Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
4.3.1 National Actors
At the national or federal level, governments support smart grid in many different ways.
Government research and development programs fund cutting-edge research and
demonstration projects. Government working groups convene smart grid partners to
establish interoperability standards. Both federal and state legislatures pass legislation to
require, incentivize, or fund smart grid projects. Federal regulatory agencies - such as
the environmental and energy offices - regulate and evaluate smart grid projects. In some
countries, the electric system is controlled by a national, state-owned company which
finances and operates the gird. In others, federal regulations govern many aspects of the
electric system, from power access, reliability, and quality standards to system costs, even
if most power is provided by private companies. In some countries, such as Italy and the
UK, the government has required utilities throughout the country to install smart meters.
National governments have played a particularly large role in smart grid development in
the EU. The European Commission has worked with member states to develop smart grids.
From 2006 to 2012, thirty EU countries have developed 281 smart grid projects, investing
the equivalent of more than 1.8 billion euros. Of all EU projects, 70 percent are in just
seven countries: Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK. The original and
wealthier EU countries have invested more in smart grid than the newer EU entrants (JRC
EU countries have different reasons for developing smart grid and are working at
differentpaces.Italyspent2.1billioneurosoninstalling36millionsmartmetersfrom2001
to 2008. In Italy, regulators supported smart grid development with a special tariff which
provides innovative smart grid investments with an additional 2 percent rate of return for
utilities. The incentive to develop a smart grid was spurred by rampant electricity theft.
Sweden's investment of 1.5 billion euros to install 5.2 million meters from 2003 to 2009
was driven by a desire to create a green and sustainable energy system and develop a clean
tech industry, while helping energy consumers; however, integration of data management
systems remains a barrier to this last goal. Finland and Malta have also committed to
full smart meter rollouts. Other large EU countries like France, Spain, and the UK have
committed to full smart meter penetration by 2017, 2018, and 2019, respectively. However,
some EU countries, such as Belgium, the Czech Republic, and Lithuania, are not pursuing
national rollouts, and eleven other member states have not reached any official decision on
The European Union has played an important research and coordinating role. For
example, the European Commission Directorate-Generale in Research, Energy, Enterprise
and Industry,Health and Consumers, Justice and groupsfocused onsecurity are all actively
linked to smart grid development. The Smart Grids European Technology Platform (ETP)
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