Poland Smart Grid

According to the draft of Poland’s Energy Law, Poland plans to install smart meters at 80% of end-users by 2026. The process has experienced delays and currently the number of intelligent meters installed constitutes only 5% of the total number of meters in operation (1.3 million).  Among the five Polish Distribution System Operators (DSOs), Energa is the most advanced in Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AM)I implementation and has installed 850.000 meters. Energa plans to invest $0.5 billion in smart grid development by 2020. Tauron has installed 350,000 intelligent meters in Wroclaw (Smart City Wroclaw), and Innogy 100,000 units in Warsaw.  

PGE, the largest DSO, has only begun its first pilot project of 50,000 meters in Bialystok and Lodz.  The initial phase of installing smart meters in Poland took place between 2011-2015, but the process has since slowed. The reason behind this slowdown is a lack of applicable legislation that would obligate DSOs to implement Advanced Metering Infrastructure, and lack of regulator actions enhancing such activities by introducing certain incentives.  The Polish regulator (URE) has published regulation that bans inclusion of smart metering investment costs into distribution tariffs.  

The installation of smart meters for 80% of end-users by 2026 will cost $1.2 billion. The funds obtained from the EU programs for grid infrastructure development by distribution companies can be spent for smart grid development, intelligent meters, grid automatization and energy storage systems construction. The high and medium voltage distribution lines are primarily automated while low voltage systems, which are most commonly found in Poland, still require automation updates.

For more information contact our office in Warsaw, Poland.