QNADohaQatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) on Sunday said it had finished setting up a smart meter system and a communication network central to its initiative to remotely read water and power consumptions.The project, which seeks to install 600,000 IoT-enabled smart meters in cooperation with Vodafone Qatar and Seimens by the end of 2023, has already seen Kahramaa achieving 42 percent of the target. The corporation said the figure would reach 49 percent by the end of this year. As many as 420,000 smart meters would be installed by the second quarter of 2022, it added.The project is a qualitative leap in the process of comprehensive digital transformation, in line with the objectives of Qatar National Vision 2030 in development. While Vodafone Qatar will secure the network necessary for the system’s operations, Siemens will provide the project with an infrastructure that includes the latest technologies, devices and advanced software used to connect and integrate intelligent control systems with the basic system for billing, monitoring and instant remote reading throughout Qatar.This level of achievement in the project had a positive impact on the processes of obtaining monthly billing readings at a high rate, reaching 97 percent, in addition to the possibility of obtaining immediate readings for the final liquidation of the meter in any property in an estimated period of approximately 10 minutes. In addition to providing the ability to cut off and reconnect the electricity service remotely automatically, approximately five minutes after paying the dues of the subscriber.The project will constitute a major step in the level of reliability between the corporation and subscribers, as the smart meters project will allow the ability to read consumption rates with extreme accuracy, and the prepayment feature will also be available, and this will give subscribers ease and smoothness in the payment processes and it should be noted that there is no difference in the tariff between the prepaid account and the postpaid account, as the tariff is the same in both cases.Subscribers can track the status of their balance and the amount due according to the monthly consumption via the mobile application to avoid any interruption in the service. The smart meters will enable the corporation to reconnect the service for the subscriber within a short period in case of a cut-off. The meters will operate through an independent internet network dedicated for this purpose linked to the central system under the supervision of Kahramaa. Subscribers will not incur any costs for replacing their traditional meters and installing smart meters.The adoption of the fully automated system will contribute to saving energy consumption, through the huge database and information that will be available to Kahramaa, which will enable it to accurately identify consumption patterns in the country, and use this valuable information in planning and management more effectively than before, which in turn will reduce carbon emissions and protect the environment, and the smart meters then represent an important step towards achieving the goals of sustainability and comprehensive development. In addition, reducing operational costs related to meter reading will lead to savings and reducing the carbon footprint of the State of Qatar, by shortening the mobility operations associated with the traditional meter reading.