The companies have established the Metrima/Ericsson project with the express aim of winning tenders shortly to be announced by three utility companies E.ON, RWE ELMŰ-ÉMÁSz and EdF Démász. The providers will be accepting bids to install so-called smart metering systems for household consumers to keep up-to-date records on actual consumption and enable better management of resources, making the energy system more efficient and thereby allowing providers and consumers alike to reduce unnecessary spending.

“In Hungary, people pay 18% of their salaries on their utility bills, compared to countries where smart metering is far better established like Austria with 1.4% and Sweden’s 1%,” Metrima’s executive director for Central Europe Dr Peter Steinreich told the BBJ. The benefits are apparently obvious, which is why the EU has issued a directive requiring 20% of every member state’s households to be fitted with smart meters by 2020. The issue is also important for Hungary, reflected by the fact that it is the first country in the CEE region to support pilot projects in the subject. The Hungarian Energy Office (MEH) also commissioned a comprehensive study on the prospects of smart meters.

But it is also clear that that the process won’t be easy. “There are so many variables that every town or area where we would want to install the system has to be mapped out on a case-by-case basis,” added László Kovács, key account manager of Ericsson’s new business division. As he noted, the condition of local power grids, the elevation of the locality, or seemingly banal questions, like whether the old meters are to be found in basements where there is no mobile service must all be taken into consideration. “There is no single way to success,” he said.

As Steinreich pointed out, the tenders cover not only the procurement of the devices, but the entire system comprising the meters, the IT infrastructure as well as the telecommunications setup needed to gather and process the data coming from consumers. This is why he expects at least ten formidable rivals in the application process (for the two bigger tenders, the one to be called by EdF Démász is smaller in scale), major companies forming similar groupings or consortiums trying to clench the commission. The process is expected to involve a four to six month period and the findings are set to play a key part in the implementation of Hungary’s smart meter strategy.