Greentech Lead America: Smart meter spending alone in the Central & Eastern Europe (CEE) region will reach $10.3 billion cumulatively by 2023, with almost all electric utilities completing full smart meter deployments over that time period, says a new report from Northeast Group.
According to the report, several CEE countries represent compelling opportunities for smart grid investments but are often overshadowed by their Western European neighbors.
The report finds Central & Eastern Europe as the most advanced region among emerging market countries for smart grid and smart meter deployments. All ten countries covered in the study are expected to adopt EU smart meter regulations over the course of this decade, and some already have extensive smart grid roadmaps in place.
The European Union has mandated that all member states deploy smart meters to 80 percent of customers by 2020, if economically feasible. All EU countries were meant to complete smart metering cost-benefit analyses by September 2012, but fewer than half of the ten CEE countries have done so.
Northeast Group’s study forecasts five sub-segments of the AMI market, including meter hardware, communications, IT, professional services, and installation costs for ten countries across the CEE region.
Most CEE countries claim they intend to meet the EU timelines, but have not yet officially transposed EU regulations into their national legislation.
The EU provides guidelines on setting roadmaps, creating interoperability standards, ensuring data protection, and establishing costs and benefits for all stakeholders. These are advantages that many countries in other emerging market regions do not enjoy.
Some CEE countries may miss the EU 2020 deadline, but almost all CEE countries will have a nearly full deployment of smart meters by the end of our forecast period in 2023.”
Several utilities across Central & Eastern Europe already have plans in place. Estonia plans to deploy smart meters to 100 percent of its customers by 2017, while utilities in Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, and Slovenia also have plans for full smart meter rollouts.
In countries where cost-benefit analyses have been conducted, the result has almost always been positive. Once more of these analyses are completed, the EU mandate will begin compelling stronger regulatory action at the national level. This is expected within the next year or two.
The quickly developing market has attracted a number of both local and international vendors. Northeast Group’s study includes detailed assessment of vendors based in Central &Â Eastern Europe, as well as the regional market activity of the leading Western European, American, and Asian vendors.