Intracom Telecom

HEDNO, the Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator, has rejected an extrajudicial initiave taken by a consortium comprised of OTE, Intrakat and Intrasoft International, the losing bidder of a pilot tender concerning the procurement and installation of an initial lot of 200,000 digital power meters for low-voltage household and small-scale commerical use in various parts of the country.

A final decision is now expected from the Council of State, Greece’s Supreme Administrative Court, following a case filed by the trio against Intracom Telecom, the tender’s winning bidder.

The Supreme Court accepted a legal case filed by OTE-Intrakat-Intrasoft International in March and sought clarification from HEDNO on its decision to delare Intracom Telecom the tender’s winner. Two key issues concern the Council of State. It has sought confirmation from the winning bidder on the inclusion of an option for the procurement and installation of an additional 50,000 digtal power meters besides a basic plan for 160,000 meters. The court has also sought further details as to whether the offer made by the winning bidder is unusually low, as claimed by the losing OTE-Intrakat-Intrasoft International consortium.

Intracom Telecom submitted a 46 million-euro offer to take on the smart meters pilot project, compared to a 62 million-euro offer made by OTE, Intrakat and Intrasoft International.

The pilot tender is being staged as a prelude to the project’s main tender, entailing the procurement and installation of approximately six million digital power meters throughout Greece. This project’s budget is estimated to be worth over one billion euros.

The initial tender is of crucial importance as two technologies, power line carriers and wireless GPRS/3G systems, will be tested ahead of the main tender.

Intracom Telecom has emerged as the winning bidder of a pilot tender for the installation of an initial lot of 200,000 smart meters in various parts of the country with an offer of 46 million euros. The bids made were unsealed today.

The tender’s other remaining bidder, a team comprised of OTE (Hellenic Telecommunications Organization), Intrakat and Intrasoft International, submitted a 62 million euro offer.

The procedure’s third contender, CMEC (China Machinery Engineering Corporation, withdrew on the final stretch.

As the next step, HEDNO, the Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator – locally acronymed DEDDIE – will hold a board meeting in roughly 15 days to declare the winning bidder, barring unexpected developments.

The project’s contract will then need to be endorsed by a supervisory council before it is signed by the end of January.

Once this stage has been reached, an intital lot of 10,000 smart meters will be installed within a nine-month period, followed by a second round of 160,000 installations over the ensuing 15 months.

Smart meters will provide consumers a real-time picture of their consumption patterns.

It appears that there is no holding back now following considerable delays and foot-dragging in recent years. Initial talks on the project were held in 2009. If all goes well, 200,000 conventional power meters will have been replaced within 2018.

Ultimately, 7.5 million conventional power meters will be replaced around the country through a major tender. Ranking as one of Greece’s biggest investment programs of the next few years, the power meter project’s initial budget is estimated at no less than one billion euros.

HEDNO has already begun preparations for the main tender, expected to attract the world’s biggest players.

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