This 5 types of energy consumers are impacting smart grid growth

1) This 5 types of energy consumers are impacting smart grid growth

Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative (SGCC) recently conducted telephone survey of 1200 US resident to understand the customer segmentation.  With the increase of Smart Meters and Smart Grid installation, it has become essential for utilities to understand their behavior so they can target the customer for their active participation in demand side energy management. According to SGCC, the whole group fall in five broad categories; 1) Concerned Green (31%), 2) Young America(23%),  3) Easy Street (20%), 4) DIY & Save (16%) and 5) Traditional(11%).

2) Jeju Smart Grid Pilot celebrates 2nd Anniversary

Jeju (South Korea) Smart Grid Pilot commemorated 2nd anniversary of the project by hosting a two-day event, which was attended by experts from Japan, China, and Denmark.  "The second commemoration is meaningful because we established a stronger bond with leading Smart Grid testing cities in Korea, China, and Japan,” said  Jang Won-Guk, Director of Jeju Technopark Digital Convergence Center.  Dr. Suzuki of Nagasaki EV & ITS was so impressed with the Smart Grid development in Jeju  island that he expressed keen interest of forging partnership between Nagasaki and Jeju.


3) Renewable Energy Transforming Power Grids

Speakers of Clean Energy expo Asia expressed that companies across the world are facing steep learning curve when it comes to adapting the Grid for future energy scenario especially for mixing the volatile  renewable energy. Dr Wojszczyk, global director of GE smart grid technologies section said, " Another major issue with integrating wind power into electricity grids is the limited operating capacity of wind turbines, which on average generate only 40 per cent of their maximum capacity. Transmission lines need to be built for full capacity, and grid operators need to justify their investment in the infrastructure".

4) South Korea passes smart grid network law

President Lee Myung Bak passed the legislation in a cabinet meeting today for electric-car recharging services and power distributors who will be adopting smart grid network according to ministry of knowledge and economy, thus making it a first country in the world to have smart grid law. The law will come into effect from November 25th. South Korea has pledged to reduce carbon emission by 30% from the current level by the year 2020. The fourth largest Asian economy is going to spend around $24 billion in smart grid technologies by 2030. 


5) Energy revolution necessary to meet Europe's 2050 low carbon economy
A recent report published by Oracle suggests that to achieve Europe's 2050 vision of low carbon economy, which envisions of reducing greenhouse gas emission by 80 -95% of pre 1990 level , Smart Grid development is necessary. Smart Grid will enhance energy efficiency and help manage demand side management , as well as integrated renewable and variable energy sources, thus playing critical role in achieving the goals. In 2007, European Council committed to reduce greenhouse gas emission by 20%,  increase renewable energy share by 20%, and increase energy efficiency by 20% by 2020. The 20:20:20  goals are the first step towards the larger vision of 2050. 

India among the top 10 Smart Grid Investment countries

A recent research report published by Innovation Observatory reveals that utilities worldwide will spend US$378 billion in Smart Grid technologies by 2030. However, the lion share (almost 80%)  of the total investment will be taken by only 10 countries. The United States will be leading the Smart Grid investment for the next five years. By 2030, it will spend US$66 billion for intelligent smart grid infrastructure. Apart from smart meters, the investment will be geared towards grid automation, communication infrastructure, IT systems and hardware, home area network, and system integration. China, which will take over the US as the leading Smart Grid market by 2016, will supposedly spend US$99 billion by 2030, which includes roll-out of 360 million Smart Meters.

The two emerging nations India and Brazil also have massive smart grid investment plans and are among the top 10 list. India, which will be the third largest smart grid investment market, is set to install 130 million Smart Meters by 2021. At present, the market in India is nascent with only few smart meters roll out happened. But it seems to gather pace from 2012 onwards. During the same period, Brazil, which will be the sixth largest smart gird market, is set to replace 63 million smart meters.

The other members of the top 10 includes leading European countries the UK, Germany, France, and Spain and Japan and South Korea from the Asia Pacific region.

The competition to win the contracts will be fierce among the technology suppliers to tap the massive market opportunity. Companies will have to tailor their strategy based on the scale of the project, the region of the market, their expertise, and smart grid value chain they operate in.

Top 10 List

1) China

2) USA

3) India

4) France

5) Germany

6) Brazil

7) Spain

8) The UK

9) Japan

10) South Korea

Countries across the world embracing Smart Grid (Europe) ... Part 2 .

In Part -2 and 3, we have covered countries of Europe in this continuous series of smart grid profiling of countries across the world.

Europe : European countries are actively collaborating for smart grid through Smart Grid European Technology Platform (ETP), which was set up in 2005 to foster and support smart grid deployment in Europe. ETP is playing an important intermediary role in developing Smart Grid infrastructure in Europe through joint working groups, knowledge and expertise exchange, sharing best practices ,  developing common standards, and collaborative projects. Its smart grid vision comprises of four key elements viz. flexible, accessible, reliable, and economical. European union plans to equip every European home with smart meters by 2022. Though European countries have joint Smart Grid collaboration through ETP, they also have their own  independent Smart Grid plans.

Italy : Italy can be considered the pioneer of the Smart Grid technology, In 2001, when the smart grid was relatively unknown lexicon, Italian utility Enel became the first utility in the world to roll out smart meters to its 40 million customers. By 2006, Enel had spent $3 billion for smart grid infrastructure and was reaping $750 million in annual savings. Today 85 % of Italian home are covered with smart meters. By 2011, the government plans to cover 95% of the consumers with smart grid infrastructure and if it goes as planned, Italy could well be the second Smart Grid country after Malta.

Germany : The largest economy of Europe is one of the early adopters of Green energy and its related technologies. The government of Germany is pursuing Smart Grid under the E-Energy - "The Internet of Energy"  initiative through which it plans to connect giant solar plants located in desert, gigantic offshore and onshore wind farms, and mini power plants located on house rooftop and in the basement of buildings. Under this initiative, it has selected 6 project that will develop Smart Grid pilots in 6 different region. The six selected projects are being funded by  Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMUi) and Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) with €40 million and  €20 million euro respectively, another €80 million will be generated by the 6 selected companies. 

E- Energy Concept Germany

The selected companies are
1) eTelligence for model region of Cuxhave coordinated by EWE AG  

2) E-DeMa for model region of Rhein-Ruhr coordinated by RWE Energy AG

3)MEREGIO for model region of Baden-Württemberg coordinated by EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG

4) Model Ciy of Mannheim for model region of Rhein-Neckar coordinated by MVV Energie AG

5) RegModHarz for regenerative model region of Harz coordinated by RegenerativKraftwerk Harz GmbH & Co KG

6) Smart Watts for model region of Aachen coordination by utilicount GmbH & Co. KG

Germany has mandated that all the building in the country should be equipped with Smart Meter starting with 2010 and will roll-out  Demand Response program or Time of Use (TOU) features from 2011. Apart from the government push, companies like Siemens AG, ABB, Cisco, and others are collaborating with utilities like Yello Strom for Smart Grid projects, overall, Germany alone represents €40 Billion Smart Grid investment opportunity by 2020.

United Kingdom : The Prime Minister of UK, David Cameroon laid out strong vision for Smart Grid in UK in 2009. His government plans to invest £1bn in Smart Grid which includes putting Smart Meter in every UK home. Prime Minister Cameroon visualizes Smart Grid as the internet of the electricity that may help transform UK into low carbon economy. In total, £10 billion will be injected in the UK economy between 2010 and 2020 on a full smart meter roll-out, smart grid trials, and deployment under the Low Carbon Networks Fund and electric vehicle infrastructure. The Electricity Network Strategy Group (ENSG), which is jointly chaired by The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem), is the primary nodal agency working for Smart Grid action plan and development.

 UK Smart Grid Plan Layout

According to the ENSG, carbon reduction, energy security, and economic competitiveness & affordability are the three broad objectives of UK Smart Grid. Between 2010 and 2012, the UK will develop detailed prospectus and design through coordination between government, private companies, and other stakeholders. It will start full mass scale smart meter roll out from mid 2012 that it plans to complete by 2020.

Part -1, Part -2,  Part -3, Part -4

India cautiously adopting Smart Grid

India is adopting Smart Grid cautiously reports Financial Express. The report is based on the recent report published by Ernst & Young Analysis about Smart Grid. E&Y reports that the Smart Grid development happening across the globe will revolutionize the Power & Utility sector which has changed little in last 100 years. Advance economies like the US, parts of Europe, and Australia are adopting it a big way, the emerging economies like China, Brazil, India are following it cautiously. China is the early leader among the emerging economies. It has made Smart Grid a strategic priority and is collaborating with US through joint US-China Cooperation on Clean Energy (JUCCCE). Many Initiative are planned and MNCs like IBM, GE, Siemens AG and Cisco are investing in China's Smart Grid. India is bit slow and is taking measures through Individual company or cities. The reports indicates that because of financial risks like public ownership of utility companies, bureaucratic delays, and financial weakness of the sector, investors are cautious in investing in Smart Grid. I think, in the absence of government policy and framework the investors will not take the risk. As mentioned, previously in this blog , India is uniquely position to take advantage of Smart Grid as it is still building the energy infrastructure and can bypass the old Grid model. E&Y reports indicates India will save close to 15% of energy, which is equivalent to 12GW of power generation or total of $ 500 billion of investment. The savings in investment alone are exciting enough for India to aggressively pursue Smart Grid technology. The other benefits includes reduction in Greenhouse gases a huge indirect benefit as it will reduce numerous environmental issues directly impacting the country's socio-economic well-being. It will help meet the target of CO2 reduction it has committed at Copenhagen summit (20-25% CO2 reduction to pre-2005 level). A new emerging sector will generate numerous jobs and new businesses will generate tax and other benefits.