To meet the region’s energy optimization goals, more than 30 million meters will need to be deployed annually during the peak years of activity, and major upgrade programs will need to be executed simultaneously in Europe’s largest countries, along with many smaller projects across a diverse range of countries and utilities.
Smart meters have a role to play in relation to the key aspects of the European Union’s 20-20-20 targets for reductions in overall energy use and carbon emission, including improving the integration of renewable energy sources into the grid, supporting the wide-scale introduction of electric vehicles, and providing detailed information on the low-voltage network, helping to reduce network losses, improve outage management, and reduce operational costs.
“As European utilities move to mass deployment of smart meters, scrutiny of the benefits of smart meters and their impact on consumers will increase,” says research director Eric Woods. “The economic crisis in Europe has so far not been a brake on smart meter programs, but it is putting additional pressure on utilities and governments to ensure that the benefits of smart meters are realized and made visible to customers.”