Meter test equipment to be introduced in Ghana

A testing and measuring equipment that will enhance the capacity of power service providers to improve efficiency in the electricity sector is to be introduced in the country.

The meter test equipment (MTE) system will offer a range of high precision test and monitoring devices for electricity meters and measure the quality of power from its generation, transmission and distribution.

The equipment, which are also expected to protect the service providers from loss of revenue, as well as consumers from over billing, will be provided by the MTE Group, a global industry leader in the provision of electricity measuring equipment.

Service providers, including the Electricity Company of Ghana, Volta River Authority (VRA), Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) are the target beneficiaries of the equipment which will help to monitor and measure the quality of electric voltage supply.

Sensitisation

At a one-day sensitisation workshop on the MTE for electrical engineers from the ECG, VRA, GRIDCo, Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo), Energy Commission and the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) in Accra yesterday, a former Chief Executive of the VRA, Rev. Samuel Frempong Kwofie, noted that one of the greatest challenges facing the electricity sector was high energy losses.

“The figures that are reported, ranging from 25 to 30 per cent, are directly inferred from what the installed meters and instruments tell us.

“Therefore, any intervention to bring the level of losses to acceptable range that fails to ensure that the accuracy of the metering systems employed are of the highest standards is likely to be an exercise in futility,” he said.

He was hopeful that accurate metering and instrumentation systems would occupy the foremost attention of power service providers because of their direct impact on system efficiency, stability and overall revenues.

He expressed the optimism that there would be increased procurement and deployment of the specialised equipment in the power system.

Specialised equipment

For his part, a representative of the MTE Group, Mr Kartsen Schroder, said the specialised MTE equipment, among others, would help to measure electric quality and quantity of voltage and current precisely in the country.

“We are specialists in testing and calibration of energy equipment,” he said, adding that such equipment had been installed in many countries.