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* Electricity production remains uncertain and will depend on numerous factors: the growth of renewable energy and decentralised energy, the renewal of old power generation capacities, increased external dependency, CO2 charges, etc. This increases the demand for electricity networks that are more reliable, more efficient, and more flexible.
* Europe’s current electricity networks are ageing, and, as already indicated by the International Energy Agency, many of them will need to be modernized or replaced in the decades to come.
* The growing impact of energy trading also needs to be taken into account. <ref name="egmont">Egmont Institute, Tania ZGAJEWSKI, [http://www.egmontinstitute.be/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/new-egmont.papers.74.U2334_16x24.pdf Smart electricity grids: A very slow deployment in the EU]</ref>==How does the EU define smart grids?=={{Quote|text=What shale gas did to the US economy, smart grids can and should do in Europe.|sign=Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič (Vice-President for Energy Union)}}In its April 2011 communication ‘Smart Grids: from innovation to deployment’, the Commission describes smart grids as ‘an upgraded electricity network to which two-way digital communication between supplier and consumer, intelligent metering and monitoring systems have been added. Intelligent metering is usually an inherent part of smart grid.’<ref>COM (2011) 202 - same in Recommendation 2012/148/EU (OJEU 2012, L 73/11).</ref>In its 2050 Energy Roadmap,<ref>http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/strategies/2050/documentation_en.htm </ref> smart grids play a central role in the future decarbonised energy power systems. Their successful deployment touches all the fundamental objectives of EU energy policy – sustainability, security and competitiveness, the creation of the energy single market, as well as the 2030 climate targets<ref>improve EU energy efficiency by 27%, attain a 27% EU share of renewable energy by 2030 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.</ref>.
==Links for further research==
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