From the Qiantang River to the Andes: Chinese Smart Metering Standards "Take Root" in Chile's Power Grid

On October 21, at a metering laboratory in Santiago, the capital of Chile, Chinese engineers were discussing the localized provisions of smart electricity meter technical standards clause by clause with technical personnel from Chile's CGE company. Spread out on the table was a draft of the Chile-adapted standard that had just been completed. This draft will be officially released this month, and the supporting metering verification assembly line will also begin construction in the near future. From standards to equipment, the China-Chile power metering cooperation is moving from equipment supply into a new stage of joint standard development and capacity building.

Chile boasts abundant solar and wind resources, but the rollout of smart meters has not been smooth. In 2019, Chile launched a large-scale smart meter replacement program, but billing disputes triggered a social backlash, and the government subsequently shifted to a voluntary replacement principle, noticeably slowing the pace of rollout. For CGE, which serves about 43% of distribution users nationwide in Chile, a large number of meters in operation still rely on manual reading and on-site verification. The lack of a set of technical standards suited to the local power grid means that quality control for grid-connected meters and large-scale verification capacity have long been difficult to achieve independently.

In fact, Chinese smart meters did not enter the market served by CGE starting from zero. Since 2022, Chinese suppliers have delivered more than 30,000 single-phase and three-phase smart meters to CGE, supporting the construction of its AMI (Advanced Metering Infrastructure) system and enabling real-time data collection and remote management. But equipment supply is only the first step—the standards according to which meters are manufactured, the rules according to which they are verified, and who carries out the verification are the capabilities CGE truly needs to establish.

The turning point came from China's more than a decade of accumulated experience in automated electricity meter verification. State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power developed China's first automated verification assembly line in 2009 and built the world's first large-scale fully automated smart electricity meter verification system in 2012, raising verification capacity from 80 meters per person per day to 4,700 meters per person per day, improving verification reliability from 98% to 100%, and reducing personnel by more than 90%. On this basis, the international standard "IEC 62057-3 Electricity meter test equipment, techniques and procedures – Part 3: Automated test systems for electricity meters," led by State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power, was officially released in April 2024, becoming the first IEC international standard led by China in the field of electricity metering and specifying the composition, functions, and acceptance criteria of automated electricity meter test systems.

State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power's metering automation verification laboratory

In this cooperation, State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power did not simply replicate a set of equipment; instead, it deeply adapted standards and technology to local conditions. The Chinese team and CGE technical personnel sorted through Chile's grid voltage levels, communication conditions, and operation and maintenance practices clause by clause, and formed a Chile-adapted smart meter technical standard within the IEC standard framework. At the same time, the construction plan for the metering verification assembly line was implemented in parallel. From requirements analysis and equipment selection to commissioning and operation, the Chinese team participated throughout, with the goal of enabling CGE to gradually develop independent verification and independent operation and maintenance capabilities. The release of the standard addresses the question of "according to what rules meters are manufactured and according to what rules they are verified," while the construction of the assembly line addresses the questions of "where verification is carried out, who carries it out, and how it is done accurately."

From the banks of the Qiantang River to the foothills of the Andes, the distance spanned is 19,000 kilometers. As the Chile-adapted smart meter standard moves from paper to the power grid, and as this assembly line is implemented and put into operation in Chile, the significance of this cooperation goes beyond technology and equipment—it means that Chilean distribution companies are beginning to have a metering quality control system that can operate independently and be iteratively upgraded, and it also means that China's power metering standards have taken a step from "products going global" to "standards taking root" on the path of internationalization.