Response 2010 Country reports: Belgium -Dromacque, C., VaasaETT

Respond 2010

Country Reports Belgium

By Christophe Dromacque, VaasaETT.

2010 VaasaETT and EEE ltd.

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Respond 2010

Contents 1.

Key points................................................................................................................. 3

2.

Market structure........................................................................................................ 5 2.1. Generation Mix .................................................................................................. 5 2.2. Trading partners ................................................................................................. 6 2.3. Deregulation and current regulatory structure ................................................... 6 2.4. Peak Load........................................................................................................... 7 2.5. Price Level ......................................................................................................... 7 2.6. Market Concentration and Switching Level ...................................................... 8

3.

Climate Change Regulation...................................................................................... 8 3.1. Federal Level ..................................................................................................... 8 3.2. Flanders.............................................................................................................. 8 3.3. Wallonia............................................................................................................. 9

4.

Status of Smart Metering........................................................................................ 10 4.1. Flanders............................................................................................................ 10 4.2. Wallonia........................................................................................................... 11 4.3. Brussels ............................................................................................................ 12

5.

Pilots ....................................................................................................................... 13 5.1. Flanders............................................................................................................ 13 5.2. Wallonia........................................................................................................... 14 5.3. Brussels ............................................................................................................ 14

References ...................................................................................................................... 15

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Respond 2010

Belgium

1. Key points Belgium is densely populated and heavily industrialized. It has a population of 10.5 million and the number of households is 4.6 million. There are about 5.4 million electricity meters in the country. The Kingdom of Belgium is a federation of three Regions (Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels) with three national languages, of which Dutch and French are predominant. The Regions enjoy a high level of autonomy; the regional governments can vote their own laws and energy policy is organized as a system of shared authority between the federal government and the regions. The national electrical energy demand in 2008 was 86.1 TWh and production amounted to 77.1 TWh. The average domestic consumption is estimated at 3,500 kWh a year per household; which is comparable to its direct neighbors. In 2008, about 56% of the electricity was generated from nuclear, 30% from natural gas, 9% from coal, 2% from Hydro and the remaining 3% from renewable, fuel and other. The installed capacity was 16.670 MW. The Belgian market is highly concentrated and is dominated

by Electrabel which sold about 73% of the electricity sold in the Kingdom in 2008. Switching levels vary widely across the three regions; Wallonia had an annual rate of switching of about 10% whereas Brussels' stood at 6.2% and Flanders' at 5.65% in 2009. Residential electricity prices in Brussels are traditionally amongst the highest of the EU-15 capital cities, in April 2010 they stood at 21.54 câ‚Ź per kWh with only inhabitants of Berlin and Copenhagen paying higher prices. The system of shared authority between the federal government and the regions can also be observed in the organization of the energy market. A federal regulatory commission CREG (Committee for Regulation of Electricity and Gas) had been created in 2000 in order to monitor the electricity and gas markets. In addition, each of the three regions has its own regulator; VREG in Flanders, CWAPE in Wallonia and BRUGEL in Brussels.

Though the federal regulator’s mandate has been extended in July 2008, regional regulators stay largely responsible for setting up regional policies. As a result, there have been major differences in the speed at which the regional markets opened to competition and in the degree of advancement of smart

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Respond 2010 metering legislation. The first market to fully open to competition was Flanders in July 2003 whereas Wallonia and Brussels opened their residential markets later in January 2007.

Regional governments are responsible for mandating Smart Meter roll-out and decide on legal requirements after recommendations from their respective regional regulators. This also led to major differences in how fast the three markets are adapting their legislation. While Flanders already has plans for mass roll-out, the regulators in Brussels and Wallonia are likely to wait until the EU sets its own standards possibly in 2011 before taking any firm decision.

Since DNOs own and are responsible for data collection, they will be in charge of the roll-out.

A few pilots are being organized locally and cost-benefit analyses have been commissioned. Brussels’ network operator Sibelga estimates that the cost of replacing traditional electricity and gas meters with smart meters will amount to €400 per household. The investment will be paid for through an increase in the distribution tariff paid by residential customers ranging from €25 to €50 per year and per household. Kema, a consultancy owned by Dutch Utilities, was commissioned by the Flemish regulator to perform a cost-benefit analysis of the financial feasibility of the introduction of smart meters in the region. The results released in July 2008 showed a negative business case of €3891 million. In April 2009, historical telecom operator Belgacom commissioned Kema announced to perform a similar study for the other two regions. The results was a negative business case of €170 million over 20 years and the net cost of replacing 1 million meters estimated at €342 million for the Brussels region. Though the results of Kema for Wallonia have not be published; a negative business case is probable. Furthermore, the underlying hypotheses of the Kema’s studies have been widely criticized and Brugel decided not to endorse the results. Later, a study conducted by Flemish network operator Eandis estimated the total cost of developing a smart meter infrastructure at a federal level at €3 billion broken down as such: €1.5 billion for Flanders, €0.5 billion for Brussels and €1 billion for Wallonia.

Whereas Flanders is expected to have its smart meter roll-out completed by 2018; regulators, customer associations and politicians are debating some issues in the other two regions. First, the deployment of smart meters and the accompanying infrastructure is seen as extremely costly and the business cases so far have been negative. Second, the cost will be passed on from the DNOs to final consumers which place politicians in a delicate spot. Third, regulators seem to think that sophisticated smart meters are neither cost effective nor essentials to develop a smart grid and that judging from experiences outside Belgium, sophisticated smart meters fail to deliver awaited benefits. Fourth, there are concerns about the privacy of customers should the meters be read at frequent intervals and the misuse of data this could lead to.

Finally, customers will face unpredictably large electricity bills during the winter months which are currently averaged out slightly over the year. All these different issues are regularly debated in the press and the parliaments and explain why the legislation is moving slowly. To summarize, it is likely that Demand side management programmes will be implemented at a different pace within the country. While Flanders should have sophisticated Smart Meters rolled-out by 2018 and will be capable of developing Demand Response schemes, the other two regions will probably have to wait some more years and much will depend upon the decision of the Regulators 1 KEMA Nederland B.V., Resultaten van een kosten-batenanalyse naar de invoering van ‘slimme meters’ in Vlaanderen, - FINAAL RAPPORT, July 2008.

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Respond 2010 regarding the degree of sophistication of the meters. Even though Belgium would be one of the country which would benefit the most due to its lack of peak capacity, involving end-customers through Demand side management schemes seems not to be seen as one of the best option by these two regions' regulators due to the sizeable investment it would require.

2. Market structure Belgian electricity market in 2008

Number of electricity meters

5.4 million

Installed Capacity (in MW)

16,670

Electricity demand (in TWh)

86.1

Electricity production (in TWh)

77.1

Average residential Consumption (in kWh)

3,500

2.1.

Generation Mix

In 2008, about 56% of the electricity was generated from nuclear, 30% from natural gas, 9% from coal, 2% from Hydro and the remaining 3% from renewables, other fossil fuel and other. The installed capacity was 16,670 MW. As of December 31st 2008, investments in new electricity generation comprised 1,573 MW under construction, 1,057 MW approved and 3,775 MW planned. As in other European countries, most of the added generation will consist of gas-fired plants and renewables.

In January 2003, an Act was passed barring the construction of any new nuclear plants in Belgium and establishing a limit of 40 years for the operating lives of Belgian reactors. Given the year construction of the country’s reactors (1975 to 1985), the law anticipates the closure all operating reactors between 2015 and 2025. The closure schedule appeared impractical and expensive to achieve given the share of nuclear power in the Belgian energy mix (56%). The law includes force majeure clauses that allow operation beyond the nominal closure dates. The Government has decided to delay by 10 years the first stage of phasing out nuclear plants. However, no new nuclear plant is yet projected and the law of 2003 is still the formal stance of the government. Media information campaigns and other coverage seem to be aiming at preparing public opinion in favor of revoking that law, which would open the way to an extended operating life of the ageing reactors and possibly the construction of

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Respond 2010 new ones.

2.2.

Trading partners

In 2008, Belgium was a net importer of electricity. Net imports amounted to approximately 10.6 TWh, up 4 TWh compared to 2007 and roughly equal to 2006. Imports increased from 15.7 TWh in 2007 to 17.7 TWh in 2008 whereas exports decreased from 9 TWh in 2007 to 6.6 TWh in 2008. This situation can partly be explained by a high level of power plant unavailability in 2008 and the import of up to 35% of the country’s peak load in March and April.

The limited amount of producers after the opening up of the national electricity market has led to the creation of Belpex, Belgium’s exchange for power and derivatives in November 2006. Belpex is a short term, physical power exchange for the delivery and off-take of electricity on the Belgian hub.

Belpex facilitates anonymous, cleared trading in 3 different market segments, day-ahead, continuous day-ahead and continuous intraday. Belpex’s dayahead market segment is coupled with its two neighbors, APX in the Netherlands and Powernext in France. In 2008, the three markets quoted the same day-ahead market price in 84% of the time. Belpex’ shareholders are the Belgian transmission system operator Elia, Dutch energy exchange APX, French energy exchange Powernext, the Dutch transmission system operator TenneT and the French transmission system operator RTE. Elia is the majority shareholder with a participation of 60%. APX, Powernext, TenneT and RTE hold each 10%. Belpex traded 11.1 TWh in 2008 corresponding to 12.6% of the national consumption up from 7.6 TWh or 8.5% of the national consumption in 2007. Prices in 2008 increased by 67% and averaged € 70.6 per MWh but later decreased due to the economic crisis and slower economic activity. In March 2009, Belpex started the Green Certificates Exchange. This market trades green certificates, combined heat and power certificates with or without guarantees of origin. Over 6,300 certificates were traded in this first month of operation.

2.3.

Deregulation and current regulatory structure

The federal law of April 29, 1999 transposing the EU Directive 96/92 into Belgian law defined the first general framework for the opening of the Belgian electricity and gas market. This was put into effect in different phases through subsequent executive decrees on issues such as access conditions for third parties to the transmission network, and all regulatory aspects. The three regions of Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels have transposed the European Directive for electricity and gas markets deregulation at different periods of time between 2000 and 2004. Flanders fully opened its market to competition in July 2003, Wallonia and Brussels in January 2007. Under the special act of 8th August 1988, the federal government became responsible for “matters, which, owing to their technical and economic indivisibility, require equal treatment at national level”. A federal regulatory commission CREG (Committee for Regulation of Electricity and Gas) had been set up in 2000 in order to monitor the electricity and gas markets. It advises the Belgian authorities on the structure and operation of the liberalized electricity and gas markets and monitors the application and efficiency of relevant laws and regulations. A General Council, consisting of representatives of the federal and regional governments and major trade associations, and of producers, distributors and

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Respond 2010 consumers, monitors the Creg’s operation in its turn. In the federal laws of 2005, Creg’s mission became somewhat reduced in favor of the Federal Ministry’s Energy Administration.

Each of the three regions set up its respective regulatory commission, namely Vreg in Flanders, Cwape in Wallonia and Brugel in Brussels. In addition to supervising the operation of the electricity market, these institutions also issue supply licenses, authorize cogeneration and power generating facilities, including renewable energy, and issue and manage green power certificates.

The Federal Government is responsible for the overall tariffs, including for using the transmission and distribution networks, the production and the transmission of electricity at a voltage level above 70 kV, and classic and nuclear production of electricity, as well as all matters pertaining to Belgium’s offshore exclusive economic zone such as wind farms in the North Sea. The regional legislatures of Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels have the competency to regulate distribution and local transmission of electricity over networks with a voltage level less than or equal to 70 kV. They establish the technical legislation regulating the distribution networks up to 70 kV (including smart metering and smart gird) and define the eligibility conditions for customers connected to this grid, mostly SMEs and households. They are also responsible for policies on renewable energy (except for offshore wind farms) and on the rational use of energy. This dispersion of powers has resulted in major differences in the speed at which the regional markets have opened to competition, in the level of market activities and in the degree of advancement in smart metering legislation.

2.4.

Peak Load

Belgium experienced in 2008 a high level of power plant unavailability and had to import up to 35% of its peak load in March and April. As a result, the country’s theoretical margin stood at 18% and was the lowest of the EU, its real margin as measured by the percentage difference between its real generation capacity and the peak load was also EU’s lowest at -13%. The peak load for 2008 occurred on January 16th at 13.435 MW and was slightly lower than the highest consumption in 2007.

2.5.

Price Level

Retail electricity prices are free and distribution prices have to be approved by the federal regulator and set according to a revenue cap system. Belgium has 25 DNOs, often municipally owned which act as a monopoly in their geographical area. Each of them has its own distribution price which ranged from €c 5.08 per kWh to €c 11.28 per kWh in 2010. Electricity prices in Brussels are traditionally amongst the highest of the EU-15 capital cities, in April 2010 they stood at 21.54 c€ per kWh with only inhabitants of Berlin and Copenhagen paying higher prices. Electricity represented 40% of the total price, distribution 37% and the remaining 23% were made up of energy taxes and VAT. Each of the three regulators publishes on its website a price comparator listing all available contracts to residential customers in their respective jurisdiction.

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Respond 2010 2.6.

Market Concentration and Switching Level

The Belgian electricity market is highly concentrated and dominated by Electrabel which sold about 73% of the electricity sold in the Kingdom in 2008.

As of January 2009, Electrabel was supplying about 66% of residential customers and 73% of I&C customers. Customer switching levels vary widely across the three regions; in 2009, Wallonia had one of the annual rate of switching in Europe at about 10% whereas Brussels' was at 6.2% and Flanders' at 5.65%. All three regions saw an increase in the number of switch between 2008 and 2009.

3. Climate Change Regulation Many lucrative fiscal incentives have been set in place to promote generating electricity from photovoltaic, wind and other renewable sources.

3.1.

Federal Level

The Royal Decree on the promotion of electricity produced from renewable energy sources was adopted in July 2002 and came into force July 1st 2003. It addresses two fundamental issues: first, it sets the conditions for issuing green certificates by the federal regulator (Creg) for offshore wind energy production, and second, it states that the grid operator is obliged to buy green certificates issued anywhere in Belgium at minimum prices of €90/MWh for offshore wind energy, €50/MWh for onshore wind energy, €50/MWh for hydro, €150/MWh for solar energy and €20/MWh for biomass. The monitored green certificates are valid for five years and are not associated to fixed quotas. Later modified by the Royal Decree of October 2005, minimum prices for off-shore wind are currently €107/MWh for energy produced by first installed capacity up to 216 MW for each concession, and €90/MWh for additional capacity.

3.2.

Flanders

The government of Flanders adopted the second Flemish Climate Policy Plan in July 20062, covering the 2006-12 period. The plan has four objectives; achieving the Flemish Kyoto target; elaborating the regional vision and strategy 2 Departement Leefmilieu, Natuur en Energie. Afdeling Milieu-integratie en -subsidiëringen. Dienst Interne Milieuzorg, July 2006.

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Respond 2010 for climate policy in the short, medium and long term; establishing the basis for achieving further emissions reductions post-2012 and continuing to develop new climate policy instruments. The plan announces various measures which should fulfill approximately 80% of the emissions reductions targeted by Flanders. The rest of the emissions reduction will be acquired using flexibility mechanisms. The plan identifies three priorities: making transport more sustainable and environmentally friendly, improving energy efficiency in buildings, and promoting the use of renewable and low-carbon energy sources. The plan also calls for more extensive use of renewable and lowcarbon energy sources for electricity and heat generation. Measures are called for to meet a previously established target of 6% of electricity generated from renewable energy sources by 2010. Electricity suppliers are obliged to provide minimum amounts of electricity from renewable energy sources and to submit renewable energy certificates as proof. The plan has been allocated a budget worth €1.5 billion.

As of January 2006, a new green certificate scheme is in place to encourage the production of electricity from solar photovoltaic (PV). The Act establishes a fixed price for every tradable green certificate issued for solar electricity for 20 years from the date of the solar PV installation. This is valid for electricity produced by solar photovoltaic installations taken in service after December 31th, 2005. The green certificates can be sold to the grid operators who are obliged to pay a fixed price per certificate.

3.3.

Wallonia

A framework-decree of the Walloon government on April 12th, 2001 on the liberalization of the electricity market foresaw the creation of funds to encourage the rational use of energy, financed by a charge imposed on the grid manager and the introduction of a green certificate market to encourage the renewable production of electricity. In its implementing decree of July 2002, the Walloon government established a target of 7% of electricity demand to be met from renewable sources in 2007 up from 3% in 2003. In the following years, the percentage is to increase annually by 1%, reaching 8% in 2008 and 12% by 2012. Each quarter, a producer of green-certified electricity receives an amount of green certificates proportional to the green electricity production and the rate of CO2 offset relative to the CO2 emissions of a gas vapor turbine for the same amount of electricity. Each quarter, an electricity supplier must surrender a quota of green certificates corresponding to its total supply of electricity to the Cwape. In the event of non-compliance with the quota obligation, the supplier will be fined €100 per missing green certificate, a sum which will then be deposited into the Energy Fund. Green electricity producers may sell their certificates to the Energy Authority at a minimum price of €65 per certificate. The Walloon regulator certifies the quota obligation every three months and publishes information about green certificates. Additionally, the Walloon government may allow green electricity producers the choice to participate in the green certificates system or to benefit from a government support system at €65/MWh. This support for green electricity production is financed by the Energy Fund.

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Respond 2010

4. Status of Smart Metering Smart metering policies are decided regionally; as a result whereas Flanders should have completed its smart meter roll-out by 2018, Brugel and Cwape seem to be more reluctant to take any binding decisions and proved extremely careful in their approach. The Walloon regulator has issued recommendations regarding meters’ minimal and maximal requirements and designed a road map that is supposed to soon be submitted to the local parliament. Brugel has issued recommendations and launched a pilot project which came across some difficulties and confirmed its view that it would be risky to rush decisions.

Though both regulators agree on the importance of having a smart grid, they consider sophisticated smart meters as nice-to-have but not essential devises.

In their view, basic smart meters allowing basic remote operations would deliver most of the benefits and be more cost effective. It is unlikely that the two regulators take any final decision before the EU sets its own standards and requirements possibly in 2011.

4.1.

Flanders

Flanders is the region with the most meters in Belgium (4 million electricity and gas meters). It also has the most advanced smart meter roll-out plan of the Kingdom. Network operators Eandis together with Infrax and PBE have already set a detailed timeframe for smart meter deployment which was accepted by the Vreg and registered a patent for an advanced custom-made meter which will enable real-time measurements.

The project will be organized in three stages: 1.

2009-2010: pilot project: installation of 4,000 meters during which communication technologies will be tested. VREG is animating a platform that reunites all relevant stakeholders. This platform will be involved in the decisions on the functionalities of the meters that will be used in phase 2 of the pilot.

2.

2011-2013: roll-out pilot: deployment of 40,000 meters.

Customers will start being involved at this stage through Smart Meter enabled demand side management programmes.

3.

2014-2018 : mass roll-out: 4,000,000 meters equivalent to 4,000 meters installed each day In order to facilitate data handling, Eandis also proposed the creation of a regional or federal "clearinghouse", a data base in which data collected from the meters would be standardized and exchanged amongst the energy market's participants (DNO, retailers, regulators‌) thus easing the exchange of a huge amount of data.

In July 2008, Kema released the results of a study commissioned by Vreg. The study gathered data on the costs and benefits of setting up a large-scale smart gas and electricity metering infrastructure in the region. On the basis of the assumptions used, the initial cost benefit findings were discouraging; the introduction of smart meters in Flanders would have a negative impact of â‚Ź389 million. However, it is important to note that estimated values had to be used for a number of the model parameters and that the study considered solely the DNOs' standpoint.

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Respond 2010 4.2.

Wallonia

The Walloon regulator Cwape stated in December 2008 that "given the considerable investment needed, the decision to implement smart metering requires an in-depth review even though many countries have already chosen this option"3. The regulator has been extremely careful in its smart metering policy and favors a step-by-step approach: 1.

2.

3.

4.

Defining the meter functionalities Designing a pilot project in agreement with the DNOs Implementation of the project by the DNOs Draw lessons from the project and send a proposal to the local government

In April 2009, the regulator presented its recommendations for minimal and maximal meter functionalities focusing on finding a good tradeoff between cost and capabilities4: Minimal recommended functionalities: 1. Remote monthly reading to enable accurate monthly billing and unmanned reading.

2. Enables 2-way communication that enables remote disablement and enablement of supply.

Maximal recommended functionalities: 1. Remote hourly or 15-minute reading 2. Support a range of time of use tariffs 3. Remote load control 4. Remote reading of all recorded data 5. Enables communication with the end-customer Cwape feels that a smart grid is the best and most cost-effective way to renovate and modernize its electricity network and sees it as a "must-have". To the contrary, it does not see sophisticated meters as absolutely necessary. The regulator also indicated in a report dated December 2008 that after reviewing studies from various countries, it believes that basic smart meters could deliver most of the benefits at a much lower cost and that, in his view, sophisticated smart meters have failed to deliver the benefits promised by the industry. In the same report, Cwape stresses the fact that smart meters should also be able to read gas data given that the same DNO reads data for both electricity and gas in over 60% of the cases. There are 1.5 million electricity and gas meters in Wallonia. In June 2009, the Walloon regulator announced its intention to bring a set of recommendations for the government to debate; these recommendations will include: -a definition of the minimal requirements for the smart meters (remote monthly reading but still controversial, remote disablement and enablement of supply) and perhaps the provision of monthly billing -80% roll-out by 2018 3 CWaPE, Avis préliminaire de la CWaPE sur l'introduction du « comptage intelligent » en Région wallonne, December 2008.

4 CWaPE, Conference-debat BRUGEL Bruxelles, April 1st 2009,

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Respond 2010 -design of a pilot project -Number of Synthetic Load Profiles -improve ability for DNOs to pilot local networks.

It is unlikely that the regulator will take any decision until pan European norms and standards have been decided upon.

4.3.

Brussels

Though it started a "proof-of-concept" project already in 2007, Brugel's approach to smart metering is similar to Cwape's. It stated in June 2009 that it was necessary to “ensure the investments undertaken are sensible in terms of cost-benefits for the customers”5.

The regulator feels that given the limited size of Brussels' market and the sizeable investment anticipated for the replacement of 1 million electricity and gas meters, it would be ill advised not to wait for the EU to set pan European standards for meter requirements and communication protocols before taking any binding decisions. In its view, developing a dedicated solution for Brussels would be too risky and costly. The regulator also hopes to be able to learn from Sweden and Italy's experiences where smart metering roll-outs have been completed and to analyze standards and projects from other bigger countries such as the Netherlands, Spain, France and Germany. It is therefore unlikely that Brugel will take any binding decision before 2011 at the earliest. Unlike Cwape however, Brugel and the local government together with network operator Silbelga have in December 2007 launched a pilot project planning the installation of 1,000 smart meters. The trial's aim was to test-proof different technologies, check their interoperability and acquire experience with deploying smart meters on a large scale. The project is being conducted together with 3 meter manufacturers, Actaris, Siemens and Landis+Gyr. The first conclusions point to a low level of interoperability between the different devises and various communication problems. It also indicates that the existing infrastructure will have to be partly refurnished before allowing for advanced smart metering and this might result in the installation process taking longer than anticipated6.

Historical telecom operator Belgacom asked Kema to perform a cost-benefit analysis of the financial feasibility of the introduction of smart meters in the region. In April 2009, it announced it found a negative business case of €170 million over 20 years and estimated the net cost of replacing the 1 million meters at €342 million. The conclusions of this study have been widely criticized for the simplifying assumptions and unrealistic estimated values it is seen to have chosen. For instance it excluded the cost of adapting the existing infrastructure in its calculations. Furthermore, depending on the hypotheses, the business case for Brussels varies between -30% and +30% which renders the conclusions quite unreliable. The method has also been criticized because it considers only the DNOs’ standpoint and ignores the benefits to other parties and finally because it was paid for by Belgacom which has an interest in a potential market where telecommunications will be paramount. As a result, 5 Commission de régulation de l’énergie en région de Bruxelles-Capitale, Avis relatif à l’introduction du “smart metering” en Région de Bruxelles-Capitale, 5 june 2009.

6 Sibelga, Premières conclusions des essais de terrain en Région de Bruxelles-Capitale, April 2009.

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Respond 2010 Brugel decided not to endorse the results. Network operator Sibelga estimates the cost of replacing traditional electricity and gas meters with smart meters to amount to €400 per household. The investment will be paid for through an increase in the distribution tariff paid by residential customers ranging from €25 to €50 per year and per household. A study by Flemish network operator Eandis estimates the total cost of developing a smart meter infrastructure in Brussels at €0.5 billion.

5. Pilots 5.1.

Flanders

Flanders is the region with the most meters in Belgium (4 million electricity and gas meters). It also has the most advanced smart meter roll-out plan of the Kingdom. Network operators Eandis together with Infrax and PBE have already set a detailed timeframe for smart meter deployment and registered a patent for an advanced custom-made meter which will enable real-time measurements.

The project will be organized in three stages: 1. 2009-2010: pilot project: installation of 4,000 meters during which meter functionalities will be decided upon and tested with a focus on communication technologies. Grid operators are currently preparing the specifications that the meter suppliers will have to deliver; 2. 2011-2013: roll-out pilot: deployment of 40,000 meters. Customers will start being involved at this stage through Smart Meter enabled demand side management programmes; 3. 2014-2018 : mass roll-out: 4,000,000 meters equivalent to 4,000 meters installed each day.

The pilot project has started only recently and topographic surveys have been made, the results are currently being analyzed. The equipment will then be commissioned and the installation of 4,000 residential meters should start during the second quarter of 2010. The first stage of the pilot will focus on on-site technical tests and installation procedures. The cost of the project for the first two stages is estimated at €135 million whereas the total cost of replacing 2.5 million electricity and 1.5 million gas meters is estimated at €1.5 billion. The meters being tested incorporate GPRS and PLC communication technologies. In order to facilitate data handling, Eandis proposed to create a regional or federal “clearinghouse”, a data base in which data between the energy market participants (DNO, retailers, regulators…) would be standardized and exchanged thus easing the handling of huge amount of data.

The first demand response pilot taking place in Belgium was launched in October 2007 by telecom operator Belgacom and energy supplier Nuon. The pilot involved 150 residential electricity and gas customers. Participants were volunteers and could signal their willingness to participate by signing a "smart metering" contract after what a smart meter was installed and access codes provided. Unlike other pilots taking place in Belgium, at least until now, which

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Respond 2010 focus on potential technical issues and the installation processes, the "Smart Meter" scheme as the pilot was named aimed at creating substantial energy savings thanks to real-time control of energy consumption.

Belgacom provided the end-to-end solution, including measuring devices, the requisite software and the application which can be consulted over the Internet to determine the level of usage. In practice, the sensors installed in the households communicate in real time with the data processing center over the operator’s network. Customers can consult their electricity and gas usage levels via a secure Web page and can also receive custom alerts by SMS or email. Graphs comparing historical with current consumption are available and once the system will have allowed for the collection of enough data, participants will be able to compare their consumption with that of similar households. Participants to this programme enjoy night tariffs (lower) for electricity on Wednesday afternoons and on weekends and lower gas tariffs on weekends. Results of feedback on consumption have not yet been made available.

5.2.

Wallonia

Network operator Ores recently announced its intention to set up a field test involving the installation of 1,500 smart meters. The project will not focus on the meters capabilities but on potential communication problems as well as issues that may arise during large scale deployment.

5.3.

Brussels

Sibelga together with Brugel and the local government decided to launch a "proof-of-concept" project in autumn 2007 and started a call for tender. In spring 2008, three meter manufacturers namely Actaris, Siemens and Landis+Gyr were chosen to install 1,000 meters. The trial did not aim at assessing the cost of the meter deployment but focused instead on testing the readiness of the market participants, the interoperability between the different technologies and communication protocols, the suitability of the existing network, acquire know-how in installing the new meters and finally on assessing technical issues that may arise during the full scale roll-out. In autumn, the installation of smart electricity meters based on CPL and GPRS technologies started. In 2009, the meter manufacturers' complete solutions, meter and IT infrastructure, were integrated and tested by Sibelga.

At the end of 2009, Sibelga announced intermediary results: •

• • •

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The installation of the meters proved to be more challenging than anticipated due to the unsuited existing infrastructure. The difficulty to access some meters, the lack of experience and preparation of the installers led to the installation of about 200 meters instead of 1,000 planned; Interoperability problems between the different solutions have been uncovered due to incompatible standards; GRPS network proved unreliable in some places making real-time information exchange impossible; The existing infrastructure such as meter banks will need to be updated adding to the cost of deployment;

Respond 2010 • •

PLC suffers from losses of reliability on a 230 volts network; On the positive side, remote load control tests have been performed with success

More results will be made available in 2010.

References BRUGEL, AVIS-20090605-075 relatif à l’introduction du “smart metering” en Région de BruxellesCapitale, June 2009.

CREG Rapport Annuel 2009 de la Belgique à la Commission Européenne, July 2009.

Brussels Parliament, Compte rendu intégral des interpellations et des questions orales, February 2010.

CWAPE, Avis Préliminaire CD-8l02CWaPE-220, "l'introduction du "comptage intelligent" en Région wallonne", December 2008.

Cap Gemini, various European Energy Observatory 2009.

Ghigny, F, Smart Presentation given at seminar, April 2009.

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authors, Market

Metering, a Brugel

Respond 2010 Hujoel, L, Premières conclusions des essais de terrain en Région de Bruxelles-Capitale, Presentation given at a Brugel seminar, April 2009.

KEMA Nederland B.V., Resultaten van een kosten-batenanalyse naar de invoering van ‘slimme meters’ in Vlaanderen, - FINAAL RAPPORT, July 2008.

Lewis, Philip E. (2008), World Energy Retail Market Rankings 4th Edition, Utility Customer Switching Research Project, Published by First Data & VaasaETT, July 2008.

National Statistics Office (2010).

Quicheron, M, Brugel, Réflexions sur l’introduction du smart metering à Bruxelles, Presentation given at a Brugel seminar, April 2009.

SIBELGA, Annual report 2009.

VaasaETT, E-Control, Household Energy Price Index, April 2010.

Web Sites Belgacom. http://www.belgacom.com/group/f r/jsp/dynamic/homepage.jsp Belpex. http://www.belpex.be/ Brugel. www.brugel.be CREG. http://www.creg.be/ Cwape. http://www.cwape.be/ Eandis. http://www.eandis.be/eandis/ Electrabel. http://www.electrabel.be/ Kelma. http://www.kelma.com/

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Sibelga. http://www.sibelga.be/ The Environment, Nature and Energy Department www.LNE.be Vreg. http://www.vreg.be/nl/index.asp