1. Experiences from Vietnam Smart Meter Reading Pilot Project
Presenter: Dr. Ngoc Thien Le
​ Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University

2. Authors
Professor, Dr. Watit Benjapolakul and Dr. Ngoc Thien Le, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Chulalongkorn University
Mr. Sang Dinh Ngoc and Mr. Dinh Truong Cong, Dept. of Urban Engineering, Univ. of Architecture, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Mr. Thai Hung, EVNCPC Electric Utility, Vietnam
My colleges in Vietnam are: Mr. Sang Dinh Ngoc, Mr. Dinh Cong Truong and Mr. Thai Hung

3. Why smart meter? Utility Customer Operation and Maintenance cost;
Workforce cost;
Forward to smart applications: Demand Response; Peak Load Reduction; Real-time Energy Theft Detection
Customer
E-Bill and Online Payment;
Social impact;
Changing behaviors: Real time price

4. Challenges Interoperable: many smart meter’s manufactures
Communication network
Wireline vs. Wireless
Dedicated vs. Shared
Licensed vs Unlicensed
Bandwidth, real-time
Toward: Smart Grid, Internet of Thing

5. Vietnam Smart Meter Pilot Project
Named as: RF-Spider system
14 provinces of Central Vietnam
Start from 2011

6. Smart Meter Network Wireless approach: mesh network
Smart Meter <-> Data Collection Unit (DCU): using unlicensed bands: MHz and MHz
406.1 MHz-430 MHz: Terrestrial Fixed Service
430 MHz-440 MHz: Radio Location
DCU <-> Utility’s Data Server: 3G mobile network
Router: relay device between Smart Meter and DCU

7. Smart Meter Network
Based on the road, and distribution transformer locations

8. Devices Router DCU Assembled in Vietnam, by EVNCPC 1-phase meter

9. Experiences: placement
DCU

10. Experiences: placement
Smart Meter

11. Experiences: network

12. Experiences: performances
Add more Router if the RF links are unstable;
The total connected smart meter per DCU: about 99.2%;
DCUs are died by lightning;
Smart meter’s distribution: 2 dimensional Poisson distribution

13. Experiences: Server Storage

14. Future Upgrade: 4G mobile network;
RF-SPIDERGIS: integrate with geographic information system (GIS);
Day-ahead price for main customers;
Long term: Advanced metering infrastructure (AMI)

15. Acknowledgment
The authors would like to thank the Vietnam EVNCPC Utility for sharing information about their smart grid pilot projects.

16. References
NIST Framework and Roadmap for Smart GridInteroperability Standards, Release 3.0, September 2014, [Online]
Data Collection Unit, [Online] .vn/Detmetere.aspx?T=0&ID=15.
Router, [Online]
DT01M80 Smart Meter, [Online]
DT03M10 Smart Meter, [Online] .cpc.vn/Detmetere.aspx?T=2&ID=20.

17. THANK YOU!