Getting Smart at the University of Plymouth
The smart meter revolution is well and truly under way across the residential and small business properties, but is relatively new for larger organisations. The benefits are arguably much greater, as replacing NHH meters across multiple sites for technology that will automatically send meter readings will take that hassle away from the energy manager, as well as helping end estimated bills! TEC Member, University of Plymouth already have 16 individual meter installs.
What happened
Working in partnership, TEC and EDF were able to provide a full list of smart capable meters to the University of Plymouth to match to their portfolio. Once these were agreed, it was time to schedule the installs.
Given the scale of the project, and the type of everyday activity across the sites, it was important to limit the impact on tenants and use of the buildings during the installation. To do this, all dates and times were agreed before the work was started, and 16 installs were planned and successfully installed within two weeks.
Prior to arriving on site, all meter installers went through inductions, risk assessments, online courses and all the necessary paperwork, keeping any delays on the installation dates to a minimum.
To help it run smoothly on the day and streamline activities, the number of meter installers on site at any given time were limited. This meant we could avoid large numbers turning up to different parts of the site at once and prevent any disruption, and plan installs around the university’s needs.
All the installs so far have been completed within the agreed time frame.
The result: How the University of Plymouth is benefiting from smart meters
- Automatic meter readings, saving the time, hassle and carbon footprint of traveling to sites to read the meters.
- More accurate billing to actual reads and date, reducing the need for re-billing.
- No metering contracts required.
- HH data available via EDF.
- Knowing when energy is being used so they can become more energy efficient (and cut costs) by making changes in their schedule and enable a reduction in out of hours usage for certain buildings.
“The University of Plymouth had taken up the offer of Smart Meter upgrades for our NHH portfolio. Installed by EDF following a pattern that suited us and the building users, we were able to successfully install 16 NHH meters across our portfolio in a couple of weeks. The team behind the installs were really helpful and answered all our questions promptly, ensuring everyone in our business was aware of the process and what was needed.We can now view half hourly data for these sites on the EDF MyBusiness platform which is pushed into our Monitoring and Targeting platform. This allows us to have better insight into these smaller buildings than we have ever had previously. Our goals to Net zero (Scope 1&2) became just a little bit easier!”Jack Roberts |
How smart meters benefit the grid and Net Zero ambitions
- The data that smart meters collect helps our energy system understand how much, when and where energy is being used across Great Britain.
- Smart meters help us to forecast energy demand more efficiently. In fact, the government predicts that the smart meter roll out could save £650m of energy wasted within the system.
- The system will be able to draw on more local and renewable sources of energy too.
- Demand for electricity in Great Britain is predicted to nearly double by 2050, so it's important that our energy system can cope. Smart meters are integral to Great Britain meeting increased energy demands in the future because they enable a flexible energy system that can use greener sources of energy, balance supply and demand and ensure security of our energy supply.
Interested in smart meters for your business?
