In Belgium, the issue of dual-flow meters, also known as smart meters, has been the subject of debate and gradual implementation. Here are some of the reasons why the installation of dual-flow meters has been encouraged or implemented in Belgium:
- Promoting renewable energies: Belgium, like many other European countries, is encouraging the transition to renewable energies. Dual-flow meters measure the production of electricity from renewable sources such as solar power, helping to support and integrate these sources into the grid.
- Consumption management: Dual-flow meters offer greater visibility of how electricity is consumed and generated. This enables authorities to better understand consumption patterns and implement policies to reduce demand at peak times.
- Encouraging self-consumption: The installation of dual-flow meters promotes self-consumption, encouraging consumers to use the electricity they produce locally. This may be particularly relevant for households equipped with solar panels.
- Advantageous pricing: Certain pricing mechanisms, such as compensation for energy produced and fed into the grid, are easier to implement with dual-flow meters. This can encourage more people to invest in renewable energy installations.
- Modernizing the electricity grid: dual-flow meters are an integral part of initiatives to modernize the electricity grid in Belgium. They enable more efficient network management, rapid fault detection and better adaptation to emerging technologies.
- Social justice : An argument that is often overlooked, non-owners of solar panels have to contribute more to improving the Walloon electricity grid than owners of solar panels if there is no dual-flow meter. If we don't take into account the actual use of the network thanks to these new meters! Indeed, there is now a prosumer royalty for economic equity.
It should be noted that the installation of dual-flow meters in Belgium has not been without controversy, and concerns have been raised about privacy, data security and other issues related to smart meter technology. Nevertheless, these meters continue to be deployed as part of efforts
to make the Belgian energy system smarter, more sustainable and, above all, fairer to other grid users who have to pay for improvements to the overall power grid even though they don't have solar panels...
