Market for Smart Grid Renewable Energy Integration to Reach $13 Billion by 2018, Forecasts Pike Research

BOULDER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The smart grid movement encompasses a range of technologies that will help utilities and grid operators integrate renewable energy assets, including microgrids, dynamic pricing systems, advanced energy storage, and virtual power plants (VPPs). Millions of dollars are being invested in the ability of the smart grid to lower the costs of integrating renewable generation at the transmission, distribution, and residential levels of energy service provision. To date the success rate of these efforts has been mixed, but according to a new report from Pike Research, a part of Navigant’s Energy Practice, the market for smart grid technologies that help integrate renewable energy sources will expand steadily over the next six years. Revenue from smart grid renewables integration will grow from $3.8 billion in 2012 to just under $13 billion in 2018, the study concludes.

“For all the talk of the challenges of bringing increasing amounts of distributed, renewable energy sources onto the power grid, in reality there is no consensus on the exact effects of renewables integration on grid operations”

“For all the talk of the challenges of bringing increasing amounts of distributed, renewable energy sources onto the power grid, in reality there is no consensus on the exact effects of renewables integration on grid operations,” says senior research analyst Peter Asmus. “What we do know is that the fundamental architecture of today’s electricity grid – based on the idea of a top-down system predicated on unidirectional energy flows – is becoming obsolete, and is unsuited for the increasing diversity and variability of power generation. Microgrids, VPPs, and other smart grid technologies represent the vanguard of a new business model that echoes, in many ways, the diversity and modularity of our rich telecommunications networks.”

The time horizons for widespread commercialization of these technologies vary widely, according to the report. Demand response, for example, has been offered in some forms by utilities and grid operators for many decades, while clear business models for advanced energy storage have yet to be demonstrated. While larger investments are flowing toward renewables integration at the transmission-level of power service, most of these technologies, such as high-voltage direct current lines, do not qualify as “smart grid.” Today, distribution level smart grid technologies such as microgrids clearly lead this market.

Pike Research’s report, “Smart Grid Renewables Integration”, examines current thinking and practices with regard to a series of smart grid technologies, policies, and applications designed to help integrate large penetration levels of renewable energy into power systems around the world. The study provides market capacity and revenue forecasts for the following technologies: static VAR compensators; synchrophasors; transmission, distribution and residential advanced energy storage systems; demand response; virtual power plants and microgrids. Key industry players are profiled, including SWOT analysis of their market positions, and regional market forecasts for each key segment extend through 2018. An Executive Summary of the report is available for free download on the Pike Research website.

About Pike Research

Pike Research, which joined Navigant’s global Energy Practice on July 1, 2012, provides in-depth analysis of global clean technology markets. The team’s research methodology combines supply-side industry analysis, end-user primary research and demand assessment, and deep examination of technology trends to provide a comprehensive view of the Smart Energy, Smart Grid, Smart Transportation, Smart Industry, and Smart Buildings sectors. Additional information about Pike Research can be found at www.navigant.com/pikeresearch.

About Navigant

Navigant (NYSE: NCI) is a specialized, global expert services firm dedicated to assisting clients in creating and protecting value in the face of critical business risks and opportunities. Through senior level engagement with clients, Navigant professionals combine technical expertise in Disputes and Investigations, Economics, Financial Advisory and Management Consulting, with business pragmatism in the highly regulated Construction, Energy, Financial Services and Healthcare industries to support clients in addressing their most critical business needs. More information about Navigant can be found at www.navigant.com.

* The information contained in this press release concerning the report, “Smart Grid Renewables Integration,” is a summary and reflects Pike Research’s current expectations based on market data and trend analysis. Market predictions and expectations are inherently uncertain and actual results may differ materially from those contained in this press release or the report. Please refer to the full report for a complete understanding of the assumptions underlying the report’s conclusions and the methodologies used to create the report. Neither Pike Research nor Navigant undertakes any obligation to update any of the information contained in this press release or the report.