New Delhi, March 18, 2016: Omron, the world leader in sensing and control technologies, has announced the launch of its Total Tamper Detection Solution – world’s first of its kind – to address the national level concerns of power ‘theft’ in the electricity sector. Positioned as a revolutionary offering for Smart Energy Management, the solution has been unveiled by the company at the ongoing India Smart Grid Week -2016.

The solution comprises of a technologically advanced security sensor, made by Omron, positioned in a smart meter. Conceptualised in association with the utility, Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL), the endeavour is visualised as a milestone in enabling the Smart Grid initiative of the Government of India and is also expected to play a key role in shaping the macro initiatives of national importance such as the need to channelize and curb the losses caused by power theft.

Transmission and distribution (T&D) losses remain one of the major concerns for the power sector in India. As per varied industry reports, the country ranks 5th in the world in terms of installed capacity, but still more than 300 million people do not have access to electricity. This unavailability and insufficiency of electricity has a strong linkage with the transmission & distribution losses which amount to around 40 % of the total production. The losses give rise to a vicious cycle - utilities running into losses leading to increased power tariff leading to more burden on the end user which ultimately results into more unscrupulous ways to tamper with the meters.

Explaining the role of Total Tamper Detection solution in managing power theft, Mr Vinod Raphael, Country Business Head – Omron Electronic and Mechanical Components business division in India said, “Though it is difficult to reckon the proportion of power theft in the T&D losses, it is certainly one of the major concerns for the utilities. Omron’s security sensor for the smart meters is multi-functional, imparting a unique artificial intelligence to the meter by detecting all kinds of tampering”

Sharing an overview of the business prospects of this solution, Mr Raphael shared, “The government plans to install 35 million smart meters in the country by 2019 which is a promising business avenue. As we move ahead, we aim to widen our customer outreach by associating with more utilities and contribute towards developing a sturdy infrastructure in the power sector benefitting the utilities and the end consumers.”

As per the reports, the power distribution loss in India rose to INR 70,000 crore recently. Omron’s new solution is in synergy with the Government’s efforts towards minimizing T&D losses, considering the Government set up a ‘Smart Meter Task Force’ to address this alarming state of affairs and to contribute towards moulding India as a Smart Grid Nation. In a bid to further utilise the opportunity of connecting with all relevant stakeholders in the smart grid world, the company also exhibited other key electronic components for smart meters and varied electrical equipment making them safer, energy efficient, compact and better in performance. Notable solutions for Smart Energy Saving and Smart Energy Supply comprising of panel builders solutions, real time automation based applications for the manufacturing sites, concepts of PV Inverter and Solar Pump were also put on display.