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The potential of the Internet of Things (IOT) to make consumer life more convenient is well documented. An area in which it can bring immediate benefits and significantly change the way a household or business in Africa manages and tracks its energy consumption is smart meters.
Rather than relying on the estimated energy consumption to calculate bills or physically go to the customer to take meter readings, a smart meter allows energy providers to visualize in real time the consumption of electricity. energy from a household or business, allowing for more accurate billing. Smart metering systems also offer opportunities for better demand management and energy supply. Utilities can track energy stored and available for sale for other players in demand. Current systems are no longer based solely on fossil fuels, but also on renewable energies, which more and more producers produce and sell when they do not use them for their own consumption.
Africa and the Middle East are now considered the next frontier for the implementation of this technology. Africa, in particular, is experiencing mbadive population growth combined with the economic growth of many countries. Electrification is obviously a key factor in this type of development and, like other technological implementations, Africa is able to adopt new technologies immediately because it leaves few traces.
Figures released by ABI Research confirm the view that Africa is starting to take the smart metering train. The figures show that smart metering shipments in the Africa / Middle East region are expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 36.6% between 2011 and 2022. The incomes of companies involved in smart metering are expected to grow by 35, 4% compared to this same period. period.
The installed base of smart meters with cellular connections will increase by 29.1% (GSM / GPRS) and 71.2% (WCDKA), but on a very low base. As with any connected device, smart metering is a security issue. And since energy networks are essential national infrastructures, robust protection is essential.
A highly motivated cyber-target
National energy infrastructure is a prime target for cyber attacks and its consequences can be devastating. Power cuts in entire countries, access to personal data and even nuclear power plants make this smart energy ecosystem very attractive to cyber-actors. Smart meters and smart grids have many potential routes of attack for criminals, who must be protected. This is why governments around the world are taking initiatives that impose specific protection protocols for smart grid deployments. Non-compliance could prevent access to the market or result in costly fines.
Smart meters have a long product life cycle
Smart meters are not just installed for a few years, then updated – the goal is that they last as long as 10 to 15 years. This means that advanced security processes must be in place to replace obsolete keys and allow remote management of credentials, as well as powerful encryption and authentication tools, ensuring that only the parties allowed access to energy badets and their data.
Smart meters can also be very difficult to access. Deployments are very extensive – in a whole country or even further away – while the devices themselves are placed in walls, behind locked doors or in physically remote locations such as mines or offshore sites. These make regular maintenance visits difficult, time consuming and expensive. For these reasons, the ability to remotely monitor smart meters is crucial to permanently protect the ecosystem in the long run.
A dynamic market
Finally, the energy market is changing rapidly. Newcomers frequently join the market, while others disappear. The Smart Meter ecosystem must therefore be configured so that only authorized organizations and applications have access to measurement data, and changes to that access can be applied instantly, at any time. Since smart meter manufacturers may not be IoT security experts, partnerships with digital security companies can help to avoid jeopardizing MAIs (Advanced Metering Infrastructure).
It is clear that the smart meter market is set to expand considerably across Africa in the near term. Several market factors are causing this situation, such as theft and income protection, rising urbanization rates, improved operations, among others. With this rise in power, governments need to understand the end-to-end security of the smart energy ecosystem and available dedicated solutions that provide encrypted keys and enhanced key storage in smart meters – right from the start. manufacturing, as well as throughout the process. life cycle of smart meters.
Distributed by the APO Group on behalf of Gemalto.
Media contact:
Rita Badawi
+971 4 4458625
https://www.Gemalto.com/
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