Smart metering deployment project presented to the public

On 6 September, Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius (ESO) presented the smart electricity metering deployment project in Lithuania at the public discussion held by the National Energy Regulatory Council (VERT).

Following the legislation of the European Union and Lithuania, which recommends and encourages the deployment of smart metering, ESO aims to install smart electricity meters for household customers consuming more than 1 000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, and all business customers during the period from the end of 2020 till the end of 2023.

The plan is to install smart electricity meters for household customers, who use less than 1 000 kWh of electricity per year, after the expiry of metrological verification of their current meters, i.e. after 2024.

When presenting the smart electricity metering deployment project, the Chairman of the Board and CEO of ESO Mindaugas Keizeris said that in the discussion of the scopes of investments with the VERT, various deployment scenarios were examined, also assessing experience of various European countries.

“The optimal smart meter deployment plan, namely, the installation of about 1.1 million smart meters, which would account for about 90 % of electricity consumed in the ESO network, was selected. Reaching this scope of deployment is planned by the end of 2023, which allows us to achieve the best investment and cost-economic benefits for Lithuania”, says Mindaugas Keizeris, the CEO of ESO.

According to calculations made in the cost-benefit analysis, the average effect of the implementation of the smart metering programme on the distribution component in the electricity tariff may be approximately EUR 0.05 / kWh over the 2020-2037 period under consideration.

Market participants and stakeholders were interested in personal data, cybersecurity aspects, data analytics, tariff components and other issues.

The VERT plans to make the final decision on the smart metering deployment project in Lithuania on 18 September.

Documents presented at the public discussion:

VERT’s assessment of the investment project “Smart electricity metering deployment in Lithuania”

ESO’ presentation of the programme “Smart electricity metering deployment in Lithuania” 

About the smart metering project

When approving the project investments with VERT, a wide range of financial, social and economic benefits to consumers, the distribution network and market empowerment has been discussed and calculated. They can be divided into three main categories:

• Long-term benefits to residents. As many as 450 000 consumers in Europe took part in 100 pilot projects in different countries. The review prepared by the European Smart Meters Industry Group (ESMIG) estimates that, depending on the involvement of consumers in pilot smart metering projects, their savings ranged from 5% to 8.7%. During the pilot project carried out by ESO in 2017, customers used up to 6% less electricity.
• Benefit to Lithuanian economy. Having installed smart meters and capturing consumption every 15 minutes, competition will be enabled, i.e. independent suppliers will be able to better compete for customers - to compete in terms of services, their quality, prices or other individual solutions. A similar transformation took place in the telecommunications sector twenty years ago. The installation of smart meters can be expected to help achieve market competition and dynamics, which will bring the greatest benefit of choice to every Lithuanian consumer.
• More efficient management of the distribution network. Having installed smart meters, ESO will be able to remotely see where and what consumption is illegal, and to promptly take action to stop such activity. Maintenance of the quality of the electricity network will become simpler, investments in the network will be better targeted, also optimizing costs of meter maintenance, the taking of meter readings and other costs currently incurred by ESO.