Malta, a small country made up of seven islands near Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, is the world’s first “smart grid” country. The tiny island nation (about twice the size of Washington D.C.) is a great pilot location for the smart grid as an integral part of daily life. The country gets all its electricity from burning imported fuel oil. It also gets about 50% of its water from energy intensive desalination plants, which also require foreign oil. According to the IBM article, “The new smart grid, integrating both water and power systems, will be able to identify water leaks and electricity losses in the grid, allowing the utilities to more intelligently plan their investments in the network and reduce inefficiency. 250,000 interactive meters will monitor electricity usage in real time.” The £70m system should be completely setup by 2012. Background on Malta can be found here. More information on the IBM led smart grid system can be found in the here.

- Justin Manger