Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK) President Mustafa Yılmaz has announced new targets for the smart meter transformation under the National Smart Meter System (MASS). Yılmaz stated that the installation of approximately 2.7 million Smart Meter PRO models is planned by the end of 2027, with the goal of bringing the meters of approximately 7 million subscribers into the remote reading scope within a two-year period.
Speaking at the “1st Innovation, Dissemination and Entrepreneurship Days in the Electricity Distribution Sector” event, organized in cooperation with EPDK and the Association of Electricity Distribution Services (Elder), Yılmaz said that distribution grids must transform alongside renewable resources, electric transportation, storage, and distributed generation in the energy sector.
Yılmaz noted that in the fifth implementation period covering 2026-2030, the investment ceiling has been increased by approximately 1.5 times in real terms compared to the previous period, and planned maintenance resources have been increased by 2.1 times. Emphasizing that the main criterion in distribution service is how investments reflect on the quality of service provided to citizens, Yılmaz said, “What matters is not just how much you invest, but how this investment reflects on the service and quality provided to our citizens.”
A NEW PHASE IN SMART METER TRANSFORMATION
Stating that MASS is one of the concrete outputs of R&D efforts supported by EPDK, Yılmaz noted that the system offers new opportunities in terms of remote communication, fault prediction, risk-based maintenance, combating non-technical losses, and grid resilience against disasters.
According to the information provided by Yılmaz, the smart meter transformation began as of March 1, 2026. By September, the installation of 4 million Smart Meter ECO and 70 thousand Smart Meter PRO units had been completed. With the installation of approximately 2.7 million Smart Meter PRO units by the end of 2027, the aim is to enable remote reading of 7 million subscribers' meters and to monitor outage and technical quality data at the connection points of 15 million subscribers.
The test version of the MASS user mobile application, which will allow all electricity subscribers in Turkey to access their consumption and production data, outage records, compensation information, and planned outage notifications, has also been launched. Yılmaz stated that meter replacements will be closely monitored by EPDK and that necessary measures will be taken for companies that fall behind in their planning.
In his speech, Yılmaz also touched upon R&D support, announcing that since the July 2014 R&D project period, 2 thousand 85 project applications have been made for electricity and natural gas distribution, 724 of which have been accepted. Of the accepted projects, 619 were in the field of electricity and 105 in natural gas distribution.
Yılmaz stated that 72 software project applications were received within the scope of the call for the domestic software ecosystem, and 26 projects were accepted. He expressed that a 5 percent increase in the weighted average cost of capital rate for distribution companies using domestic software is among the regulatory incentives for the 2026-2030 period.
News Source: 12punto
