With all of the buzz surrounding smart-grid projects these days, a new report forecasting $46 billion in cumulative global investment by 2015 comes as little surprise.
Indeed, initiatives such as President Barack Obama’s recent decision to free up more wireless spectrum, as well as service providers’ machine-to-machine (M2M) partnerships with utilities and vehicle makers are fueling the growth of two-way energy communications systems. To that point, ABI Research said this week that updates to an almost-100-year-old power transmission network must come soon.
“Much of this infrastructure is outdated, and with the continuing increase in demand for power year after year, the grid cannot safely and reliably manage the loads of today and tomorrow without significant upgrades,” Larry Fisher, ABI’s NextGen research director, said in a press release.
That reality will push everyone, from governments to operators to utility companies, to ramp up spending on the smart grid over the next five years. The bulk of the money will go toward transmission and distribution, Fisher said.
“A total of almost $41 billion will be invested globally in the electrical transmission and distribution infrastructure through 2015, compared to $4.8 billion for the purchase and installation of smart meters,” said Fisher. “This infrastructure spending will focus on grid automation and control, distribution automation, distributed generation and demand response programs.”
The predictions come as service providers including Sprint Nextel Corp. and Verizon Communications Inc. talk up their M2M strategies. Sprint is working with Ford Motor Co., for one; Ford offers GPS and Internet access in many of its cars and trucks and Sprint provides the Internet access for those services. Verizon said last October it sees a big revenue opportunity in the M2M sector.
