"We are looking for synergy possibilities in deploying smart metering across the sector, not only in electricity," Deputy Energy Minister Egidijus Purlys said at a discussion at the Seimas last week.
"We expect to have, at the end of this half-year, estimates as to what benefit the deployment (of a smart metering system) across the utilities sector would bring to consumers," he said.
The Energy Ministry commissioned the cost-benefit analysis in January to see if it would be beneficial to simultaneously deploy smart metering for electricity, gas, heat, hot and cold water users.
Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius (ESO), the electricity and gas distribution arm of the state energy group Lietuvos Energija, has already launched a smart electricity metering project worth over 200 million euros.
In early March, the company issued a call for tenders for the purchase of 1.76 million meters and IT solutions for a smart metering system.
It expects to sign a 10-year contract with the winning bidder in the first quarter of 2020, with a mass rollout of meters planned to begin in the fourth quarter of that year and be completed in late 2023.