Daniel Gizaw of dVentus Technologies highlighted the need for a more modern energy system with a smart grid in Ethiopia. Demand has grown tremendously in Ethiopia and the forecast is for up to 34,000 MW demand by 2030 which will require excellent grid management. In addition to the increasing demand, the continent as a whole is growing fast, reliability of energy is extremely poor, and efficiency is bad. A smart grid can help solve these problems. Smart grids are flexible, economic, secure, and improve customer service. The first step towards a smart grid is installing smart meters. Mr. Gizaw then discussed smart grid architecture and available smart meters. Currently, dVentus has single and three phase smart meters and digital water meters with communication and data management. These meters can indicate how bad the power factor and voltage are, which is more than just a simple meter or server.

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