Pike research - More Than 237 Million Smart Meters Will be Deployed in Europe by 2020
Advanced Metering Infrastructure for Electric Utilities in Europe: Business and Technology Issues, Regulatory Landscape, Key Industry Players, and Market Forecasts
Europe is embarking on a series of smart meter deployments that will transform the electricity industry across the continent. The adoption of smart metering at this scale across many of the world’s most advanced economies will drive a new wave of technical and market innovation in electricity metering that will have an impact across Europe and on global markets. According to a recent report from Pike Research, a part of Navigant’s Energy Practice, more than 237 million smart meters will be deployed in Europe by 2020, and almost 90 percent of installed electricity meters in Western Europe will be smart.
“Deployment of smart meters across Europe will be steady over the next 10 years, with the most intensive activity between 2015 and 2019,” says research director Eric Woods. “By 2020, smart meters will be an integral part of the energy infrastructure across the continent. However, as European utilities move closer to large-scale rollouts, it is inevitable that there will be growing debates over the precise benefits of smart meters, the cost of deployments, and privacy and security issues. The task facing governments, regulators, utilities, and suppliers is to demonstrate the advantages of smart metering to consumers, as well as their contribution to meeting energy efficiency targets and improving energy security.”
The challenges facing the European economy inevitably cast a shadow over such an ambitious investment program. So far, there has been no significant change in smart meter programs that can be directly attributed to the crisis in the Eurozone. Some slowing down of programs has occurred, but most European countries see the clean technology market as one of the key areas for future growth and are making the case for smart meter deployments to create local jobs.
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.