AMI: Double digit growth powered by demand, higher fuel costs, environmental regulations

.

You might also be interested in ... . MDM pile-on: Vendors see huge opportunities in all that data . Increased demand and industrial growth pushing global spending on T&D . Smart grid and renewable technologies may see double digit growth in five years . Smart grid metering news and trends

The advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) market is expected to explode worldwide, growing from a market value of $1.2 billion now to $7.6 billion in 2014 — in other words, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 43.9%, according to a new ARC Advisory Group report. The AMI market includes smart meters, communications infrastructure and meter data management systems, all key components of the smart grid. The real hot spot is expected to be Asia which now has about 52% of the world's utility meters, but less than 1% of them are automated. As a result, we're looking at market growth twice that forecast elsewhere: a CAGR of 84%. "The AMI market is poised to grow with double-digit compound annual growth. It is being driven by the world's continued demand for more energy while the utilities are faced with the challenges of rising fuel costs, and the burden of increasingly stringent environmental regulations affecting their operations and costs. These challenges drive the need to conserve energy, specifically during peak hours, defer the building of additional generation facilities and improve customer service," said Steve Clouther, the author of ARC's Advanced Metering Infrastructure Worldwide Outlook.

Quick Take: While ARC's numbers may seem surprising, they're in line with the growth forecast numbers we see in renewable energy technologies, transmission and distribution investment and other elements of the smart grid. All depend on AMI.

Stay connected with SGN …

Smart grid discussions: Get LinkedIn with Jesse

Join Smart Grid News on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Try our RSS feed

Get our email digest