Mexico's CFE Selected Silver Spring Networks For Smart Grid Project

In 2013, approximately 15 per cent of Mexico's electricity production was lost due to theft or defaults, and in some areas of Mexico City, that increases to more than 35 per cent, that’s according to Mexico's Comisión Federal de Electricidad’s (CFE), the largest utility in the Americas. To reduce theft and stem its losses the CFE under the Megacable and Hola Innovacion consortium is working in partnership with Silver Spring Networks and Mexico's Tecnologías EOS to implement a number of smart grid solutions in Mexico City’s Central District.

The smart grid energy loss reduction project will be focusing on Mexico City’s Central District where Silver Spring Networks will deploy a canopy network across various residential and commercial areas of the City’s Central District. The Silver Spring solution will reduce electricity theft for residents and businesses, while Tecnologías EOS will provide remote indoor displays to help the city's residents to monitor their power usage.

Silver Spring will also provide its multi-application IPv6 network and UtilityIQ software suite to connect and manage the individual cabinet meters.  The introduction of a cabinet-level networking and software solution will enable CFE to reduce its non-technical loss, increase billing accuracy, deploy remote connect and disconnect operations, and help ensure the safe delivery of its energy supply to its customers.

The UtilityIQ solution allows for a secure physical connection from the transformer to the meter to prevent illegal connections and protects the meter from tampering. CFE will maintains secure access and control of the meters via Silver Spring’s IPv6 mesh network, to ensure that consumption is accurately captured and provided to CIS for billing.

"We’re honored to partner with Tecnologías EOS for the Megacable and Hola Innovacion consortium, and to help CFE modernize their infrastructure to help reduce energy loss, ensure revenue protection, and improve service and reliability to millions of their customers,” said Eric Dresselhuys, Executive Vice President of Global Sales & Development, Silver Spring Networks.

The project involves approximately 140,000 residential and commercial customers within CFE’s Central District, serving approximately 2 million customers.