Swiss smart meter maker Landis+Gyr has won a £600 million contract to provide British Gas with the majority of the meters it plans to roll out to all customers by 2020.
British Gas has already installed 1 million smart meters, the majority of which were made by Landis+Gyr, around the UK.
It announced today that it had awarded a new £600 million contract to the Swiss company. Landis+Gyr will provide around 10 million of the remaining 16 million units British Gas plans to roll out before 2020, by which time all suppliers are obliged to have implemented them.
"Our £600m investment in Landis+Gyr’s smart metering solutions means we can provide smart meters cost-effectively to our customers, and bring them the benefits of this innovative technology as soon as possible," said Chris Weston, managing director of British Gas, in a statement.
As a result of the deal, Landis+Gyr plans to double its 600-strong workforce in the UK. British Gas will recruit a further 500 'Smart Energy Experts', in addition to the 1,500 jobs it says that have been created by its smart meter initiative.
Meanwhile, the government is building the UK's shared smart meter infrastructure. Last month, it announced that Capita is the preferred supplier to become the data and communication company (DCC), which will handle all the smart meter data collected in the UK.
The DCC is expected to come online in 2015, after which time suppliers including British Gas will be obliged to submit all their smart meter data to the company.
Until then, the company can use its own infrastructure to handle smart meter data.
