facing uncharted territory.
The Plan in Action
To ensure timely completion, team Abjayon worked tirelessly, day and night, to update the SEC’s systems and integrate the meters.
In regard to system scalability solution, Abjayon experts collaborated with the Oracle support team. Oracle conducted benchmarking tests, where a controlled environment ensured optimal throughput. However, there remained a sharp difference between Oracle’s controlled benchmarks and the demanding production environment in KSA.
It was discovered that the system’s RAM was the primary source of the performance issues. With thorough analysis, team Abjayon suggested a simple adjustment of increasing the RAM across all systems, including the database. This allowed the system to scale up to 100%, ensuring smooth operations.
In addition to operational hindrances, another hurdle was presented when the client requested to move the production system to Riyadh. In this project, there are two system types: production and disaster recovery system. Ideally, these systems are situated in different locations for risk mitigation. However, due to political motives, both systems were initiated in Dammam. Abjayon advised against the shift and instead proposed moving the disaster recovery system. Nevertheless, the production system was deployed to Riyadh, resulting in networking and related challenges.
The networking problems were gradually resolved in a month, and the production system was smoothly running in Riyadh, albeit with some minor issues that were simultaneously being addressed by the team.
Currently, the system operates 20 hours a day, with approximately 80-85% of its customized functionalities in production due to hardware limitations. The team is struggling to operate within the confines of the current hardware to ensure seamless operations.
Implementation Features
- Meter Data Management (MDM)
- Smart Grid Gateway (SGG)
- Abjayon Digital Self Service (ADSS)
- Information Lifecycle Management
- MDM-SAP Integration
Result
With the successful completion of this ground-breaking initiative, Abjayon has solidified its position as a trusted partner in transforming the energy landscape through innovative technological solutions. Despite some pending functionalities due to hardware constraints, the system underwent extensive user acceptance testing. Also, Abjayon signed the maintenance and support contract for a period of two years.
Abjayon’s achievement in implementing 10 million smart meters for the Saudi Electricity Company showcases its commitment to delivering cutting-edge solutions in the field of MDM.
The Smart Meter Project remains a testament to the dedication and relentless efforts of the teams involved, propelling Saudi Arabia into a new era of efficient and technologically advanced electricity infrastructure. The project not only supports Saudi Arabia’s efforts to modernize its power grid but also highlights its commitment to reducing energy losses and embracing a sustainable energy future.
