An aging electric infrastructure, increasing demand for electricity, and increased reliance on foreign fuel sources have exposed the need for a more effective electric energy system, both nationally and abroad. This revelation will propel the U.S. market for smart grid technologies to a projected total of almost $17 billion by 2014, according to a recent report from market research publisher SBI (Specialists in Business Information, www.sbireports.com), based in Rockville, Md.
The market for smart grid enabling technologies in the U.S. is currently estimated to be more than $6 billion. SBI’s forecast includes the market growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of almost 21 percent through 2014. It’s a market in which automation is projected to play an important role.
Future growth of the smart grid market will be partly driven by the utilization of technology to provide better sensing and control systems that maximize the use of electricity from renewable energy sources, which produce power that is highly variable and subject to intermittent operation, SBI says. Wind, solar, and other forms of renewable power are expected to be widely distributed across the United States. However, the country's current electric grid is not equipped to realistically maximize the potential of such energy sources, SBI points out.
The SBI report, titled “Smart Grid Technologies, Markets, Components and Trends Worldwide” provides an in-depth analysis of the development, applications, products, manufacturers, and trends in the deployment of the smart grid in the United States and around the world.
SBI
www.sbireports.com
