CHENNAI: PFC Consulting Limited, under the Union Ministry of Power, has invited bids to appoint Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) service providers to install 1.25 lakh smart meters in Chennai, Kancheepuram, Villupuram and Tiruvannamalai regions under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS). The project, meant for government and local body office service connections, is estimated to cost Rs 112 crore.
This is the first time separate tenders have been floated in Tamil Nadu through PFC Consulting Limited for the installation of smart meters. In several other states, including Gujarat and Maharashtra, similar installations in government and local body offices have already been taken up through PFC.
According to the tender documents accessed by TNIE, the project includes the installation of 90,000 single-phase low-tension (LT) smart meters and 35,000 three-phase whole-current LT smart meters. The entire project has to be completed within 10 months.
The selected service provider will be responsible for the supply, installation and commissioning of the meters under the project aimed at improving power distribution and monitoring electricity consumption. The bidder must also provide field management services for 93 months for the operation and maintenance of the AMI system. The system must store data for 10 years, with data archiving to be carried out every 180 days.
The successful bidder has to submit a detailed project implementation plan within 15 days of the award of the contract. Within three months, the Network Operation and Monitoring Centre should be made operational and at least 5% of the meters must be installed and commissioned.
The bidder must complete 50% of the installations within six months. The last date for submission of bids is March 16 and the bids will be opened on the same day.Speaking to TNIE, a senior official from the Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (TNPDCL) said there are around eight lakh government and local body service connections across the state.
“So far, we have been procuring and installing the meters ourselves. Now, PFC Consulting Limited has floated tenders to install 1.25 lakh smart meters in the first phase. Tenders may be floated for the remaining meters in subsequent phases,” the official said.
‘Meter installation work unlikely to begin soon’
TNPDCL had earlier planned to install three crore smart meters across the state in two phases, with about 1.4 crore meters proposed in the first phase. Nearly 50 bids from private players were received for the project in July-August last year, but they are yet to be opened. Official sources said that with only days left for the present government’s tenure, the smart meter installation work is unlikely to begin immediately