Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) is set to embark on a RM2 million pilot project on smart grid development for efficient energy supply and delivery in June 2014.

TNB chief corporate officer Datuk Roslan Ab Rahman said the initiative will see the installment of 1,000 smart grid advance meters both in Putrajaya and Malacca throughout the one-year period of the pilot project.

“Currently we are conducting preliminary studies and preparations on the scheme as to when we can announced it this June, the implementation and the monitoring part of the project will be smooth,” he told a news conference at the Energy Efficiency for Sustainable Business Seminar 2014 in Putrajaya yesterday.

“This is a trial project whereby upon success we are planning to expand it nationwide,” Roslan added.

In June 2012, TNB’s research arm, TNB Research Sdn Bhd (TNBR), partnered with Trilliant Holdings Inc, a global smart grid communications company to develop solutions to provide with end-to-end solutions for the utility’s first integrated smart meter and smart grid project.

The initiative for smart grid scheme came as measure to meet the rising energy consumption and demand in Malaysia whereby it is projected to increase by 5% per year over the next five years, and is likely to double in the next 20 years.

To meet this need, TNBR has undertaken an ambitious smart grid demonstration project to pave the way towards the large scale implementation of smart grid technologies.