Rețele Electrice România, part of PPC group of companies in Romania, remains committed to digitalizing electricity distribution networks, for the benefit of customers, with the aim of providing them with a more resilient and flexible infrastructure, while increasing operational efficiency. By the end of 2025, the total number of smart meters installed by Rețele Electrice România will reach approximately 2 million, the highest volume reached by any electricity distribution operator in Romania.
“Smart meters are the basis of a digitized and resilient distribution network. They improve the interface with customers and allow the development of new market services, such as flexibility and aggregation of energy transit. They are also essential for the integration of decentralised generation and energy storage. Remote readings, switching suppliers and reconnecting without physical intervention reduce the carbon footprint, supporting sustainable energy consumption. By installing smart meters at each customer – consumer, producer or prosumer – we contribute to Romania’s energy transition,” stated Mihai Pește, general manager of Rețele Electrice România.
In order to meet the set objectives, Rețele Electrice Romania continued to implement the installation of smart meters in the Banat, Dobrogea and Muntenia regions, according to the implementation calendar established by the National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) since 2015. The average monthly number of readings taken remotely in 2024 was around 1.5 million, thus helping to reduce the distribution operator’s carbon footprint.
This year, over 174,000 smart meters will be installed in the three regions served by Rețele Electrice Romania. The coverage of smart meters will reach 60% by the end of 2025 for customers in Bucharest and Ilfov and Giurgiu counties, over 50% for those in Banat (Timiș, Caraș-Severin, Hunedoara and Arad counties) and over 60% for those in Dobrogea (Constanta, Tulcea, Ialomita and Călărași), these representing the highest percentages of coverage in the entire country.
Additional details about the installation calendar for each of the counties of Arad, Caraș-Severin, Hunedoara, Timișoara, Călărași, Constanța, Ialomita, Tulcea, Ilfov, Giurgiu and Bucharest are available here.
Smart meters are a modern generation of measuring devices, which gradually replace the old generation of meters, according to the plans approved by ANRE. This replacement does not entail additional costs for customers. When the smart meter is an integral part of a smart metering system and actively communicates with the central system, customers have many benefits, one of them being the fact that it is no longer necessary to transmit the index, and the bills reflect the real consumption.
According to the regulations in force, electricity distributors have the obligation to change old generation meters for new ones. In order to enjoy all the benefits offered by the smart meter, electricity users also have the legal obligation to allow access to the distribution operator’s representatives, if the meter is inside the home.
More information about the benefits of smart meters and their installation process is available here.
In addition, at the end of 2024, Rețele Electrice România implemented a modern IT platform that makes available to all electricity suppliers the consumption data of customers with smart meters in the 11 counties in its area of responsibility, so that suppliers can streamline their activity through access to updated measurement data.
The platform takes over the data of over 1.6 million smart meters and makes them available daily to suppliers, for the customers they have in their portfolio, as they become accessible in the Rețele Electrice România database. Suppliers thus have direct access to the data measured by electricity meters, in a primary format that can be easily processed, benefiting from flexibility in the analysis, management and processing of information.
As a result, electricity suppliers benefit from constant access to up-to-date measurement data as well as load curves, which allows for more accurate and faster forecasts of energy consumption or production. Continuous access to this data facilitates the prompt reaction to market fluctuations, the optimization of internal processes and the making of informed decisions, based on current data, with a higher degree of granularity.
In addition, measurement data allows for more effective detection of anomalies in consumption, personalization of offers according to the customer profile and improvement of billing accuracy, reducing discrepancies and errors. These benefits contribute to more efficient resource management and increased customer satisfaction.
The platform uses state-of-the-art technologies in the data streaming area, compatible with cloud solutions, allowing the management of a large volume of data in a flexible and scalable way. The system benefits from a high level of data protection, through advanced technologies that guarantee the confidentiality and integrity of the information. Also, the use of open-source software and advanced solutions for data collection ensures not only technological transparency towards all providers, but also long-term compatibility and adaptability to possible changes in the future.
The Rețele Electrice Romania team has sent the suppliers the information regarding this service, the detailed technical specification, as well as the ways to ensure access only by authorized persons in order to respect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the data. Next, the specialized teams of Rețele Electrice Romania will respond to requests for additional technical information, so that the benefits of using the platform are available to all suppliers who want to streamline their activity.