NEW YORK, NY /Marketwire/ -- Smart grid technology has gained much notoriety as the solution to the world's future electric power needs, but due to the daunting size and complexity of the current electrical grid, it will take utilities years to transform the grid into any semblance of a smart grid.
A new market study from SBI Energy, "Smart Grid Micro Grid Energy T&D and Storage," projects that the timely and cost-effective microgrids will pave the way for full smart grid integration faster than utilities alone. Forecasted to grow 13% during the 2009 to 2014 period, the market for microgrids will near $7 billion by 2014, supported by implementation at large industrial operations, military bases, and communities where electricity is unstable or non-existent.
By design, the microgrid comprises all the same components of a larger grid, and thus stimulus funds that have been provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 specifically for smart grid development will simultaneously benefit microgrids. According to SBI Energy, microgrids will become the incubator and operational test bed for innovative smart grid solutions and vendors because it is significantly less difficult and costly to deploy smart technologies.
"New technologies to support the different facets of smart grids—communication systems, sensors, control software, and smart meters, to name a few—are being developed not only by small venture firms but also more recently by large, well-established companies," says Shelley Carr, publisher of SBI Energy. "Regulators, industrial firms, consumers, and other stakeholders will test, evaluate, and begin to identify the technologies that will usher in a new era of electric generation, delivery, consumption, and cost. Coupled with worldwide electric infrastructure costs that are estimated to top $1.5 trillion over the next twenty years, there will be much activity in the electricity production and delivery area in the near future."
"Smart Grid Micro Grid Energy T&D and Storage" presents an in-depth analysis of the development, applications, products, manufacturers, and trends in the advancement of transmission and distribution (T&D) system automation, energy storage, and microgrids in the United States and around the world.
The report provides a comprehensive assessment of all three of these areas; cost and regulatory concerns that have limited their growth; the potential opportunities for new applications (particularly for integrating intermittent renewable energy sources into the grid); and an assessment of developing technologies that make the grid "smart." Projected growth through 2014 for these areas is provided, including discussion of energy demand, environmental impacts, economic conditions, consumer acceptance, stakeholder concerns, and government activities, as they affect growth rates. The report also profiles manufacturers and marketers of technologies in these areas and the strategies they have adopted to maximize growth and profitability. For further information, visit the company's Web site.
About SBI Energy
SBI Energy, a division of MarketResearch.com, publishes research reports in the industrial, energy, building/construction, and automotive/transportation markets. SBI Energy also offers a full range of custom research services.