Malta plans €70 million smart grid

IBM will work with the Maltese National Electricity and Water Utilities over the next five years to help bring a €70 million smart grid system to the island nation of Malta.

The phased project will entail replacing  250,000 analog electricity meters with smart meters that can better manage energy consumption, streamline billing and accommodate future e-services for customers. The goal is to ultimately provide an end-to-end smart utility system for both electricity and water services.

“With the right infrastructure in place to distribute electricity on the national grid, we are looking at ways to both optimize current operations, as well as open up potentially new untapped markets in the way we conduct our business operations,” said Ing. Karl Camilleri, CEO of Enemalta, the nation’s energy provider.

“We see the smart grid as a critical enabler for economic growth on a global scale and it’s inspiring to see Malta take such a strong leadership position,” added Guido Bartels, General Manager for Global Energy & Utilities Industry at IBM.

Work on the smart grid system is expected to be completed by the end of 2012.