13 - Berg Insight - Smart Metering in Europe, the eighth consecutive report

Half of Europe’s households will get smart meters by 2016.

Smart grid is one of the latest buzzwords in the energy sector and has become a catch-phrase for politicians, academics and industry leaders alike. The vision is to exploit the latest technology to address the immense challenge of securing the energy supply in the 21st century. The concept of smart grids is at times put forward as a revolutionary solution to a wide array of problems, ranging from the West’s dependency on Middle Eastern oil to global warming. A more realistic expectation is however that smart grid technology will contribute to improved efficiency and reliability in energy distribution and better optimisation in allocation of resources and utilisation of assets.