- The company is set to deploy advanced commercial, corporate and distribution systems to ensure more efficient business management
- Indra has had real success in similar projects for other African utilities, which in many cases has seen the initial investment recovered within periods of two to three years
Indra, one of the leading global technology and consulting companies, has signed a contract with Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC), the company responsible for the country's electricity generation and supplies, to implement a management transformation project, including the deployment and integration of advanced systems for the corporate, distribution and commercial units.
Indra will the supply and implement InCMS, Indra's latest-generation end-to-end solution for commercial aspects of energy firms, and InGRID, a system developed by the company to control energy and water levels and losses in the utilities sector. Indra will also deploy a further solution, supporting comprehensive management of all corporate units (finance, logistics and human resources), while also providing LEC with the hardware infrastructure required to support the systems.
Indra´s solution automates and optimizes the full commercial cycle for utilities (meter reading, billing, collection and comprehensive customer management). It also supports sales and information requests via virtual channels, speeding up decision-making and enhancing customer service quality. The solution also provides a single platform to oversee prepaid supplies, a system widely used in the African residential segment.
Additionally, it records service outage reports from customers, and automatically creates incident logs for the company's operating center to subsequently deal with. The system is also conducive to automated service quality indicators.
The platform likewise systematically monitors energy flows, identifying any losses by measuring general grid readings and consumption at power supply points. It also evaluates potential for consumption irregularities at direct connection supply points, and classifies zones and grid sectors based on loss levels and progress over time. Another important feature is the capability to plan and monitor the impact of controlling and reducing energy losses.
The project, financed by the World Bank, is part of the LACEEP (Liberia Accelerated Electricity Expansion Project), a major plan to overhaul the country's electricity sector. The main objectives include expanding the capacity of transmission and distribution grids in order to provide new users with access to electricity.
The new project reaffirms Indra's leadership in modernization projects for the African energy sector, where it provides services to more than 15 major companies across the continent. The consulting and technology firm also recently signed a similar contract in Malawi, to equip ESCOM, the country's state electricity firm, with everything it needs to operate its business via an integrated approach.
Indra's work on similar initiatives with other African utilities has culminated in major benefits for the same, such as an average reduction of 20% in commercial losses, which in many cases has seen the initial investment recovered within record periods of two to three years. Furthermore, the duration of power outages has been substantially reduced.
A leader in the implementation of energy solutions in Africa
More than 20 million customers in Africa are managed using Indra's solutions for the utilities industry. A contract awarded by KPLC, the Kenya Power and Lighting Company, in 1996 was Indra's first project to improve and transform the energy sector in Africa. Since then it has undertaken more than 15 major projects for utility companies, and has offices in several countries on the continent, including a center of energy excellence in Nairobi, where it runs and develops solutions aimed at addressing the challenges and opportunities facing the energy and utilities sectors in the region.
Indra is an outstanding leader in the implementation of energy solutions for power companies in Africa, where it has been involved in some of the foremost modernization projects of the last 20 years. The company's management systems for energy firms help to run utilities in Kenya (KPLC, Ketraco, NCWSC, Gulf Power), Zimbabwe (ZETDC), Zambia (ZESCO, Copperbelt), Ghana (ECG), Mozambique (EDM), Ethiopia (EEU), Uganda (UMEME), Cameroon (Eneo), ESCOM (Malawi) and others.
Indra's energy solutions have been deployed at over 140 electricity, water, oil and gas companies across more than 45 countries. More than 100 million customers worldwide currently benefit from systems developed by the global consulting and technology company.
About Indra
Indra is one of the world's top technology and consulting and a technology partner for the key operations of its customers' businesses worldwide. It is a leading worldwide provider of proprietary solutions in niche areas in Transport and Defense Markets and the absolute leader in IT in Spain and Latin America. It offers a comprehensive range of proprietary solutions and cutting edge services with a high added value in technology based on a unique culture of reliability, flexibility and adaptability to the needs of its customers. Indra is a world leader in the development of end-to-end technology solutions in fields such as Defense and Security, Transport and Traffic, Energy and Industry, Telecommunications and Media, Financial Services, Electoral Processes, and Public Administrations and Healthcare. Minsait is Indra’s digital transformation business unit. In 2016 Indra posted a revenue of €2,709m, employed 34,000 professionals, and had a local presence in 46 countries plus sales operations in more than 140 countries. Following its acquisition of Tecnocom, Indra's combined revenue amounted to more than €3,200m in 2016 with a team of nearly 40,000 professionals.