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Discussion smart meters streamlined
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In the Netherlands, the energy sector and government are engaged in intensive discussions over the implementation of smart meters for consumers. At the request of SenterNovem, KEMA has developed a means to streamline the discussion by itemizing the costs and benefits. SenterNovem has utilized this
study for its recommendation to the
Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs.
From a technical standpoint, it is not a problem to equip the Netherlands with energy meters that can be read remotely. Despite numerous advantages, however, smart meters in the Netherlands are still an exception. This is in contrast with countries such as Italy.
Because the costs are one of the greatest bottlenecks in the discussion, KEMA has carried out an investigation for SenterNovem to determine the most important costs and benefits of digital meter traffic for the Netherlands as a whole.
Transparent model
Through careful analysis, KEMA has selected the 25 most important cost and benefit factors. With the help of a newly developed financial model, the factors have been ascribed to the involved parties. The model is transparent and accurately represents the practical situation. The advantage of this is that it lends structure to the discussion among various parties about smart meters: everyone has the same frame of reference. In addition, the model is flexible and robust enough to allow factors to be added or adapted on the basis of insights provided by other parties. This allows the methodology to be adapted to the individual wishes of parties in the market. You can, for example, have a quick scan performed: what is your company's position?
Profitable
From the results of this project, it appears that large-scale implementation of digital energy meters for the Netherlands is, on whole, very profitable. On the other hand, the advantages and disadvantages are not evenly divided. The benefits appear mostly to go to the consumers in the form of lower energy rates and energy savings. Throughout the Netherlands as a whole, it costs the energy companies income even though they could profit individually from digital meters, for example through customer relations or streamlining of the internal organization. Through policy measures, the government can influence the cost-benefit distribution.
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