German technology giant Siemens and its partners Sagemcom and Bitė Lietuva are rolling out 1.2 million smart meters across Lithuania.

Siemens will provide Lithuanian distribution system operator ESO with the EnergyIP meter data management system as well as service and maintenance for ten years. French firm Sagemcom is supplying the 1.2 million smart meters and the Siconia head-end system, which reads the data generated by the meters.

Bitė Lietuva, a telecommunications provider in Lithuania, is the partner for communications technology.

The smart meter infrastructure enables ESO to reduce electricity consumption by up to six per cent and cut power losses in the overall supply network by over ten per cent. This should lead to higher energy efficiency in the overall operations.

“To master the increasing complexity of power grids, digitalisation is key,” said Sabine Erlinghagen, CEO of digital grid at Siemens Smart Infrastructure. “Smart meters are one important source of data. We are very proud that ESO has chosen Siemens and its partners to provide smart meter management infrastructure to Lithuania. This will enable our customer to understand their data better, forecast and operate the power grid efficiently, and even reduce electricity consumption and power losses significantly.”

EnergyIP meter data management as a standard system will be supplemented with several security features to meet the strict security requirements, including end-to-end encryption.

As a result, problems arising from the large-scale expansion of photovoltaic systems, battery storage systems, charging infrastructure for electromobility, and other grid participants can be solved in a targeted manner. This lays the foundation for future-ready grid operation.

For Siemens, the contract in Lithuania also includes the integration of the provided technology with ESO legacy systems, such as billing information system, ESO’s customer portal and enterprise asset management system.