Europe Smart Meter Market Outlook 2027

Germany’s path to smart metering is long and vigorous, with a unique tailored rollout strategy to avoid pitfalls that are largely faced by new adopters. Germany has a decentralized energy supply system that lures in smart meters for future smart grid pursuits. National Cyber Security Centre which is part of Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) along with industry experts have developed smart metering infrastructure across European region. It is separate from Internet of Things and uses a secure system, that only authorized paties such as energy supplier and network companies have access to. Personal details are never stored in these smart meters. EON was the first energy supplier in Germany to install 20,000 smart meters with AMI technology in 2020. However, Germany lags behind in smart meter installations as compared to Sweden where EON organized first roll out of 1 Lakh smart meters during 2004-2009 and will rise over the forecast period as well. 2.5 million Units have been already installed in United Kingdom. Further, the German smart meter rollout plan states that every meter should be a smart meter by the end of 2032.

According to the report title Europe Smart Meter Market Outlook, 2027 the Smart Meter market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 5.54% during the forecast period. Globally Germany ranks third in the smart meter market and expected to reach value of USD 1.23 Billion by the end of 2027. Markets in Germany and France are developed while Russia is rapidly adapting to smart meters during the forecast period. After successful adoption of smart electric meters by residential users across Europe, the trend is now followed by adoption of smart water meters, to avoid wastage or overuse of water and ultimately save these scarce resources. AMR meters were rapidly replaced by the AMI technology meters at a CAGR of 7.61% during the historic period across Europe region. 81% of the market share is occupied by the residential users while commercial users are gaining traction in the market towards smart electric meters. Varied software’s and applications are being developed by utility providers to ease the access and give more functionality to the users.

Communications are made easy now a day with the help of utility back office through wireless connectivity. The 3GPP based LPWA connectivity services have bolstered the growth of smart meters drastically across Europe during the past years. NB-IOT and LTE-M communications have now entered into commercial smart meter markets in the European markets and further are expected to grow over the future years. The future belongs to 5G technology and millions of sensory connectors that too in a limited space area. This technology is proving to be a major booster for water smart meters that will enable real time consumption readings, detect network failures and leaks earlier so that it can be resolved faster. The communication process between the user and the utility provider would be quicker than before. One of the recent partnerships was formed between telco Orange, and Valencia Water Company, Global Omnium and 5G R&D Company Fivecomm. In Italy RF 169 MHz networks are largely used as they use less energy over GPR. However, a leading company Fortuna in Italy is expected to change this as NB-IOT in the coming years due to its ability to provide long distance range connectivity. The company also expects that 5G technology will bring in new opportunities within the communications and smart meter projects. It will result into fast smart meter data telemetry and support the growth of smart cities.

Nearly 150 Million smart electric meters were installed across European homes by the end of 2020 with 49% penetration rate. Further it is expected to cross 250 million units by 2027. The European smart gas meter market will increase to 70 million units by 2027. It is expected that 80% of European consumers will have smart electric meter installed and 45% will have smart gas meter installed by 2027. Currently the cost of installing a smart meter is around European Pound 180 to 200. According to a survey, a smart electric meters saves European pounds 270 and for gas European Pounds 230 with an average energy savings of 2% to 10%. Hydrogen is capable of de-carbonization, as a result of which the companies are leveraging existing gas infrastructure with it. At present the smart gas meters measure when 10% hydrogen is there. New smart gas meters are expected to be rolled out in the market in coming years to read when 100% hydrogen.

COVID-19 pandemic has decelerated the growth of the smart meters due to the implement of lockdown in almost all the major countries and halt the non-essential operations. This adversely affected the smart meters owing to less focus on development of end user’s industry. Apart from this, manufacturing and supply chain delays were also witnessed which poised a challenge to the smart meters. Manpower that is required for initial layout of meters and installations carried out was also affected as movement of people was restricted. A number of smart gas rollout projects had a breakdown due to covid-19 pandemic but after the situations smoothen up the companies are extensively working to meet the targets set by governments and the European Commission.

Major Companies present in the market:

Kamstrup A/S, Aclara Technologies LLC, Osaki Electric Co. (Edmi), Holley Technology Ltd, ZPA Smart Energy, Secure Meter Limited, Xemex, EMH Metering GmbH & Co. KG, KAMSTRUP A/S, Schneider Electric SE, Landis+Gyr, Itron Inc., Siemens AG, Badger Meter, Inc., Xylem Inc. (Sensus), Honeywell International Limited (Smart Energy), Diehl Stiftung & Co. KG, Zenner International GmbH & Co. KG

Considered in this report

• Geography: Europe
• Historic Year: 2016
• Base year: 2021
• Estimated year: 2022
• Forecast year: 2027

Aspects covered in this report

• Europe Smart Meter market with its value and forecast along with its segments
• Country wise market analysis
• Various drivers and challenges
• On-going trends and developments
• Top profiled companies
• Strategic recommendation

Countries covered in the report

• Germany
• United Kingdom
• France
• Italy
• Spain
• Russia

By Type of Smart Meter in the report:

• Electricity Meter
• Gas Meter
• Water Meter

By End User of Solid-State Drive in the report:

• Residential
• Industrial
• Commercial

By Technology in the report:

• Automotive Meter Reading
• Advanced Metering infrastructure

By Component in the report:

• Hardware
• Software & Services

By Phase in the report:

• Single Phase
• Three Phase

By Communication Type in the report:

• Cellular Technology
• Radio Frequency
• Power Line communication
• Other Communication Types

The approach of the report:

This report consists of a combined approach of primary as well as secondary research. Initially, secondary research was used to get an understanding of the market and listing out the companies that are present in the market. The secondary research consists of third party sources such as press releases, annual report of companies, analysing the government generated reports and databases. After gathering the data from secondary sources primary research was conducted by making telephonic interviews with the leading players about how the market is functioning. Post this we have started doing primary calls to industry people by equally segmenting in regional aspects, tier aspects, age group, and gender. Once we have primary data with us we have started verifying the details obtained from secondary sources.

Intended audience

This report can be useful to industry manufactures, consultants, Key vendors related to Smart meter & Utility providers etc. In addition to marketing & presentations, it will also increase competitive knowledge about the industry.