Italy
Description: National Market
Metering Conditions: (regulated, competitive, by network businesses etc.)
Gas meters are provided by the distribution businesses (as of 1st July 2009), of which there are more than 200. The largest is ENI/Italgas, which has 30% of the market.
25% of the distribution businesses are multi-utility organisations. The local and municipal utilities are beginning to consolidate as external players such as E.On and Gas Natural enter the market.
Population:
Households:
Meter Populations:
Electricity:
- Total:
- Domestic:
- Industrial/Commercial:
- Prepayment:
Gas:
- Total:
- Domestic: 18,000,000
- Industrial/Commercial:
- Prepayment:
Water:
- Total:
- Domestic:
- Industrial/Commercial:
- Prepayment:
Heat:
- Total:
- Domestic:
- Industrial/Commercial:
- Prepayment:
Smart Metering Notes: (Collected from a Variety of Sources)
From CEER 4th Benchmarking Study on Electricity Quality:
In Italy, starting from 2009, all smart meters for LV customers must be able to record and collect measurements relevant to slow voltage variations according to EN 50160. It has still to be put under consultation how the monitoring campaign shall be done (for instance: samples of smart meters selected per different criteria: at the end of long LV lines, aerial/cable LV lines, etc.). Furthermore, a “one off” incentive has been introduced for DSOs that will use smart meters and AMM systems, as from 2010, in order to record the number and the list of LV customers involved in each long unplanned interruption.
Gas Smart Meters
The Italian Authority for Electriciy and Gas (AEEG) decreed in October 2008 (AEEG 155/08) that 100% of Commercial and Industrial and 80% of residential gas meters should be capable of remote management. This follows an earlier statement of intent in July 2006.
AEEG defined the high level requirements, meter replacement schedule and penalties for non-compliance. For the largest gas meters, >G40, if 100% of sites are not upgraded to smart by the end of 2010, each site will attract an annual penalty of 54 Euros.
At a residential level there are phased targets for roll out:
- 2012 – 5% – 4 Euro penalty per meter per year
- 2013 – 20% – 4 Euro
- 2014 – 40% – 4 Euro
- 2015 – 60% – 4 Euro
- 2016 – 80% – 4 Euro
The high level requirements include use of open standards, inteoperability for the meter and concentrator and the following detailed requirements:
- Measurement of 3 configurable tariff bands
- Remote upgrade of software
- End to end encryption and authentication
- Time synchronisation
- For domestic meters:
- consumption will be measured on a daily basis
- all will feature a valve capable of local and remote control
- meters will support the use of a local display unit, or alternatively, the customer can access their data via the internet
- all will feature temperature compensation
- pressure compensation is not mandatory
The Italian gas metering industry looked at the opportunity to link their meters to the existing ENEL Telegestore solution, but as this uses proprietary protocols, it was not seen as a valid solution, and the industry is seeking a gas-only solution. AEEG has guaranteed cost neutrality.
Are anticipating a need to swap the batteries in gas meters once in the 15 year asset life.
Have found issues with pilot exercise in locating the concentrators – very expensive to make use of cellular masts.
Detailed techinical specification work is being undertaken by the national standards body UNI and Comitano Italiano Gas. Two working groups, looking at system and meter, have been established. The specification (UNI/TS 11291) has been split into 9 parts, with gas meters classified into three groups:
- above G40
- G10 to G40
- below G10
DLMS is being proposed across the gas metering market.
The residentail radio standard (meter to concentrator) is being considered, likely to be subject to a significant field test, after a desktop exercise using a 22 point checklist failed to determine the most appropriate solution. All of the technologies work, but Wireless M-Bus and Wavenis scored highest during the evaluation.
Other Notes
Italy is at the fore-front of European smart grid technology and deployment. Digital smart meters have been compulsory for all electricity providers since 2006. The government’s timetable is for 65% of customers of the approximately 100 electricity companies to be on smart meters by 2009, 90% by 2010 and 95% by 2011.
The world’s largest smart meter deployment was carried out by the utility Enel which had provided meters to 27 million customers by 2005; only a further two million meters need to be replaced. The meters use Broadband Power Line (BPL) technology to communicate with Enel’s servers, enabling the company to turn power on or off remotely, read usage information, detect outages, and change billing plans. The €2.1 billion capex provides annual cost savings of some €500 million – an extraordinary return on investment within five years. Enel also provides a mobile connection to meters as part of its smart grid.
A2A in Milan is also extending smart meters to its gas network.
