ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopian Electric Utility (EEU) said it has finalized preparations to install stateof-the-art technologies in a bid to advance the quality and accessibility of its services.
Approached by The Ethiopian Herald, EEU Corporate Communication Director Melaku Taye noted that the utility is endeavoring to modernize its services by implementing Enterprise Resource Planning system which comprised latest technologies including supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), prepaid system and remote sense smart metric tools.
The SCADA system would help to solve a certain dysfunction on electric lines by identifying the right location of the technical problems that are creating havoc in power transmission , he said. The prepaid system enables users to pay for the services and recharge their balance in a fixed period of time, he told. In addition, remote sense smart metric technology would assist EEU workers to read the power usage of customers without personal appearance, he stated.
The organization is also finalizing the construction of new sophisticated communication center which has more than 100 telephone lines to receive claims and respond to demands of customers, he said. These would help to curb power fluctuation as it enables the organization to solve power disruptions with comprehensive communication system, he noted.
As to him, currently, only 20 million people are benefiting from the 58 percent electricity coverage and the EEU is endeavoring to balance the wider gap between demand and supply. Accordingly, the utility undertakes various measures to curb problems related to upgrading transmission lines and replacing old transformers at a cost of 162 million USD in various main cities including the capital, he disclosed. “Previously, our customers were obliged to travel to the capital to facilitate preconditions to get energy.
However, currently it has organized new structure in reaching to states to enable the user to get energy and finalize the prerequisites in its branch of EEU.” It is also working to satisfy its customers through capacitating workers with training and employing competent engineers, he underlined. The major problems facing the institution are shortage of finance, and input.
And it is working to curb the problems through amending tariff on its services and purchasing 4,978 new transformers at a cost of 2 billion Birr, as to Melaku. According to him, the organization is doing its level best to achieve its plan to electrify the whole country by 2025.
The Ethiopian Herald, February 5/2019
BY YOHANES JEMANEH
