Who said dragons can’t dance? 2

Share this post:

A success story on european smart meters, developed and produced in china
PART 2 of 3 by Alex Bouw, Jan Oost and Stephan Gibiino

SMART METERS – THE EUROPEAN CONTEXT

The latest publication of the project “SmartRegions – Promoting best practices of innovative smart metering services to European regions” (funded by Intelligent Energy – Europe, source: http://www.smartregions.net/default.asp?SivuID=26927 ) in the best way assesses the overview of the variety of legislation among European countries. It is made clear that the legislative push by the European Union is currently the main driver for the introduction of “smart” metering systems in Europe. As a consequence, the smart metering landscape is highly dynamic at the moment with many member states adjusting their energy legislation to comply with the third EU energy market package and the Energy Services Directive.

As the report says, across the European Union countries are moving towards electronic energy metering as a way of modernizing electricity grids and improving the information that is available for grid operators. There are various layers of action in and between EU member states and different EU institutions that are currently working on standardization, regulatory recommendations, technical functionalities, and other issues of importance. While some member states are awaiting the results of these various working groups and task forces, others are actively moving towards smart metering and starting with a rollout independent of existing barriers to the deployment of smart grids.

Due to the regulatory push and the efforts of market actors, the development of legislation and regulation for smart metering in Europe is highly dynamic. The Smart Metering Landscape Report analyzed all countries on the dimension of this legal and regulatory status: it was evaluated whether or not a framework has been created not only to provide clear guidelines to utilities for installing meters but also to do so with the goal of achieving energy savings and/or peak load shifting. For each country the status quo has been assessed on the following dimensions:

• Cost-benefit analysis and rollout plan
• Timeline for the rollout
• Barriers from additional legislation and regulation, e.g. privacy and data protection, measurement and calibration of meters
• Legal minimum functional requirements.

Combined with the progress of smart meter implementations per country, including the assessment of an existing and clear roadmap per country, the overview in the Figure was abstracted.

The Netherlands can be seen as a dynamic mover because of a clear path towards a full rollout of smart meters with a major pilot project that is paving the way. The Netherlands has been proactive in translating EU legislation as a framework into general administrative acts (AMVB´s – Algemene Maatregel van Bestuur), by the Minister for Economic Affairs and Innovation, who submitted an alteration (Novelle) to the legislative amendment. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Innovation then asked TNO to give an opinion on the implementation regulations. Implementation regulations set out the details of legislation and stipulate the requirements that smart meters must comply with. The House of Representatives agreed with the Novelle in 2010, as did the Senate in February 2011.

(Part 2 will continue in part 3)