Smart Grid Market in Europe to 2020 - Advanced Grid Concepts and Intelligent Technology Pivotal to Achieving EU 20-20-20 Targets

Additional Information

Smart Meter Implementation to Remain a Key Focus Area in Europe

There is particular focus in Europe on the implementation of smart meters, especially in France, Spain and the UK, all of which have strong smart meter deployment plans. There is less market potential in Sweden where 100% smart meter penetration was achieved in July 2009, becoming the first country to do so. It achieved this by mandating monthly meter values collection by utilities. Smart meter deployment has also recently been completed in Italy.

The cumulative number of smart meter units installed in Europe is expected to grow from 7.6 million units in 2010 to 105.99 million units in 2020 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 30.2%. In France, equipment from Itron, Landis+Gyr and Iskraemeco is involved in three different pilot projects of around 100,000 meters each. The cumulative number of smart meter units installed in France is expected to grow from 0.3 million units in 2010 to 38.5 million units in 2020 at a CAGR of 62.5%. In Spain, major distribution companies such as Endesa and Iberdrola began rolling out pilot projects in 2010 and encouraging growth is expected during 2011-2020. The cumulative number of smart meter units installed in Spain is expected to grow from 7.2 million units in 2010 to 27.54 million units in 2020 at a CAGR of 14.4%. In the UK, British Gas has already announced plans for a multi-million meter deployment in partnership with Vodafone cellular infrastructure and ZigBee in homes. The cumulative number of smart meter units installed in the UK is expected to grow from 0.1 million units in 2010 to 39.95 million units in 2020 at a CAGR of 82%.

Increase in Customer Awareness of Smart Grids Technology across Europe Leading to Data Security Concerns

Customers in Europe demand a regular and accurate flow of information regarding the likelihood of power outages as well as an immediate response in the event of one occurring. This has resulted in the large-scale deployment of a management system in Europe to enable communication between the utility and the customer in the event of a power outage.

Knowledge of a particular technology will help the customer to understand its associated benefits and concerns. The increased awareness of smart meters has raised concerns over privacy among customers in Europe, where deployment is occurring on a large scale. The main concern is their security and privacy rights. These concerns have led the European Commission (EC) to issue a mandate to the European Standardization Organizations (ESOs) to develop technical standards for smart grids taking an approach known as ‘privacy by design’. The EC will also monitor the provision of national sectoral legislation to take into account data protection specificities.

Utilities Acting as Early Adaptors of Technology across Europe Supported by Consumer Demand

Customers in Europe tend to take a proactive approach to new technologies. Despite awareness of smart grids being relatively low, deployment can be seen on a large scale. The significant difference between the deployment of smart grid technology in Europe and developing nations is the risk-taking attitude towards utilities in the former.

Consumers across Europe are also eager to adopt technology that will help them to increase their participation in the power distribution system. This in turn is encouraging utilities’ Research and Development (R&D) activities. These latest technologies will greatly help the European Union tackle smart grid data security issues which can be a big hurdle in EU’s smart grid development plans. The EU smart grid implementation plans seeks to achieve a long term “20/20/20” goal, which means curbing emissions by 20% and increasing renewable energy generation to 20% of the energy mix by 2020.

Urgent Need to Develop Common European Smart Grids Standards to Promote Interoperability

Increasing smart grids technology deployments across Europe, the various interoperability requirements and increasing consumer awareness leading to security and data protection concerns have urged the EC to develop smart grids standards. European consumer groups have asked for clear regulations regarding the frequency of meter readings and the usage of data, stressing that only the data necessary to perform smart grid tasks should be collected and utilized.

The ESOs were issued a mandate by the EC for smart grids to develop standards facilitating the implementation of high-level smart grid services and functionalities by the end of 2012."