Itron has secured a contract to deliver 70,000 new gas prepayment meters to SOCAR Azerigas Production Union (PU), a part of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR).
Image: An Itron OpenWay residential smart electricity meter. Photo: courtesy of Dwight Burdette/Wikipedia.org.
This contract follows the deployment of Itron’s smart payment software and more than 1.3 million prepayment meters in Azerbaijan over the past 10 years to improve revenue collection and streamline utility operations.
This contract will include Itron’s new Gallus Pay prepayment meters, which are equipped with electronic temperature compensation (eTC), near-field communication for smartphones or smart cards and increased data granularity for improved customer service. SOCAR Azerigas PU will modernize its existing meter park stations with Itron’s robust STS meters, which will extend the use of prepayment to difficult to access areas.
SOCAR Azerigas managing director Akbar Hajiyev said: “With these new meters, we have numerous vending possibilities, which will allow consumers to have more flexibility and convenience in paying and accessing gas.
“We are excited to work with Itron to streamline our operations and provide reliable access to gas for our customers throughout the country.”
Itron EMEA gas sales vice president Oscar Marquez said: “We are thrilled to continue our long-term collaboration with SOCAR Azerigas PU to integrate new functionalities and services to transform their current infrastructure.
“As the first utility to deploy our new Gallus Pay prepayment meters, SOCAR Azerigas PU will benefit from the meter’s unique communication and vending capabilities and will be empowered to better address the needs of customers in the Republic of Azerbaijan.”
Source: Company Press Release