April 23 (SeeNews) - Romanian electricity and gas distribution company Delgaz Grid said on Tuesday it plans to invest over 250 million lei ($59 million/53 million euro) in smart grids in northeastern Romania in the coming years.
The company intends to install over 397,000 smart meters during 2019-2028, investing 135 million lei, it said in a press release.
Delgaz Grid will also continue with a project it started last year for the modernization of 13 transformation stations in which it is investing 12.5 million lei.
Next, the company will invest 16 million lei for SCADA integration and upgrades at the transformation stations of Harlau, Pascani and Gorban in Iasi county. Works on this project are expected to last for three years.
The company will also invest 39 million lei in the automation of the distribution system in urban areas during between 2019-2021.
Currently, Delgaz is developing an EU-funded project worth 45 million lei for the installation of 10,000 electric meters and the upgrade of the distribution network in Iasi county.
Delgaz Grid, a company of Germany's E.ON group, operates a natural gas network of over 22,000 km in length and an 81,000 km electricity network in northern Romania.
Since 2005, E.ON has invested about 1.6 billion euro ($1.8 billion) in the modernization of gas and electricity grids in Romania and paid over 2 billion euro in taxes.
Last year, Delgaz invested 487 million lei in the modernization of the electricity and gas networks.
(1 euro= 4.7584 lei)