Zpryme surveyed over 300 executives in the energy, smart grid, and utility industries on their overall 2012 smart grid sentiment. See below for the survey findings and click below to download detailed INFOgraphic.

Zpryme findings from the Smart Grid Executive Survey 2012:

Finding: Almost 9 out of 10 executives believe that federal government support (grants, loans or subsidies) are “very important” to the development of the smart grid
Translation: The deployment of the Smart Grid cannot rely solely on U.S. government support such as grants; 2012 will be the “Year of the Smart Grid Shakeout” as small to mid-tier companies will have their coffers dried due to the lengthy sales cycle associated with the utility industry.

Finding: 8 out of 10 executives believe overall utility smart gid investments will continue to rise in 2012
Translation: The overall U.S. smart grid value chain is cautiously optimistic for long term growth; companies such as Siemens, GE, and ABB will be heavy-hitters in investment for the overall Smart Grid with start-ups and mid-tier companies leading the way in analytics, energy management, security and energy storage. With Duke Energy having allocated $1 billion for U.S. deployment efforts with other utilities such as PG&E, and South California serving up major multi-million dollar investments, the overall U.S. smart grid value chain is more than optimistic for long term growth – industry segments such as energy storage, cyber security, network management software, and analytics will be key growth areas for 2012/13.

Finding: Over half of executives are confident that compared to 2011 smart grid investments will see “moderate growth” in 2012, with almost 1 out of 3 suggesting “strong growth”
Translation: With 2011 being the year of putting U.S subsidies to play, 2012 will be the year for action – industry segments such as energy storage, security, cloud based network software, and analytics (eg. Toshiba, Panasionic, eMeter, Alcatel-Lucent, Coda, BLP Global, Proximetry, and OPower, respectively) will be key growth areas for 2012/13.

Finding: AMI (60%), access/communication networks (43%), EVs (42%), and transmission/distribution automation (41%) rounded off smart grid technologies that executives believe will make the most immediate impact in 2012
Translation: With EVs not quite making a direct impact and the smart home still an industry aspiration, the driving force for the smart grid in the U.S. will be AMI and communications, with distribution automation being the ever-constant backbone. Companies such as IBM, GE, Itron, Cisco, and Telvent will make the most immediate impact in 2012.

View Infographic

Zpryme findings from the Smart Grid Executive Survey 2012 is a post from: Zpryme Smart Grid Insights: Intelligent Research for an Intelligent Market
Zpryme Smart Grid Insights: Intelligent Research for an Intelligent Market

The total Smart Grid Communications market is slated to experience tremendous market growth with a projected CAGR of 17% through 2015. The total market size in 2015 is projected to reach almost $1.6 Billion. The market is divided between Wired (with a CAGR of 10%) and Wireless Communications (with a CAGR of 26%). Currently the market size of wired communications is larger but wireless communications will surpass it by 2015 and prove a larger market as more investments are made.

Telecom and the Smart Grid is a post from: Zpryme Smart Grid Insights: Intelligent Research for an Intelligent Market
Zpryme Smart Grid Insights: Intelligent Research for an Intelligent Market

At the end of 2011, the market value for Information Technology Enterprise systems was projected to be $3.6 billion with a projected growth rate of 10%. It is projected to grow to $5.1 billion by 2015. Two main markets exist in the IT enterprise system market. First, network security software and systems has a projected CAGR of 15.2% and is currently experiencing a $700 million market. It is projected to reach $1.1 billion in 2015. Data storage infrastructure is the second main market for enterprise systems. It is experiencing a CAGR of 18.8% and a market of $800 million. Data storage is projected to reach $1.7 billion by 2015.

IT Systems and the Smart Grid is a post from: Zpryme Smart Grid Insights: Intelligent Research for an Intelligent Market
Zpryme Smart Grid Insights: Intelligent Research for an Intelligent Market

Coal currently makes up about 40% of the world’s power supply. This is projected to grow by an additional 60% by 2030 – mostly by developing countries. Coal also is responsible for 40% of CO2 emissions related to energy. According to a 2008 report, between 1975 and 2005, 448 coal-fired plants were built in the US and a system of transmission has developed around these plants. However, a new report by Nordhaus et al published in the American Economic Review cite coal-fired energy plants are responsible for more than a quarter of the damage caused by pollution. With this insight in hand, Zpryme pokes new holes in coal development costs versus natural gas & renewables.

Coal: Development Costs (vs. Natural Gas & Renewables) is a post from: Zpryme Smart Grid Insights: Intelligent Research for an Intelligent Market
Zpryme Smart Grid Insights: Intelligent Research for an Intelligent Market

Coal today accounts for half of US energy production. However, the NERC 2011 Long-Term Reliability Assessment, released in November, identified numerous threats to the reliability of the US electric system: resource adequacy/reserve margins, environmental regulations, gas-electric interdependency, variable generation, demand-side management and transmission. Potential regulations have not yet been finalized and will be released this month, so uncertainty surrounds the actual impact these may have on the energy future. As a result, the capacity and cost of energy sources will change in the coming decades. IEA predicts that carbon capture and sequestration will begin to play a stronger role in the energy mix, particularly enhanced oil recovery (EOR), which pumps CO2 into oil fields to push out harder to reach oil.

Coal: Production Cost Outlook is a post from: Zpryme Smart Grid Insights: Intelligent Research for an Intelligent Market
Zpryme Smart Grid Insights: Intelligent Research for an Intelligent Market

According to the International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook 2011 by 2015 China will overtake the U.S., and become the leader in total electricity generation capacity. What’s more, by 2035 China will consume nearly 70% more energy than the United States… From phasing out incandescent light bulbs within five years to optimizing the country’s clean energy mix, what’s extraordinary about China’s electricity infrastructure is the speed and scale of its expansion. The solar, wind, coal, hydro, and related renewable technology and generation is galloping at a champions pace, surpassing the U.S. and rest of the world.

China Electricity Profile, 2011 is a post from: Zpryme Smart Grid Insights: Intelligent Research for an Intelligent Market
Zpryme Smart Grid Insights: Intelligent Research for an Intelligent Market

The challenge facing Brazil’s power sector is no small undertaking. Brazil’s electric power demand has been increasing at a rate above world average. Between 2007 and 2017, energy consumption is expected to increase by 60% and as a result production will fall short of total demand. The following report by Zpryme highlights the future smart grid network of Brazil.

Brazil: The Smart Grid Network is a post from: Zpryme Smart Grid Insights: Intelligent Research for an Intelligent Market
Zpryme Smart Grid Insights: Intelligent Research for an Intelligent Market

With India recently launching a Smart Grid Task Force and Smart Grid Forum coupled with $900B in investment planned for generation, transmission, distribution and power quality, this nation is set for massive growth. Conversely, several major hurdles remain before the world’s second most populous nation achieves widespread adoption of next generation electrical technology. Research from Zpryme indicates that in 2015 India’s smart grid market will be $1.9 billion. Further, Zpryme predicts the country’s basic electrical infrastructure needs will grow beyond that, totaling $5.9 billion in the same year.

India: Smart Grid Legacy is a post from: Zpryme Smart Grid Insights: Intelligent Research for an Intelligent Market
Zpryme Smart Grid Insights: Intelligent Research for an Intelligent Market

From 2011 to 2016, Zpryme forecasts the residential solar market value to grow from $1.2 billion to $4.7 billion. During this time period, the market is projected to grow at 33% annually. Despite the current outrage over the failure of the government-connected solar-panel maker Solyndra and US solar manufacturers Evergreen Solar and SpectraWatt declaring bankruptcy in August and September the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) said it was conditionally guaranteeing about $275 million of a $344 million loan package for the SolarStrong Project, under which San Mateo, Calif.-based SolarCity will install, own and operate up to 160,000 rooftop solar installations on as many as 124 U.S. military bases in as many as 33 states. The loan bundle is supporting just a serving of what SolarCity expects to be $1 billion in projects under SolarStrong. In Zpryme’s latest Smart Grid Insights white paper the purpose of this report is to present a comprehensive look at the Residential Solar Power market in the US in relation to the Smart Grid.

Residential Solar and the Smart Grid is a post from: Zpryme Smart Grid Insights: Intelligent Research for an Intelligent Market
Zpryme Smart Grid Insights: Intelligent Research for an Intelligent Market

Just days ago Oncor installed its two-millionth advanced smart meter in the Dallas suburb of Carrollton, Idaho Falls Power selected Elster for an AMI Smart Grid project, and Telvent was designated to implement Smart Grid solutions for Progress Energy Florida. Driven by Smart Grid Investment Grants (SGIG), these examples are just a taste of the wins that have manifested this past month in the U.S. Back in 2009 the overall purpose of the SGIG was to accelerate the modernization of the U.S. electric transmission and distribution systems and promote investments in Smart Grid and related technology tentacles. Fast forward to September 2011 and utilities across the nation are finally starting to burst out of the Smart Grid starting blocks. For example, CenterPoint Energy and Florida Power & Light (FPL) are the top 2 SGIG projects based on smart meters. Combined, CenterPoint and FPL have 2.6 million smart meters from their SGIG programs, 1.33 million and 1.29 million, respectively. The smart meter roll-out is noticeably at a critical juncture. What the next-gen grid will be like a decade from now is still too difficult to predict, however the forces for change from both the public and private sector (and consumers) will be highly influential. In this report Zpryme compiled and analyzed data from the 99 Smart Grid Investment Grant (SGIG) projects to identify the top 10 projects in terms of total expenditures to date, and by the number of smart meters that are installed and operational.

(Part 3 of 3 Part Series) Smart Meter Uprising: Led by CenterPoint and FPL, the top 10 SGIG projects by total expenditures and smart meters to date is a post from: Zpryme Smart Grid Insights: Intelligent Research for an Intelligent Market
Zpryme Smart Grid Insights: Intelligent Research for an Intelligent Market