“Sweden is the most mature market in Europe in terms of adopting smart-meter technology”, Capgemini said as it expect the market for smart electricity meter to boom.

• Smart electricity meters boom in Europe

In a move to bolster its energy-management offerings, Capgemini Group, Europe’s largest computer services company, this week bought a Swedish provider of “smart meter” energy services, Skvader Systems AB.

The number of smart electricity meters are expected to increase rapidly across Europe as people struggle to gain control over soaring energy costs, according to Swedish analyst firm Berg Insight. The installed base of smart electricity meters in Europe will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 17.9 percent between 2009 and 2015 to reach 111.4 million at the end of the period.

"Providing consumers with detailed information about their electricity consumption the new generation of meters give customers control over energy costs and create financial incentives for energy savings", the organisation's chief executive officer Johan Fagerberg wrote in a statement.

Skvader Systems will now be a part of Capgemini’s Smart Energy Services business, further extending the company’s share of both the Swedish and European smart energy market.

Capgemini estimates that over €300m of smart energy service contracts will come to the Nordics over the next three years, underlining the strategic significance of this acquisition.

“Sweden is the most mature market in Europe in terms of adopting smart-meter technology,” Peter Harris, the company’s head for smart energy services in Europe, told Bloomberg. “We’ll be looking to leverage it across Europe.”

Skvader reported revenue for 2008-2009 of 51.9 million kronor ($7.2 million) and a pretax profit of 7 million kronor, according to a filing with the Swedish Companies Registration Office, Bloomberg said.

A smart meter is an advanced meter that records consumption in intervals of an hour or less and communicates that information at least daily via some communications network back to the utility for monitoring and billing purposes (telemetering).