Middle East Set to Embrace the Smart Meter Revolution

The smart electric meter market has largely been centered in North America, Europe, and isolated pockets of Asia Pacific since the technology’s inception. As more countries within these regions reach high smart meter penetration rates, the focus will soon turn to areas with less established markets such as Latin America, wider areas of Asia Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa.

The Middle East in particular is forecast to see a significant increase in smart meter installations over the next several years. With a population base of over 315 million, the region presents a lucrative market opportunity for smart meter vendors, meter data management software providers, and system integrators, among others. While this market currently remains in its infancy, an array of projects and initiatives across the Middle East are quickly addressing this untapped potential.

Projects Across the Region

One of the larger projects in the Middle East comes from Lebanon and its state-owned utility, Electricité Du Liban (EDL). EDL has announced plans to covert 1.2 million electric meters to smart meters as part of a $200 million modernization and expansion plan. Iran is expanding upon a limited smart meter trial with an additional 360,000 smart meters. Announced in April of this year, this project will provide smart meters to high demand customers and will contribute to the country’s ultimate goal of installing 33 million smart meters. It’s also worth noting that the region’s neighboring country of Egypt has announced plans to convert up to 4 million electric meters per year to smart meters until 2024. This nationwide transition plan will see an estimated 30 million smart meters installed over a 10-year period. Other Middle Eastern countries with smart meter projects or plans include Pakistan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq.

It’s clear that the smart meter market is set to grow significantly across the Middle East in the near term. There are a variety of market drivers behind this, such as theft and revenue protection, rising urbanization rates, improved operations and reliability, among others. While the rise in smart meter installations is valuable in its own right, this activity also lays the foundation for additional smart grid and distribution automation technologies. While the majority of the Middle East still relies on traditional grid technologies, the region has now reached a point where a smarter and more reliable grid is both feasible and within its grasp.