More than €3bn invested in European smart grids projects

The Joint Research Centre has published its 2014 edition of the ‘Smart Grid projects outlook’, presenting a comprehensive database of smart grid and smart metering initiatives of the first quarter of 2014 across the EU, Switzerland and Norway.

More than 450 smart grid projects were identified, accounting for a total investment of €3.15bn, showing increases from the previous study’s reported 281 projects and €1.8bn budget. Germany has the largest number of initiatives, at 135, whilst France and the UK have invested the most, providing €500m each. In both countries, €5m is the average figure given to a project.

Denmark has the highest investment in smart grids per capita and per national electricity consumption. Slovenia and the Czech Republic are the leading countries within the newer EU member states in establishing a strategy for smart grid testing and implementation. However, Eastern European countries accounted for less than 1% of the total budget.

EU15 organisations still manage the bulk of the investments in smart grid projects, of which 90% are supported by some form of public funding. Private capital investment amounts to 49%, with the rest coming from the European Commission (22%), national (18%) and regulatory funding (9%). The remaining 2% is unclassified.

Around 200 million smart electricity meters in Europe are expected to be deployed by 2020, with an estimated investment of €35bn. In EU member states, where the roll-out of smart metering is positively assessed, the expected penetration rate for electricity may exceed the EU’s target of 80% by 2020.