$200 Billion investment in Smart Grid by 2015 : Pike Research

According Pike research (A clean-tech market research firm) Smart Grid represent $200 Billion worth of global investment by 2015. Almost 84 % will be captured by Grid automation, whereas Advanced metering infrastructure will have 14 % share. The remaining 2% will be occupied by Vehicle management systems( possibly Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle like Nissan Lehr). At present government across the globe are pushing  for Smart Meter, which is a tip of the ice-berg according to pike. Even though the electric grid is the important and critical  infrastructure of any country and it has spread thousands of miles, the network provide little intelligence. Hence, it is huge opportunity to embed intelligence in the system.

The report mentioned that " key drivers for such a huge opportunities are 1) Improve reliability and Security, 2) Improving operating efficiency and cost, 3) Balancing power generation supply and demand and 4) Reducing the overall impact on global warming"

There are huge challenges including lack of common visions and standards, outdated regulatory framework and business models and lack of awareness among the consumers. Nonetheless these challenges equally represent the opportunities. Government and Industries across the globe has recognized these and are working together to find a sustainable solutions.

The report analyzes Global Smart Grid market for AMI, transmission upgrades, substation automation, distribution automation, energy management systems, and electric vehicle management.It profiles 70 key players of the Smart Grid market and detail global market forecast segmented by region and technology.It indicates that the investment will reached to its peak by 2013.

For India it represent huge business opportunity domestically as well as globally, Indian IT Companies with their low-cost, high quality model are best suited to provide Infrastructure development and support to Foreign Utility and Smart Grid companies. Indian Entrepreneurs should focus their attention on this critical infrastructure opportunity.

Pike Research

Farooq Abdullah presses for Smart Grid Adoption in India

Farooq Abdullah, the Union Minister of Renewable Energy mentioned that India should start working on Smart Grid Infrastructure at a one - day seminar on smart grids organized by Consortium of Electronic Industries of Karnataka (CLIK). Mr. Abdullah voiced, “For India to continue on its path of aggressive economic growth, it needs to build a modern intelligent grid.

The Government should constitute a focus group for Smart Grid in order to draft a policy. The US has long begun this work and it is about to roll out comprehensive reforms for the Energy Grid. India cannot delay its efforts on this important aspect of the Energy. It will also help improve the energy efficiency and reduce Global Warming for which India is committed and have set aggressive target (Reduce 20-25% of CO2 Pre-2005 level by 2020) during recently concluded Climate Change meet at Copenhagen.“Another driver behind the need for a smart grid in India, are trends towards energy efficiency and increased use of renewable energy sources. While blanket energy efficiency is important, India would greatly benefit from intelligent energy efficiency in the form of demand response and grid—responsive appliances”, Abdullah echoed at the conference.