Smart meter communication standards in Europe – a comparison

Smart grids and smart meters are central for the integration of distributed, renewable electricity generation. For smart grids to operate smoothly, technology standards are essential. In Europe, a multitude of different standards have been developed, making standard selection a complex task for electric utilities. With this paper we make three contributions: firstly, we identify 17 wired and wireless communication standards for smart metering in Europe. Secondly, we develop and describe a comprehensive set of technical and non-technical criteria for standard selection. Finally, we compare the existing standards against these criteria. We find that none of the standards is superior in all aspects, resulting in major trade-offs for decision makers. Moreover, we reveal the competing nature and missing interoperability of standards, which makes a seamless integration of smart grids across different regions difficult and poses major challenges for the development of complementary smart grid technologies.