The leader of the energy sector, Denmark, is going to increase the digitalization sample in the country through installation of smart meters

Denmark is a leader of the European Union according to many indexes. He energy sector is not an exception. The politicians and energy specialists of this country have very positive approach to creation and installation of new projects and technologies.

The first wind power plant was built exactly in Denmark in 1991 already. Denmark hold a global record witnessing that this country was the first to generate the biggest amount of electricity from wind power plants with regard to total electricity generated in the country. In 2019, the wind power plants generated more than 47% of electrical energy. In general, even 64% of electricity are made from renewable sources in Denmark. Denmark was the first European country to create a data hub for participants in the electricity market.

At present installation of smart meters and creation of smart accounting are receiving especially big attention in Europe. Denmark is not staying behind in this field. The decision to install smart meters was made in Denmark on the national level, i.e. it was decided to install these meters for all the residents. The works were started in 2014 and are planned to be finished until the end of 2020. 3,28 million meters will be replaced in six years. The Danish government expects to reduce electricity use by 2 percent after installation of smart meters, which would mean that average household would save 24 euros a year. The clients, who have appliances using much electricity (e.g., thermal pumps, electromobiles, etc.) will save the most.

However, when the Danish government made a decision to install smart meters on the national level, the most important aspect was not the savings brought by this change, but its contribution to development of smart electrical network. According to the data of 2016, there were 2373 clients in Denmark, who had solar power plants in their households. Some 10 thousand electromobiles have already entered streets of Denmark. As Denmark is fostering some of the most ambitius plan to be the greenest in Europe and not to depend on fossil fuel, it is expected to see these numbers growing rapidly in the future. In order to control such a big number of different sources of energy generation, additional measures have to be undertaken and digital solutions have to be applied. Smart meters are one of the most essential components in the discussion of digitalization of electrical sector. They would enable households to control own energy us and active participation in the electrical market.

Smart meters will also help to optimize the electrical network. According to Mr. Knud Pedersen, Vice President of the Danish energy commission “Ørsted”, smart meters are underlying in the electrical market: “We have to send a message to the clients. And we can do this because we have smart meters” (source – EURACTIV).In addition to information about bills, the companies will receive more technical information, for example, about electricity voltage and supply quality.

The decision to install smart meters in the entire country was also made in Lithuania. The installation is planned in several stages, at first to the clients, who use the biggest quantity of electricity (more than 1000 kWh a year). This stage will start in the beginning of 2021. Later, after 2023, smart meters will be installed for all the clients, whose metrological inspection time will reach the deadline.

New possibilities will open in Lithuania with installation of smart accounting. The users will be able to observe and analyse their use data and thus make rational decisions, how to save. The failures in the electricity distribution network will also be identified and corrected easier with installation of smart meters. There will be no need to go to the place of failure in frequent case – the needed data will be shown on the meter. The troubleshooting time will become shorter for users. The possibility will be created to observe more effectively and remotely fluctuations in voltage, state of network, and to identify illegal use (theft), for which all the users are paying now.

Who will gain more benefit from smart accounting – Denmark or Lithuania? We will be able to compare several years later.