SEA fastest growing Smart Grid Market

Southeast Asia (SEA) is estimated to be the fastest growing smart grid market in APAC region, says a new report from Frost & Sullivan.

South Korea and Japan will continue to be the hot spots for smart grid project deployment in North Asia during the forecast period, the report synopsis said.

Investments in smart grid test-bed in Thailand, home energy management systems (HEMS) installations in Singapore, and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) rollouts in the Philippines are expected to drive the market.

The growing adoption of EV smart charging and vehicle-to-grid charging technologies in Asia Pacific has been one of the lead drivers of smart grid in the region.

Smart chargers, which perform off-peak charging and vehicle-to-grid charging during peak load hours, can be introduced with the implementation of smart grid.

Necessity of a fault-predicting, fast-restoring power grid attracts investments in transmission and distribution (T&D) grid automation in the long term.

Smart renewable energy (RE) and smart energy storage systems (ESS) are expected to be integrated into the smart grid network in future. Government mandates will continue to be the primary driver for AMI deployment.

Uncertainty in communication standards and security issues are major challenges in smart grid implementation.

Meter companies, network companies, meter data management (MDM) system vendors, and key market participants work in partnerships or with associations to address interoperability challenges. Smart grid development across various regions is likely to have an effect on AMI growth.

In the purview of smart meter communication, cellular connectivity is gaining more visibility as a feasible, primary connectivity technology, with subscription costs reducing and utilities becoming more optimistic to using public networks for their smart meter deployments, the report said.

Also, ESS with batteries enables storage of electricity produced and its use when there is a need. With the increase in electricity prices in Asia-Pacific and the need to improve grid reliability, demand for ESS continues to rise.