E-distribuzione, Enel Group's Italian electricity distributor, has now installed more than one million smart meters throughout Italy under the framework of its "2.0 Open Meter program". The "Open Meter" plan aims at setting up around 41 million new 2.0 smart meters, of which around 32 million will replace the current first-generation meters, while the remainder will be used for new connections and customer requests.
This programme fits with the EU energy efficiency requirements, which asks EU energy distributors to replace the meters currently in use in Italy (40% of them will be in Sicily, Sardinia and Southern Italy) with new generation meters in order to adopt smart measurement systems. "Open Meter" has been recognised as a project of common interest (PCI) by the EU. In July 2017, the European Investment Bank (EIB) lent the first €500m tranche of a €1bn loan meant to support the "Open Meter" smart meters over the 2017-2021 period.