January 25, 2013
Smart electric meters provide a platform for energy efficiency improvements, new customer services, and network optimization. To achieve those goals across Europe, 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. According to a recent report from Pike Research, a part of Navigant’s Energy Practice, nearly 70 percent of all electric meters in Europe (and 90 percent in Western Europe) will be smart by 2020.
“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.”
Smart meters are not only related to consumer issues, but also to the large-scale energy infrastructure improvements needed to support the European Union’s 20-20-20 targets for reductions in overall energy use and carbon emissions. Smart meters have a role to play in relation to the key aspects of the 20-20-20 strategy, 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.
The report, “Smart Meters in Europe”, analyzes the development of the European market for smart electric meters. It assesses the business drivers, market forces, and technology trends that are transforming the metering landscape across Europe, including developments in European energy policy and national strategies for smart metering. The report forecasts smart meter shipments and penetration rates for Western and Eastern Europe and selected major countries through 2020, as well as the adoption of meter communications technologies and the growth in basic and advanced meter adoption between 2011 and 2020. An Executive Summary of the report is available for free download on the Pike Research website.
Contact: Richard Martin
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* The information contained in this press release concerning the report, “Meter Data Management,” is a summary and reflects Pike Research’s current expectations based on market data and trend analysis. Market predictions and expectations are inherently uncertain and actual results may differ materially from those contained in this press release or the report. Please refer to the full report for a complete understanding of the assumptions underlying the report’s conclusions and the methodologies used to create the report. Neither Pike Research nor Navigant undertakes any obligation to update any of the information contained in this press release or the report.