The European energy system is undergoing, and will continue to in the future, a transition towards a more sustainable energy system. An important part of this will be the deployment of smart energy solutions in the household sector, including smart meters, controls, appliances, and their integration in home networks. This study is in support of the Commission's work related to smart energy solutions in the framework of the SET plan, in particular in understanding methods to develop indicators that can be used to measure progress under the Declaration of Intent for the Action 3.1 on Initiative for Smart solutions for energy consumers. First, 'smart energy solutions' are defined and the type of technologies that this includes are detailed. Once the scope has been established, existing indicators that are able to monitor the levels of deployment of such technologies will be reviewed. This includes indicators being proposed or used by international and Member State level energy agencies and other organisations. It is not intended that this study will comprehensively assess the actual deployment of smart energy solutions across all EU Member States. Instead, selected countries who are more advanced in the deployment of such technologies are considered in more detail. These include France, Switzerland, Ireland, UK, and Sweden. Finally, we review estimates of the potential of demand response in Europe to achieve goals related to energy efficiency, cost savings, and renewable energy penetration.The EU's broad energy policy objectives -as defined in the 2030 Climate and Energy strategy -are security of supply, environment, and competitiveness. In the electricity sector, this will require decarbonisation of electricity generation and reducing primary energy consumption. The increased use of smart energy solutions (SES) is one measure that can contribute to achieving those goals. "The widespread use of smart [energy] solutions should not be a goal itself, but rather be seen as a tool amongst many" [1] to achieve the overall objectives. SES are expected to support the ongoing shift on the supply side towards more renewable generation, both on the central grid system and also in distributed systems. SES could also provide consumers with ways to reduce costs in multiple ways: by shifting demand; through improved information and automation to optimize energy use; and through a move towards being prosumers.
2/From the policy maker's perspective, there needs to be a distinction between the technical feasibility -technical components installed, smart energy solutions technically possible -and the actual contribution of smart energy solutions to the wider electricity supply system -cost of installing and running smart energy solutions against savings achieved.Accomplishing this will require a regulatory framework that promotes demand response and energy efficiency services, where the availability of real-time information and secure handling of data is guaranteed to consumers. It will also require an improved understanding of how co...
