Prointer, Elektro-Bijeljina sign EUR 7.5 million contract for smart meters

Banja Luka-based Prointer and power distribution company Elektro-Bijeljina have signed a EUR 7.5 million contract for the supply and installation of smart meters and a remote reading system.

Elektro-Bijeljina, a subsidiary of state-owned power utility Elektroprivreda Republike Srpske (ERS), launched tendering for this contract in June. Prointer will deliver 30,000 smart meters, 13,000 boxes for the displacement of meters, and a remote reading system. The funding comes from a European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) loan approved in September 2018.

In addition to that loan, Elektro-Bijeljina will provide another BAM 15 million (about EUR 7.5 million) of its own funds, Elektro-Bijeljina said on its website.

According to Luka Petrović, CEO of ERS, the contract covers 85% of electricity supplied by Elektro-Bijeljina. The company will have 30,000 smart meters under remote control and a single software platform, making Elektro-Bijeljina one of the most advanced distribution companies within the ERS, Petrović noted.

Power utility ERS has five power distribution companies – Elektrokrajina, Elektro Doboj, Elektro-Bijeljina, Elektrodistribucija Pale, and Elektrohercegovina. In October, Elektrokrajina launched a three-year modernization of the distribution network, worth BAM 30 million (about EUR 15 million).

Vaso Arsenović, director of Elektro-Bijeljina, said the project will ensure a more efficient management of the system, improve the quality of supply, and decrease operating costs.

Bojan Vujić, director of Prointer, noted that companies from Republika Srpska and Serbia have proven they can jointly cope with competition from developed countries.

Elektro-Bijeljina supplies electricity to more than 110,000 consumers, of which 70% are households and 30%  industrial customers.