410,000 smart meters to be installed by next year

The government has drawn up an ambitious plan to have 410,000 smart meters in the country by next year. The Kingdom is on course to replace the old meters with the new smart meters in Bahrain’s homes by the end of next year, it was revealed. The initiative by the Electricity and Water Authority (EWA) aims to place as many as 300,000 new smart meters in homes with immediate effect, replacing the older inefficient meters.  

According to the authorities, the new water meters will not only help improve bill automation but also contribute towards reducing water loss, allowing residents and citizens to better monitor their water consumption levels. The new meters are also said to have less maintenance costs associated with it. 

According to EWA sources, there are currently 140,000 smart meters currently installed in Bahrain. The new smart meters planned will increase the number to 410,000, more than doubling the current number of meters.  According to the the Electricity and Water Authority (EWA), started introducing smart meters to replace mechanical meters like the developed countries, since the manufacture of mechanical meters has been lacking in recent times, the EWA said.  

The EWA in a recent statement denied false and incorrect information that was raised about inaccuracy of smart meters.  The authority stressed that the smart meters have many advantages for subscribers. 

“They are the most accurate meters in order to monitor the actual consumption automatically and without human intervention.” The authority affirmed that smart meters used in the Kingdom are selected according to high international standards, after all required tests and trials before installing it to the customer, other than routine tests for each meter.

“Smart meters are the safest to protect the subscriber’s devices by recording any malfunction of electricity through the automated system, in addition to the facility to disconnect electricity when there are overloads, which protects the subscriber from danger.

“In addition, in future, smart  meters will help customers monitor their electricity and  water consumption through  smart applications, where the subscriber will be able to identify the devices that consume the most electricity in his home, especially since the majority of electrical devices now adopt the smart system.”