Three new reports do the math on growth in distribution microgrids and energy storage and quantify utility plans for beefing up cybersecurity in 2013.

 

Microgrids

Suggesting that a handful of innovative utilities are moving forward with microgrid projects despite significant institutional bias and regulatory obstacles, Pike Research

believes such early initiatives herald a future in which microgrids will become a more prevalent part of the distribution utility landscape. The research firm predicts annual vendor revenues from utility microgrids – including investor-owned utility, public power grid-tied, and remote microgrids – will reach nearly $1.4 billion in 2012 and will grow to just under $3.3 billion in 2018. “Decades of utility resistance to the entire concept of a microgrid are starting to evaporate, and confidence in the microgrid model’s unique advantages is starting to bloom in some unlikely corners of the industry," says Pike senior research analyst Peter Asmus. Read more >>

 

Energy storage

A new report from the analyst firm NanoMarkets claims the grid-storage market will reach $6.1 billion by 2018, making energy storage one of the fastest-growing opportunities in the smart grid industry. Batteries and Supercapacitors for the Smart Grid-2013 notes that the default option for grid batteries today is lead-acid, accounting for more than 55% of revenues from grid batteries currently. By 2018, the NanoMarkets report indicates that share will decline to around 30% as new grid battery technologies become commercialized. The report contends sodium-sulfur and Zebra batteries will prove a better deal for power companies and large end users than lithium-ion. Read more >>

 

Cybersecurity

If you find it troubling that only 4% of utility and smart grid professionals surveyed by Zpryme believe electric networks in the U.S. are "very secure" -- and that 15% label them "very insecure --then the good news is that 65% of them believe utilities will increase investment in cybersecurity for 2013. Research firm Zpryme's 2012 Utility Cybersecurity Survey also found that those surveyed believe believe that the technology most vulnerable to cyber attacks will be operations and information technologies. Read more >>

 

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