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ENSA, the electricity distribution company covering several regions in Panama, has announced the rollout of a smart electrical grid service across its concession area. This system, known as a Smart Grid, will modernize the response to electrical incidents and automate much of the network’s operations.
With an investment of over US$13 million, ENSA serves more than 535,000 clients across Panama Este, Colón, Darién, Guna Yala, and the Pacific islands. The initiative covers approximately 41% of the country’s electricity customers and aims to strengthen the energy infrastructure via advanced automation that detects, isolates, and corrects electrical faults in real time.
A key feature of the new grid is FLISR (Fault Location, Isolation, and Service Restoration). When an outage occurs, the system can detect it in seconds, isolate the fault, and reconfigure the network so that most customers continue to receive power without needing onsite technical intervention. This reduces response times from up to an hour to under three minutes depending on location and severity.
Another critical component is the deployment of smart meters (AMI – Advanced Metering Infrastructure). To date, around 160,000 AMI meters are already in use, equivalent to roughly 29% of ENSA’s customers. These meters allow real-time monitoring of consumption, better billing accuracy, and quicker detection of anomalies.
The project is divided into two main stages. The first stage, already underway, includes remote control and automation equipment with over 75% coverage expected to be achieved before 2028. The second stage will introduce AI-managed automatic operations, with more than 165,000 customers (about 30%) benefiting in urban zones such as Panamá Centro, Las Cumbres, Parque Lefevre, Villa Lucre, and San Miguelito by late 2025.
In recent years, reliability has improved: ENSA reports a 10% increase in service reliability between June 2024 and July 2025. At the same time, the frequency and duration of interruptions have dropped, even though the number of clients has grown by 35% over the past 12 years.
Finally, the modernization includes mobile app integration, so customers with smart meters can view daily consumption and manage their energy use more efficiently. ENSA is positioning itself as a pioneer in Panama’s electric service modernization and contributing to sustainable energy infrastructure nationwide.
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