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More digitisation, less bureaucracy

Smart meters, dynamic tariffs, less bureaucracy around wind and solar energy. An overview of the most important changes as of 2025.

Germany is modernising its electricity system In 2025, the digitisation of the energy transition is progressing further, with important steps forward not least for the rollout of smart meters and with less bureaucracy around wind and solar energy.

Smart meters combine a digital meter with a communications module (smart meter gateway), which automatically transmits consumption data via secure connection to the metering point operator, eliminating the need for manual meter checks. They allow consumers to gain a transparent overview of their electricity consumption, make it easier to bring down this consumption, and help with efficient coordination between energy generation and consumption. Especially in the context of flexible feed-ins of electricity from renewables, smart meters help with balancing the load on the electricity grids in an optimal way, which makes them a pivotal element of the energy transition.

^{Smart meters an option for all households as of 2025 – and an obligation for some}

As of 2025, certain categories of electricity consumers are under obligation to have a smart meter fitted. This includes households with an electricity consumption of 6,000 kWh or more and those with PV installations generated more than 7 kWh per annum. By 2030, these are to have been fitted with a smart meter. The metering point operators will contact the households affected by this obligation. Other electricity consumers can also opt for a smart meter, in exchange for bearing part of the cost.

The number of smart meters in Germany has increased fourfold since the end of 2022, now standing at more than 1 million. Smart meters are particularly useful for users who can flexibly adapt their consumption times or who want to generate their own electricity using a PV installation. A customer portal or an app make it possible to monitor consumption data per day, week, month and year, which also helps households save electricity.

^{Dynamic tariffs save money and electricity}

Combining a smart meter with a dynamic tariff allows for significant cost savings – particularly at times when there is a lot of electricity from renewables and prices are low. Moreover, controllable consumers such as heat pumps and electric vehicles can be efficiently and securely integrated into the power system, which has a positive effect on the use of renewables.

Under the Act to Relaunch the Digitalisation of the Energy Transition (in German only), all electricity suppliers, irrespective of their customer base, must offer dynamic tariffs as of 2025, i.e. tariffs aligned with the prices payable on the electricity exchange. Smart meters make it possible for consumers to purchase electricity at times when large quantities of electricity from renewables are being fed into grid, causing prices to drop. Up until now, only electricity suppliers having more than 100,000 customers had to offer dynamic tariffs to customers equipped with smart metering systems. The rollout of smart meters is now resulting in greater competition, which in turn is likely to bring down prices. As more precise consumption data is becoming available, this also allows for more targeted expansion of the power grid, which, in the long term, will also result in lower grid charges for all market participants.

^{Less bureaucracy around wind and solar energy}

2025 also ushers in new simplifications for generators and users of wind and solar energy. For instance, the data to be provided to the Core Energy Market Data Register is reduced to a minimum for plug-in solar installations (“balcony-based power plants”). This saves times and eases the bureaucratic burden on households and companies. Since 1 January, new digitisation requirements apply for requests for a connection of low-voltage renewables installations to the grid system. This means that requests, notably for traditional rooftop PV installations, can now be submitted in a digital form.